Emmanuel Rutunda, Campus Crusade director in Rwanda, encouraged churches to participate in EXPLO 2000 and helped organize marches, where believers proclaimed that they wanted to please God with their lives.

Last December believers in Rwanda (left) celebrated the new year by participating in Explo 2000, a satellite conference linking Christians worldwide. Some 15,000 people from different ethnic groupss and denominations came to the national soccer stadium to ask God to heal their land. "How good that you have gathered us to ask God and our brothers and sisters for forgiveness," said Paul Kagame, vice president of Rwanda. "We want to commit the future of our country to Him."

People around the world shared that sentiment. Explo 2000, a five-day conference organized by Campus Crusade for Christ of Switzerland, was broadcast to 87 local conferences in 61 countries via satellite. International television networks also carried the broadcasts, resulting in an estimated 30 million viewers in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

At the central location in Lausanne, 10,000 people heard speakers such as Bill Bright of Campus Crusade and George Verwer of Operation Mobilization give a challenge to live out God's love and give it away with new passion. Hundreds prayed around the clock.

One highlight came on New Year's Eve, as Arab Christians in Bethlehem greeted the nations. They said Explo was the largest evangelical gathering in the history of Bethlehem.

"In many areas of the world, such as North Africa and the Middle East," said Hanspeter Nüesch, director of Explo 2000, "isolated believers were tremendously encouraged by the knowledge they were part of an international family celebrating the Lord Jesus with believers from some 100 countries." —Bill Sundstrom

In a scene from the movie, wide-eyed children meet in a stable, marveling at Jesus' actions and talking about what His words mean for them.

"What about the children?" asked Vernie Schorr one evening more than a decade ago. She had been listening as Campus Crusade for Christ staff members Jim and Juanita Wyatt told about the widespread use of the film JESUS.

Children often attend, they replied, but no special follow-up materials were available. Vernie, with her years of experience in Christian education, decided to investigate further. Eventually, her concern led to an evangelistic booklet for children called The Greatest Promise and four "discipleship games" that help children grasp principles of growing in Christ.

"We have consistently found that the younger years, preceding the teenage years, are the most crucial time of life-changing decisions for Christ," says researcher George Barna. Research shows that the vast majority of people who become Christians do so between the ages of 4 and 14.

In early 2000, Vernie's dream of a special version of JESUS for these children became a reality. The Story of Jesus for Children video shows children as they might have encountered the life and message of Jesus Christ in A.D. 30. Their involvement, reactions and discussions are woven into scenes from the film JESUS, giving a 62-minute story.

This version of the JESUS film has particular uniquenesses, says Vernie. "We don't know how children found out who Jesus was or what they heard or thought at the time He lived and walked on this earth," she comments, "but this story is told through the eyes of children as it might have happened.

"Secondly," she continues, "at the end of the video, there is an invitation given to pray a prayer to ask Jesus to come and live in them. And it's done by two children." That, Schorr says, not only helps make the film appealing to children, but also helps make it easy for them to tell their friends about Jesus.

"Many have thought that the gospel is too difficult for one child to present to another," comments Paul Eshleman, director of The JESUS Film Project®. "If you have to become as a little child to enter the kingdom of heaen, then a little child should be able to lead another little child to the Lord."

Vernie's vision for the film is that children who watch it will clearly understand the life and message of Jesus, through both visual impressions and a vocabulary that clearly communicates. She also envisions the video as a useful tool for parents, friends, Sunday-school teachers and others.

Vernie and other staff members of The Story of Jesus for Children, a department of The JESUS Film Project, are preparing resources for a day of commitment—an annual occurrence when teachers, parents and grandparents will show the film and give children an opportunity to invite Jesus into their lives.

"Words lose their adequacy to fully express my complete enthusiasm for The Story of Jesus for Children," says Paul A. Kienel, founder and president emeritus of the Association of Christian Schools International. "It may well become the most significant tool of evangelism for children in the 21st century." —Donna Bahler

Donna Bahler, communications director of The JESUS Film Project, lives in Indiana and writes extensively about the JESUS film ministry.

For more information or to order The Story of Jesus for Children ($14.95 plus shipping and handling), please call 1-800-432-1997.

For information about S.A.Y. Yes! Centers, like the one pictured above, call the S.A.Y. Yes! national office at (310) 631-8231 or e-mail sayyes@ccci.org.

Brian, 6, used to watch cartoons until 3 a.m. and then sleep through the next day of school. His mom didn't pay much attention. Alcohol clogged her thoughts, and she struggled unsuccessfully to keep a job. But the door to a new life opened for Brian when he started coming to a S.A.Y. Yes! Center for Youth Development in his Denver neighborhood.

S.A.Y. stands for Save America's Youth, and these centers are an outreach of Here's Life Inner City, the urban ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.

Through curriculum, training and volunteers, HLIC helps inner-city churches provide a biblically based after-school program for struggling children like Brian.

At first, Brian would often withdraw at the center, curling up into a ball and refusing to cooperate. But HLIC staff member Katie Mills and others at the center loved Brian with a commitment he had never before experienced. He became excited about school and learning, and eventually opened his heart to Christ.

The first S.A.Y. Yes! Center started in Los Angeles in 1994, prompted by the overwhelming needs of inner-city children. Currently, 36 S.A.Y. Yes! Centers operate in 13 cities, reaching more than 1,000 children. In the safe confines of the church, kids receive help with their homework, tutoring for special needs, nutritious food and a constructive outlet for their physical energy.

Kids also receive a message that most have never heard beforeÑthat God loves them as nobody else does, and that He can enable them to handle the difficult situations of their lives. Jonathan, a second grader who goes to a S.A.Y. Yes! Center in Harlem, used to hate school so much he cried doing his homework. He was getting C's and D's, and his mom was furious with him most of the time.

But at S.A.Y. Yes!, Jonathan got help with his homework from HLIC staff member Carrie Dennis. He developed confidence and enthusiasm. Today he gets A's and B's, and at S.A.Y. Yes! Bible time, Jonathan knows all the answers.

It's not just children who experience the impact of S.A.Y. Yes! Parents see the changes in their children and have been drawn to faith in Christ. The influence of the center reaches schools as well. One principal who had observed the transformation in S.A.Y. Yes! children asked how she, too, could know this God. One school superintendent urged other churches to start centers because of the dramatic leap in test scores he observed among S.A.Y. Yes! kids.

The program helps churches change their communities. God uses this partnership to change lives, like that of 5-year-old Bobby, who comes to the center on Skid Row in Los Angeles. When first told that Jesus loved him, he answered angrily, "Jesus doesn't love Bobby—nobody loves Bobby! Bobby is bad."

Bobby shares one room in a welfare hotel with his mother and two sisters. They live in the hotel with drug dealers, gang members, prostitutes and rats.

Today Bobby exchanges that danger for security at the S.A.Y. Yes! Center. He often snuggles into the lap of Joe, his favorite volunteer, to sing praise songs. He's listening better in school, and he's finally learning his letters and numbers. And now when someone asks, "Who loves you?" Bobby is quick to shout out, "JESUS!" —Meredith Gandy

Meredith Gandy and her husband, Ted, have been Campus Crusade staff members for 31 years. Based in New York City, they direct Here's Life Inner City.

Colombia | Strife between four warring groups has created great uncertainty and fear in the South American country of Colombia. Through a strategy called "Time for Peace," Campus Crusade is working with people who want peace to present the JESUS film in schools and businesses. According to national director José Iván Cano, some 210,000 Colombians also viewed the film on a popular religious channel, which resulted in the planting of three new churches.

FamilyLife | More than 1 million copies of HomeBuilders Couples Series® Bible studies have been sold by FamilyLife, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, since 1987. The studies underscore God's blueprints for marriage and the family.

Athletes in Action | Championship wrestlers will teach takedowns, pins and other wrestling techniques at five Athletes in Action wrestling camps this summer. Young athletes will grow spiritually, mentally and physically as they learn biblical principles of athletic competition. Find out more by calling Steven Burak at (719) 593-8200 or by e-mailing aiawrcamps@juno.com.



Family Life
Zagreb, Croatia

The winds of war have passed for the republics that once made up Yugoslavia. Today, people are again beginning to focus on the problems of everyday life—like healing broken marriages.

In June, 1999, Scott and Jayne Cuidon held their second marriage conference, in the city of Split, on the Croatian coast. They'd prayed about starting a ministry to families in the crescent-shaped country of Croatia, where they'd been doing campus ministry, for several years. Pastor Kent, a local pastor, and his congregation planned and advertised the event, and 14 couples—several of them nonbelievers—attended the conference.

After Scott's first talk on the forces against unity in marriage, an older man came up to him and said, "I wish I had heard this 40 years ago. I know my marriage would be very different than it is today." This man, along with two others, indicated that he had placed his faith in Christ that day. Pastor Kent and members of his church are now meeting with all three to instruct them further in the Christian life. —Stephanie Reeves


Lake Hart
Orlando, Fla.

Suzanne Thomas works in Guest Relations for Campus Crusade for Christ International at Lake Hart. Sitting in front of the Karl Marx display in the Campus Ministry VisionWalk, she had just asked God for greater opportunities to share her faith. Then an elderly man approached her.

"What does it mean to find Jesus?" the man asked. "Some of my friends say they've found Jesus. I didn't know He was lost."

Lawrence Abt, an 85-year-old man from Orlando, had been on an afternoon drive with his wife when they noticed Campus Crusade's sign. The couple decided to go inside and check it out.

Suzanne explained how Jesus' death and resurrection opened the way for people to meet and know God personally. She handed Lawrence a Four Spiritual Laws booklet and a copy of More Than a Carpenter. He was grateful and promised to read them right away.

"God longs for people to know Him," says Suzanne. "Mr. Abt doesn't realize that it's not a matter of our finding Jesus—He finds us, and brings us to Himself." —Erik Segalini


Campus Ministry
West Chester, Pa.

Will James was disturbed. The 5-year-old had discovered that not all of his preschool friends knew Jesus. He remembered drawing crowds with a lemonade stand the summer past, and it made him think that perhaps he could tell people about Jesus the same way.

He made a stand from a box and designed his own version of the Four Spiritual Laws booklet. "I drew a tomb that was gray and then I drew like a cross," explains the auburn-haired boy, "and I writed words and asked how to spell it."

No one stopped at Will's stand that afternoon. "I remember him standing up and holding his little Four Laws up in the air as the cars passed by," says his mother, Katie James.

That night Will's parents, who are staff members with Campus Crusade for Christ, explained how he could talk about his faith with people he knew, and Will began praying for two friends by name.

"My hope is that when he is 18, he will look back and remember that incident," says Katie. "God finds acceptable and pleasing any step anyone takes to share the love of Christ." —Erik Segalini