{"id":6373,"date":"2025-04-09T10:48:55","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T14:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/campus.cru.org\/faculty\/?p=6373"},"modified":"2025-04-09T10:48:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T14:48:55","slug":"god-goes-before-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/campus.cru.org\/faculty\/2025\/god-goes-before-us\/","title":{"rendered":"God Goes Before Us"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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My heart sank. As the minutes ticked away, it became obvious I would be the only one on the Cru Bible study Zoom call. Discouraged, I ended the call and began to pray. \u201cWhat do you want me to do, Lord? Do you want me to find another colleague to be the sponsor of our group? Should we disband the club?\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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After retiring from coaching college baseball in 2019, I was blessed to receive a Sociology teaching position at a community college. The sponsor for Cru, the only Christian group on campus, was leaving and I quickly agreed to be his replacement.<\/p>

Interest Quickly Faded<\/strong><\/p>

At the beginning of the 2023-24 academic year, I began to pray again for discernment as to whether God wanted me to continue as the Cru sponsor. \u201cIf so,\u201d I prayed, \u201cPlease send a student to me who could be a strong leader.\u201d For several months, it seemed there was no clear answer to my prayers. But finally, during the middle of the spring semester, a young man sent an email to me inquiring about the group.<\/p>

He and some of his friends came to the next meeting and it didn\u2019t take long for me to recognize this student as the answer to my prayers for a strong leader. Because our meeting took place in a classroom where I taught a class that began just after our meeting, some of my students who normally arrived early to class began to join us in the meetings. One of my teaching colleagues started attending as well.<\/p>

God Knew All Along<\/strong><\/p>

Our student leader was incredible at leading our Bible discussions and we had fourteen participants at our final gathering this past spring. We are all excited about how God will continue to move within our group and on campus in the 2024-2025 academic year.<\/p>

I am reminded of Deuteronomy 31:8 where it says that God is not only with us and beside us at all times, He also goes before us.<\/p>

When I couldn\u2019t see a future for our Cru group, God was out in front of us, preparing the way for our group to eventually thrive.<\/blockquote>

He knew all along the plans He had for our group and our campus, and we trust that He will continue to provide for our needs according to His will.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Rusty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Rusty Stroupe<\/strong><\/h3>

Social Sciences<\/h3>

Catawba Valley Community College<\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My heart sank. As the minutes ticked away, it became obvious I would be the only one on the Cru Bible study Zoom call. Discouraged, I ended the call and began to pray. \u201cWhat do you want me to do, Lord? Do you want me to find another colleague to be the sponsor of our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13911,"featured_media":6386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2439,2438,2437],"tags":[2528,3277,3516,2572,2518,3515,2628,2730,3183,3522,3521,3517,3520,3519,3518],"class_list":["post-6373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grander-stories","category-mentoring-students","category-personal-faith","tag-compassion","tag-conflict","tag-dealing-with-students","tag-gentleness","tag-holy-spirit","tag-international-trip","tag-kindness","tag-love","tag-mercy","tag-nivine-richie","tag-sanctification","tag-self-control","tag-spirit-filled-life","tag-walking-by-the-spirit","tag-walking-in-the-spirit"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGod Goes Before Us - Faculty Commons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My heart sank. 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