New Meaning for “Spring Break”!

“Spring break”? Maybe not what you think.

      For many, it’s time to spring into a new relationship with God ... make a break with the past.

      That’s what happens, by God’s grace, through Here’s Life’s annual Urban Immersion outreach.

      Christian college students spend their spring break serving Here’s Life Inner City’s urban partner churches and missions in inner-city neighborhoods across the country.

      Students from Denison University and Central Kentucky headed to Detroit last spring and found themselves talking with a woman named Joanne. They shared a four-point outline of the Gospel — God loves us and wants to know us personally, but that we can’t experience His love because of our sinfulness.

      “That’s me,” Joanne interjected. “I want to be good, but I just can’t.” The students went on to share how Christ died to pay for our sin — so by receiving Him, we can experience God’s love.

      “That’s beautiful!” Joanne responded immediately. “I want that.” She prayed right then, inviting Christ into her life.

      At our Agape Center in Chicago, Urban Immersion students set up a carnival with booths, games, and activities. It was a huge hit with 90 neighborhood children — throwing a football through a hoop, scooter-racing on a makeshift track, battling for first place in a dance-off. Then it was Bible time, and the children were captivated by a small storybook, The Greatest Treasure — with Jesus in the “starring role.” That day, 11 children made decisions to receive Christ as their own personal Treasure!

      Then there was an Urban Immersion basketball tournament where a University of North Texas student met a high school dropout named Leroy — the product of a broken home with an out-of-wedlock child on the way. The college student had never shared his faith before — he was nervous — but Leroy was gripped by his need for a Savior. By the end of the Gospel presentation, he decided to receive Christ as Lord.

      This March over 600 college students served in seven Here’s Life cities.

Previous Stories of Hope:

• S.A.Y. Yes! is for Parents, Too
• The Turnaround
• Celebrating New Lives
• Extreme Makeover
• Something Beautiful
• Walk a Year in These Shoes
• Authenticity From Experience
• Transformation Station
• The City Pulled Me Up
• Language of Love
• Thriving at 13
• S.A.Y. Yes! Celebration
• Urban Immersion: One Life-Changing Day
• Reach a Child, Impact a Family
• It Started With a Fishing Trip
• Hope Grows in Brooklyn
• A Transformed Family
• S.A.Y. Yes! Long Term
• Partnership in Brooklyn
• S.A.Y. Yes! for the Long Term
• Moving Toward a Career
• Breakthrough at S.A.Y. Yes!
• We Don’t Ever Have to Go Back!
• Prison Prevention Ministry Helps Redirect Lives