Three days after Christmas, as the world prepared to bid farewell to the first decade of the new millennium, 1,800 young men and women from the college campuses of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio gathered in Indianapolis for IndyCC, the annual student conference held by the Great Lakes Region of Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru). Students traveled through a snowstorm and bitter-cold winds, but thankfully all got to the conference safe and sound to join together for what would prove to be one of Cru’s most challenging yet most inspiring conferences yet.

While IndyCC ‘09 offered plenty of exciting and fun activities (seminars, men’s and women’s times, a New Year’s Eve party, a concert, and even a short film contest!), this year, conference planners offered a theme that was both delicate and personal: “Wrecked into Redemption.” As the title implies, IndyCC ’09 was all about God’s redeeming work in the lives of those willing to be broken by Him—completely taken apart, shattered, wrecked. The main speakers, James MacDonald and Greg & Charmaine Lillestrand, spoke on the topics of repentance, revival, and responding to God’s calling. While the atmosphere throughout the main sessions was worshipful and even solemn, the speakers’ message to students carried the hope of deep healing rooted in the simplicity of God’s all-encompassing love. Matt McCoy and his praise band set the mood for the entire four days, opening the conference with a simple prayer of praise: “Jesus, You are unchanging, and for that we praise You.”

James MacDonald, a critically acclaimed author, radio host, and founder of Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago, didn’t waste any time and cut right to the heart of the matter. As he began his first talk, he warned the students that God was about to do “some major taking apart” in their lives. “Can you take it?” he asked the students earnestly. Throughout the conference, he plunged deep into such difficult and uncomfortable topics as sin, our rebellion against a Holy God, and our need for genuine repentance. Terry, a student from Marquette University and a guest in our region, put it concisely and clearly: “Repentance doesn’t really have any value without my turning away from sin and beginning to be obedient to God.” True repentance requires real change.

The conference quickly suffused with the spirit of vulnerability and grace. A student from IU named Tyler went on stage to share a deeply personal story. His voice quivering and his eyes glistening with tears under stage lights, he read excerpts from his journal about struggles with same-sex attraction, pornography, and wrestling with God. He went on to share about his journey of faith, repentance, turning away from sin, and “running the race” with God and a community of loving brothers in Christ. Both Tyler and MacDonald encouraged the students with the truth of Philippians 3: we need to leave sin behind and press on toward Christ.

Possessing a rare combination of honesty, humility, and humor, MacDonald captured the students’ undivided attention. They took his message seriously. On December 29th, Starfield, a talented Christian band from Canada, delivered an outstanding performance after the main evening session. However, attendance was surprisingly low. Sarah, a staff member in Indy, explained: “Students felt burdened to deal with what was on their hearts immediately after James’ talk.” Some called their family members and friends to ask for forgiveness, many shared deeply personal hurts and secrets with each other, most spent significant time in prayer. “When it comes to turning away from sin, I’ve dealt with God before, but I’ve never really dealt with people. Real repentance often requires honesty and making things right with the people you’ve hurt along the way,” said Cortney, a student at Ohio University. All throughout the Convention Center and the hotels, God’s redeeming love was at work.

The following day, students got to share this love with the Indy community. As in previous years, IndyCC students joined local church leaders to deliver boxes of food to poor neighborhoods and prisons, sharing Christ’s compassion for the suffering and His message of love. They spoke with nearly 2,500 people: 1,125 heard the gospel, 131 prayed to receive Jesus, and 691 expressed a desire to connect to a local church.

On New Year’s Eve, IndyCC students and staff had the opportunity to raise a financial gift to help reach people for Christ, feed the hungry, and raise up godly leaders in Africa and India. They collected an impressive $43,000 that evening and $10,000 more was pledged. This gift will be used to share Christ’s love with the people of the impoverished African nation of Zambia by purchasing farm land for an orphanage for a sustainable food source and distributing resources to help raise educated, Christ-centered Zambian leaders. The rest of the gift will be used to help rescue sexually trafficked women and children in India (an estimated 40,000 sex slaves in Mumbai alone) and to continue to develop local leaders.

The next speakers, Greg and Charmaine Lillestrand, are quite renowned for being pioneers in international missions. Since the 1980s, they’ve started many Christian ministries in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc and are currently serving the Lord in Italy, reaching the young people of Western Europe. Charmaine highlighted God’s unrelenting pursuit of those who seek Him, sharing story after story in which real people encountered and embraced Christ, against all odds, in France, Italy, Russia, Poland, China, Bulgaria, former Yugoslavia, and Azerbaijan. God’s moving among the nations, and He’s calling us to be His laborers. She concluded her talk with a question each of us must ask: “Where He leads, will I follow?” Greg echoed this challenge on IndyCC’s closing night. “It’s not about us, it’s about Him,” he affirmed, adding, “I’m asking you to lay down your life for the King.” He expressed his vision for a new generation of spiritual leaders who are not prideful and timid but humble yet bold. Greg then challenged the students to commit a summer or a year of their life to missions.

The conference closed with the traditional “praying in” of the New Year. While many of their peers all over America were out partying with their friends, the young men and women at IndyCC were praising their Lord and Savior in song and prayer, ushering in the New Year and new decade in worshipful adoration of the One and Only, Jesus Christ. Please pray with us that, as our students are processing what they learned at IndyCC, they would allow God to continue His redemptive work in them and use them for His Kingdom on their respective campuses and in their home towns.

For more info on the conference and speakers, visit http://indycc.org.