Why Go to CROSS 2016?

If you are a student (roughly 18 to 25 years old) or a campus worker, I hope you’ll consider joining us at the Cross Conference this December 27-30 in Indianapolis. The aim is to raise up a generation of students eager to reach the unreached, for the global glory of Jesus Christ. Speakers include John Piper, David Platt, J. D. Greear, Thabiti Anyabwile, Trip Lee, Conrad Mbewe, Mack Stiles, and Richard Chin. Matt Boswell and Trip Lee will be leading us in music. The early bird registration rate ends October 31.

Several students from our church attended the first Cross Conference in 2013. Devon and Taylor were two of those students.  Three years later, Devon and Taylor are married, have one child (and another on the way), and are preparing to go overseas with Mission to the World (the sending agency of the PCA). Devon’s story, and the role Cross has played in that story, is below.

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When I came to college, I came with the intention to do missions after I finished my four-year degree at Michigan State. I wasn’t driven by an emotional impulse, and I didn’t feel especially burdened for some tribe in Africa. I simply made the connection (1) that no one can be reconciled to God unless they put their faith in Jesus, and (2) that I was interested, available, and willing to pursue cross-cultural ministry.

The story was slightly different for my wife. After becoming a Christian during her senior year of high school, she came to college wanting to learn more about the Bible. Though she was vaguely familiar with the idea of missions, she first began thinking about it in college.

We took important steps toward missions during our years as undergraduate students. We traveled to Southeast Asia to work short-term with missionaries during a summer break. We hosted Bible studies and shared the gospel with international students at our university. Just as importantly, we realized that people close to us actually affirmed us in our consideration of missions.

When we heard about Cross Conference 2013 during our senior years of college, we eagerly signed up. We still felt pretty naïve about missions and had no concrete plan for moving forward. We had been captured by the vision of an almighty, holy God. We were learning to delight in knowing him and earnestly desired that others might know him too. We were convinced that God’s plan for the nations to be blessed through Jesus was a main thread in the storyline of Scripture, and we understood that God accomplished this mission by sending human messengers like us. On one level, we already knew all this, but we needed to hear it again and be challenged by God’s heart for the nations. Which is what we found at Cross. We were eager to hear the speakers, having already benefited from the messages and ministries of so many of them. We were also helped by our campus ministry, which promoted the Cross Conference and arranged for the logistics to attend.

But why not just read books? Aren’t there plenty of good missions sermons online? What about the people who don’t end up being missionaries—isn’t this just a waste of time for them? I am sympathetic to questions like these because I’m a practical guy and want to invest time and money effectively. And yet, I really believe Cross can provide something that books and online messages cannot. Cross is no substitute for your local church, of course. But it can come alongside your church and give you a big vision for the big task that is yet to be finished.

Besides, if you want to read good books that encourage you toward missions, the Cross Conference can point you in the right direction. We received several books for free, including Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, which has been enormously encouraging to my wife and me as we explain the gospel to others. Crucially, the conference allows for the uninterrupted time that young adults usually won’t make for themselves to consider the prospect of missions. It also provides a rich context in which students can discuss their hesitations, convictions, and aspirations regarding future missions work.

And what if you’re not sure you want to be a missionary? The conference isn’t just directed toward future missionaries, but also to future prayer warriors, supporters, and senders. The work of reaching the unreached is not only for the people who cross cultures, but also for the whole church. We all must be involved and well equipped for the task at hand.

For individuals who are seriously considering missions, the Cross Conference will provide exceptional encouragement and resources. Dozens of missions agencies are represented, which gave my wife and me the opportunity to be much more well-informed about the doctrinal standards, strategies, and emphases of many evangelical missions agencies. We began our correspondence with an agency for long-term missions during this conference and plan to go to the field within a year.

Cross Conference itself is not the sole reason that my wife and I are making progress toward the mission field, but the Lord greatly used it to encourage and equip us toward that end. I pray that the Lord will continue to use Cross as an important part of the process that encourages and equips young men and women to respond to the call to “make disciples of all nations.”

Check out the conference this December. It may just change your life . . . and the lives of those who have never heard.