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Uruguay 2014 team web
Professor Frank Jury was presenting a new idea to the law students at University of the Republic in Montevideo, Uruguay: a personal relationship with Jesus can change your life. These students, functional atheists in a very secular country, think of Jesus as merely a historical person. Fascinated, they asked Professor Jury: “Do you talk to Him? Is He inside you?”

Jury joined two other Wisconsin professors and 13 Cru students on a visit to three Uruguayan universities the first week of June 2014. Armed with their stories of how God had worked in their own lives, the three professors spent the week talking with students, faculty, and business professionals about their faith in Christ.

Faculty Commons staff Dave and Tamara Johnson led the team. American professors are held in high regard around the world; when they talk about God, people who would normally dismiss Him pay attention.

So the local Cru team in Uruguay offered these U.S. professors open doors to speak about Jesus. They arranged seminars and individual appointments with professors and students, along with time on campus to initiate spiritual conversations.

Toward the end of the week, Dr. Deb Pattee, associate professor of education at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire (UWEC), spoke to a group about her professional research on multiple intelligences. She integrated scripture throughout her lecture. To her delight, she learned that five of the guests indicated decisions to place their trust in Christ.

The Johnsons also had a goal for the three professors, who lead Christian faculty groups on their home campuses in Wisconsin: “We wanted these professors to experience God using them as they step out in courage and faith, partnering in ministry with Christian students.”

Courage was at times called for. Dave paired the professors with the Wisconsin students on the Cru summer mission team to go out on campus, meet students, and initiate conversations with them about spiritual issues. “The first time I went with the students to the public university, I found myself nervous with a knotted stomach,” one professor remembers.

But on the whole, they found Uruguayan students quite open to discussing spiritual ideas. “They like to discuss, debate, even disagree, but remain cordial rather than hostile,” Dr. Don Bredle, kinesiology professor at UWEC noticed. “I believe we planted a lot of seeds that week.”

The three professors also planted seeds among Uruguayan Christian professors. They met with four professors, from three different Uruguayan campuses, who were not organized as a group. “We were the first ones to put that idea in their minds and to help the Cru ministry in Uruguay start thinking of ways to include faculty,” says Dave Johnson.

This past spring and summer, 22 American professors accompanied Cru students traveling to 12 different international locations. For spring and summer of 2015, our goal is to have at least 50 professors going to 30 international campuses.

“It was a very positive and productive experience,” Dr. Bredle says. “In retrospect, I believe I benefited spiritually as much or more than the people I was trying to reach out to!”