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The Surprise in the Mail

By Jessica Wicks

Monday, June 23

I never grow tired of hearing stories of God's creative work in the lives of people.

On a walk home from a training meeting I had the chance to talk with Rachael. She is a student a Youngstown State University, a school my ministry team works with in northeast Ohio.

Rachael, who will be a junior next year, is one of two students who lead a small Campus Crusade ministry on her campus. She is passionate about seeing God move at Youngstown State and desires to learn more about how to run a ministry on her campus.

When I asked Rachael how she decided to come to Chicago for the summer, she began telling a story.

Rachael's Story

She explained that in the spring she received a $100 check in the mail from a family for whom she used to baby-sit. The woman said that Rachael had been on her mind and that she should use the money for school or whatever she needed.

Rachael decided to use the money to help pay for a Campus Crusade spring break conference in Florida. She sent the family a thank you note telling them of her plans. They were excited to learn what she was doing and decided they'd love to fund the whole trip.

Meanwhile, a few students from Rachael's school applied to the student government for funding for the spring break trip. Because they were participating in an activity for a student group on campus, the request was approved.

Now Rachael's spring break trip was fully funded -- and then she received a $1000 check in the mail from the family.

Although she once thought she couldn't afford to go on both the spring break trip and a summer project, Rachael decided this was God's way of opening a door.

Rachael is thrilled to be here. She has an incredible hunger to grow in her relationship with the Lord and bring home ideas for running her Campus Crusade movement on her campus.

This project is the perfect place for her to be as we work in partnership with the Chicago campus ministry team to start and grow ministries here in the city.

I'm so glad God brought Rachael here.