June 27, 2025

Hey Church fam,

A team and I of 6 adult leaders and 17 middle school students spent last week at CIY MIX. In 2 weeks we're taking a group of 50 high schoolers and leaders to CIY MOVE. A week-long trip with middle schoolers and high schoolers… hold please while I grab some more coffee…….

Ok, I’m back.

For those unfamiliar with CIY, CIY (Christ in Youth) events are powerful, Christ-centered experiences designed specifically for middle and high school students. These camps combine high-energy worship, dynamic teaching, small group conversations, and tons of fun to help students take their faith seriously and grow in their relationship with Jesus. Set on college campuses across the states, CIY helps students discover and grow in their faith in Jesus and teaches them to come home to do Kingdom work.

This year’s theme, IN BETWEEN, invites students to step into the tension of life’s in-between moments: the space between the start and the finish, between fear and faith, between who they were and who they’re becoming. It's a call to live bravely in the middle—where growth happens, where decisions are made, and where Jesus is deeply present.

Life is full of transitions. It’s the space where students stand between childhood and adulthood, where young adults stand between exiting school and starting a career or a family, between the known and the unknown. And that space—the “IN BETWEEN”—is exactly where we see God show up.

The main scripture the theme centers around Hebrews 12:1–2;

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Urging students to “throw off everything that hinders,” “run with endurance,” and “fix our eyes on Jesus.” These verses offer direction in the midst of uncertainty. In the pull of culture and the noise of expectation, CIY helps students refocus—reminding them that Jesus stands with them in the waiting, in the wondering, and in the wilderness.

The "in between" isn’t wasted time. It’s the training ground for faith.

This theme is deeply personal. Every one of us knows what it feels like to be stuck in transition—to wait for clarity, to hope for healing, to wonder what’s next. God doesn’t want us to avoid these moments—He presses us into them with truth, grace, and courage.

Being “in between” doesn’t mean being lost. It’s formational. It means being prepared, shaped, and strengthened. It means trusting that Jesus, who began a good work in you, is faithful to carry it through.

Whether you are stepping into a new season of life, facing a difficult crossroads, a health journey, loss of someone close or a personal addiction, whether you feel on fire for God or on empty, God is FOR YOU! The in between is a space where you’ll be challenged to take your faith seriously, to support another deeply, and to chase after Jesus relentlessly—even when we don’t have all the answers.

Because it’s in the middle—in the in between—where God does some of His best work.

Ok, time for a nap.

Andrew Crowl

Ross Campus Student Pastor

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