From our May Newsletter

Something unique happens when we look at an image. Images connect deeply with our emotions and our experiences. They allow us to engage with people on a deeper level.

Soularium is a new image survey, providing 50 original photographic images and 6 simple exploring questions that allow the user to have one-on-one spiritual conversations with non-believers.

Questions explore people’s desires for their ideal life and spiritual journey. Soularium provides bridges to dialogue about Jesus. Staff and students who have field tested Soularium have found that they not only enjoyed using it, but non-believers found it intriguing as well.

Here is the story of how one Campus Crusade staff member used the survey:

“After hearing some good things about Soularium from some Campus Crusade Spring Break Conference attendees, I was excited to try it out. Last night I sat down with Travis (not his real name). He is a seemingly shallow, self-centered partier and has refused to attend any Campus Crusade or church events with his roommates.

“He picked out 3 pictures for each of the first two questions, which led to good discussion. Then he picked a picture that represented God, a picture of doors that are chained shut.

“With tears in his eyes, he described his less-than-positive church experience from junior high and how he’s been reluctant to attend any organized religious event since then. I could sense how deeply he had been hurt by his experience.

“We went on to discuss the difference between religion and knowing God. Without the Soularium cards, this conversation would never have happened. What an incredible tool for initiating gospel-centered conversations.”

Jeff designed and built a companion Web site, mysoularium.com. Responses to the Soularium image survey are entered on the site. Those who use the survey and the people they interview can discover what the trends are among other students around the nation or on a specific campus.

This past week, I returned to Budapest, Hungary for a week of ministry in Hungarian high schools. Here are some of the highlights of the week:

Monday – I had the chance to share a little bit of my testimony in a classroom with a small group. After school, I went with 2 teammates to do some random evangelism. We had an opportunity to talk with a group of 7 students that we had met earlier in the day while speaking in their English class.

Tuesday – My teammate Jillian got to share the gospel with a girl, Nori, that I had met on Monday in a Hungarian school. Jillian spent 4 years living in Budapest with her family. They are with Campus Crusade. Jillian shared the gospel in Hungarian and then I had an opportunity to share my testimony as we were answering some questions that Nori had.

At the student leadership meeting, I had the joy of seeing George. He was a student in Debrecen and was involved in the ministry while Anne and I lived there in 1998. I had not seen George in almost 10 years. He and his wife are on staff with the Campus ministry in Budapest. It is exciting to see enduring fruit from the ministry that we were involved with in Debrecen. He also caught me up on several others who had been student leaders in our ministry there.

Wednesday – I got to go back to a Catholic boy’s school that I had been in a year ago (pictured above). I saw Balint, a boy that I had talked with last year but did not get into spiritual things. I found out that he is a Christian and has been involved in the high school ministry here in Budapest. He has gone out with several of the staff when they have shared their faith. It was exciting to hear what God is doing in Balint’s life. (There is a picture of Balint on our February newsletter.)

Thursday – We tried to pass out flyers for the Battle of the Bands outreach. This day was a national holiday. We did not find a lot of students but did get to witness a couple of political rallies in the city. Hungarians are unhappy with their present government and there were threats of large demonstrations and even some violence. There was a small element of right wingers who caused some minor problems. We were never in any danger because the problems happened at night and we stayed away from the areas we knew would be a target.

Friday – Hundreds of students attended the Battle of the Bands outreach. I do not yet know the numbers or how many showed spiritual interest.

Earlier in the day, I witnessed some university students playing softball in a park. This was an unusual thing in Hungary. I approached them to ask about it and next thing I know, I got to play with them for a couple of hours. It was a very fun memory of my time here.