Neil & Erin Rutan reaching purdue students for christ & investing in cru missionary staff so that everyone knows someone who truly follows jesus

Our desire is for every student to have an opportunity to hear about Jesus, grow in their faith, and be sent out into the world as ambassadors for Christ. Today's college students are tomorrow's leaders. By reaching the campus today, we reach the world tomorrow.

The Lord changed Erin's life as a college student at Purdue University. Since graduating in 2008, she has been serving with Cru at her alma mater, with a desire to see students reached with and transformed by the gospel.

Neil joined Cru in 2011 and served at Purdue University for 12 years. Beginning the fall of 2023, Neil has turned his attention to serving Cru staff in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Today Neil advocates for Cru staff to have what they need to grow and live out their calling to reach people for Christ. All that he and his team do has the end goal in sight--to reach our vision of movements everywhere so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus.

There is tremendous competition for the hearts and minds of students. How they are influenced and the decisions they make while in college will impact them for the rest of their lives.

We seek to introduce students to a relationship with Jesus, help them grow in their faith, and equip them to do the same for others!

We use mentoring relationships, conferences, retreats, mission trips, and training in discipleship and evangelism to help students live on mission during their time in college and after they graduate.

Neil works directly with Cru staff who are on the field. He helps ensure they have what they need to grow and live out their missionary calling.

As Neil gets to know and care for staff members in our region, he wants to help them each find their niche, avoid ministry burnout, and thrive within their role. Supporting and caring for our Cru staff leads to more missionaries on the field reaching people for Christ.

We've seen the Lord work in amazing ways throughout our nearly 29 combined years of ministry! We're excited to see what the future holds and how He continues to move in the hearts and minds of students.

We get to invite others to partner with us in a variety of ways. If you'd like to hear more about our ministry, we'd love to get together and share more.