Representing Jesus Regardless of the Results

Students crouch over each other and eagerly shout, their voices filling the space and echoing through the vacant rows in a room designed for 100 people. As each team’s chosen artist sketches their clues, the pressure intensifies. Second-year education major and Cru® student president Lia Compton stands over them, watching intently. In the final moments as both artists frantically point to their wild configuration of lines, another student finally yells out the right answer.

Laughter and applause erupt as Lia waits for everyone to file through the center aisle to sit before she shares about upcoming events. The weekly Thursday night Cru meeting has just begun.

This is what Thursday nights look like as 25 students gather in the Marshall Student Center at the University of South Florida. After participating in a game, students watch a short video from a staff member featuring a Bible passage and then discuss it in small groups. Often, when the hour-long meeting ends, some students stay together for a game night, late night study session or line dancing.

Along with the weekly Thursday meeting, Cru students meet for small group gatherings, paintball and video gaming socials. The four USF Cru staff members and 10 student leaders explore creative ways to reach students for Christ.

At the start of the 2023-2024 academic year, Cru hosted “Taste of Tampa,” a welcome event that brought in almost 2,500 students during USF’s “Week of Welcome.”  

Staff members and student leaders coordinated with six local churches, more than 70 volunteers, the Marshall Student Center and USF Dining to provide a memorable experience for incoming freshmen.

At the event, volunteers gave participants a green and gold “Go Bulls!” lanyard, which students used to navigate through and sample from the various restaurants promoting themselves. If curious students followed the Cru Instagram handle printed on the lanyard, they could also access a site with valuable gospel resources.

As Lia volunteered at the Cru table at the event and welcomed students, she recognized that the event meant more than free food and games. Lia realized that while any club could have hosted Taste of Tampa, the Cru team was doing so as image-bearers of Christ, while making sure that every student they greeted also walked away with a lanyard that could unlock the gospel.

During the two hours at Taste of Tampa, 400 students filled out a spiritual interest survey to indicate whether they had a relationship with God or wanted to develop one. A team of staff members, partner church volunteers and students contacted each respondent individually. But the team received little response, and their kickoff meeting saw fewer new people than expected. For several months following the event, 25 people consistently attended — about the same size as the movement had the year before.

The USF Cru team, including Lia, haven’t allowed disappointment to deter them. No matter what results their events yield, they remain dedicated to changing the way students view Christianity on campus.

For example, Lia has noticed that members of some other Christian groups pose deep, existential questions to anyone walking by, which can be intimidating to students with no spiritual background.

In contrast, Lia and her team focus on presenting a vibrant and welcoming portrayal of Jesus. They hope that this helps students realize Christianity doesn’t have to be a “cookie cutter, hands folded kind of thing,” according to Lia, but rather a transformative, intimate relationship.

As Lia concentrates on showing Jesus to her peers through everyday interactions, she has seen Him work in her life and in the lives of those around her.

Every week, Lia and four women meet to discuss what it means to be a follower of Christ and encourage each other in their walks of faith. Ever since she started leading this discipleship group in early January, she’s been encouraged by how their faith has grown.

At the beginning there was more silence than talking in between each vulnerable question Lia asked. Yet that dissipated as the women began sharing their lives openly, just as Lia had done with them.

Lia loves meeting with these women not only to connect personally and spiritually, but also to demonstrate what living out faith looks like on campus. While other leaders meet in the library or other popular spots around campus, Lia hosts her group in the common room of her dorm — an example of what she calls a “public display of affection” toward Jesus.

Every student walking in or out of the common room witnesses this group of women studying and discussing the Bible and having fun with one another, a sight they may not have ever seen before on campus. Lia challenges those in her group by routinely asking if they are showing “PDA” toward Jesus by reading their Bibles, sharing their faith with others or praying before meals.

Lia and her fellow student leaders also continually try new tactics to foster a stress-free environment for spiritual conversations. Recently, they used a dice game: enticing students to roll an oversized die for a chance to win a variety of prizes laid out on their Cru table. In this undemanding atmosphere, leaders find it easier to ask about students’ spiritual backgrounds.

Along with these opportunities to engage in conversations, Lia realizes that small acts of kindness, such as checking in with women on her dorm floor or simply holding the door for others, can serve as a testament to who Jesus is. 

“I don't want anybody that I come across to ever get the wrong picture of Jesus from who I am,” Lia says, speaking about her motivation as a Christian. “So now as a college student, I get to walk my campus as a reflection of Christ.”

Even though Taste of Tampa happened months ago at the start of the academic year, Lia still finds encouragement whenever she spots students donning green and gold lanyards. Seeing this reminds her that God’s presence continues to influence the campus. 

The USF Cru team has already agreed to host the event during the 2024-25 school year — the third year in a row. No matter what the results yield, Lia remains devoted to embodying Christ in everything she does on a college campus where many have yet to know Jesus.