Pirate memories . . .

This season of our lives has been very sweet. It's been a joy and honor to stand beside you and watch the Lord work in your life as he worked in those you ministered to. I've loved being your helper in this ministry to college students and I'm glad to be your helper as we move in a new direction. I love you very much and I thank God often for your labor of love to the students He placed at East Carolina University. I wanted to include just a few pictures from this last year. Our family will always love Pirate Football. Tailgating before the game with a group of college students and having fun *without alcohol* is unheard of on most campuses. I'm thankful our children have this experience to draw from when they get to college.




This is one of my favorite pictures of you with the kids!


The first CRU meeting as the freshmen were taking the "Pirate Pledge" that you wrote. It's a hit with every class!



We LOVED going to CRU with you on Thursday nights. It's one of my sweetest memories as a family being involved in this ministry. I'm thankful that C and Lydia have had the privilege of seeing their daddy preach the word boldly on the campus of East Carolina University. I'm also thankful for the countless hours of having students in our home to study the bible, pray together and enjoy true community. Our children have been exposed to what it looks like to "live a life of ministry" and I give thanks to God.

From Becca Hartman

Craig:
It's hard for me to think back to when I was a freshman and newbie to Crusade at ECU and how I hardly knew you or your family at all...now, I consider you and your sweet family very close and dear to me, and I am incredibly thankful that God placed me at ECU in Crusade! Cru was the first place that I really had ever heard someone tell me that saying a "salvation prayer" doesn't save you, and that there MUST be a significant change in your life that you can see Christ working in you as opposed to before you knew Him. It was within Cru that I started looking at my life and my past, and wondering where the change actually had occurred. It was within ECU Cru that I actually looked at my testimony and tried to define when Christ changed my heart, and how I am different now. I am so thankful for God's sovereignty with Him bringing me into Cru and having you and Brad there, teaching truth. Thank you for standing up for the Gospel and making a difference in my life, and the lives of students. Thank you for challenging me and loving me enough to ask the hard questions that no one else wants to ask. Thanks for always talking with me about photography stuff, and showing me things about your camera and in photoshop. Thank you for letting me get to know your wife and your kids on a deeper level. Thank you for allowing me join the ECU CRU team for this past year and minister to students alongside you and Brad... Though it wasn't always easy, and I didn't do everything right, I am very thankful for your help with everything and encouraging me to get things done. It has really been a pleasure and a joy to get to know you on a different level than just as a student, and it has been made even more evident to me the love and genuine care you have for students who don't know Christ. It encourages me to become more passionate, and to get to know the Lord more deeply so I can love with the love of Christ more greatly. Thanks for all you have done in this ministry; it will not be forgotten by those you have impacted. I believe you have left a legacy here at ECU that will last long, long time. I appreciate you and your family's hard work and dedication at ECU! You all will be greatly missed, but I am excited to see how God will use you guys in other people's lives. Thanks again for what you said Thursday night at CRU... I don't think I will ever be able to read Ephesians 2 the same way again without thinking of that time and message! I will be thinking of you all often and praying for this next chapter in your lives.

Love you guys!
Becca

From Jordan Parks

Craig,

When I think of you and your ministry in my life, though many Paul’s words come to mind, one of Jesus’s most popular statements takes precedence: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” A little note can’t express how much God has done in my life through you. At one of the most pivotal times in my life, you spoke words saturated in good teaching, yet given out of true biblical love. For my entire life I had followed the “still small voice” path for making decisions, but you taught me a true, biblical understanding of how to make decisions. Yes, the books and seminars helped clarify that understanding; yet the way you took time to not only teach me, but also live your life that way, honestly had one of the most important impacts on my life.

Since the almost two years that have passed, I’ve been able to take what you taught me and show that to my own dad, my mom, and several other friends. I also still find myself in Greenville (unlike what could’ve possibly been Seattle, haha), and your decision to stay here and minister has encouraged my own contentment. I know it has been difficult, but you have been a faithful disciple of Christ, and you are impacting many students at critical times in their life. I pray you continue your work, and I hope that we can continue to meet up every now and then. I am so thankful for your teaching with love and your life that mirrors Christ.

- Jordan Parks, c/o 2013

PS – I also hope we have the opportunity to work together in the future (shhh…)

From Monica Powell

Craig,

You have been such an encouragement in my life during my four years at ECU in Cru. You helped me to understand and realize the gospel, sins in my life, what a personal ministry is, and what it really means to be a follower of Christ and to have a heart change. Without you and Brad, working as team to turn lost students into Christ-centered laborers, I would have missed out on so many wonderful things that Christ wanted to show me and use me for. When I first came to Cru I fully believed that I was a Christian. But, I was lost in a sea of lies and misconceptions about the gospel. You helped me to fully understand what it means to be a Christian and you challenged me repeatedly, because I didn’t want to hear it the first time☺, to accept that I became a whole hearted, Christ-centered Christian when I was in college, not when I walked the aisle at 5. This impacted my life tremendously and completely changed how I viewed Christ, how I viewed myself, and how I witnessed to others. You constantly encouraged me to learn, know, and desire more of Christ and you spent countless hours pushing me, teaching me, and guiding me to know Christ more and to disciple others. The impact that you have made will impact not only the rest of my life, but innumerable others that I will be able to touch and teach because of my personal ministry.

I am also thankful for your discipleship and friendship to my husband. You helped to show him what it looks like to spiritually lead a family and to follow Christ’s example in loving his bride. You helped to push him toward Christ, explain scripture to him, and become a friend to him. God has used you to shape our family into one that will follow him and raise up our children to follow him, under the leadership of a Christ-focused husband, which is something I am forever thankful for.

Monica Powell

From Curt Powell

Craig,

As I think back on my time in college, I am tremendously grateful for your friendship and your leadership. Thank you for all the time and energy you invested in my life. Those years at ECU you were so formative in my spiritual growth, and example of humility, faithfulness, and commitment to increasing Christ's renown really ministered to me and taught me a lot about what it means to live as godly man. The Lord used you greatly in my life during my years as a university student, and I am so very thankful for you.

As much as I have been encouraged and instructed by your leadership, I know that this is true for generations of students like me. And so I want to thank you for your personal investment in my life, and also for your investment in the lives of so many other students. It's very important work, and I am confident that the Lord will reward you richly. Keep up the good fight, brother! I love you, and I am thankful for your partnership in the Gospel!

Grace and peace,
Marcus Glover

From Jody Jones

Dear Craig,

As you celebrate 11 years of marriage to Kim, I wanted to say thank you for your friendship and your willingness to spend some time helping me work through God's Word. Who would've thought that when our paths intially crossed 15 years ago that they would lead back to this place. I'm very grateful for the words of truth and encouragement you've imparted to me. More importantly, I appreciate the desire of your heart to help a brother in Christ work through his struggles and mature in his faith. As you've reached out to me, I've been able to learn and grow as man and been able to truly examine my the desires of my own heart. You and Kim have such a wonderful marriage and your committment to each other and to serving God is a thing of beauty. I look forward to our friendship growing and getting to know you and family even better.

Sincerely,

Jody Jones

From Ashley Wittenauer

Dear Craig,

My first thought when I think of you is wise. Of all the people I’ve met in my life, you have taught me the most about the Bible. I think that’s a pretty big deal! Because of that, you’ve changed my life in a major way. Your teaching, encouragement, and challenges have pushed me over the past four years to be a better student of the Word and to live a life that brings glory to Jesus. I can’t thank you enough for that.

Another word I think of when I think of you is brave. I admire the sacrifices you’ve made to lead the ministry on ECU’s campus, for speaking the truth of God’s word, even when it’s not what people “want” to hear, and for the way you pursue others with the Gospel, without any hesitation of what they might think. You are a great example of a disciple of Jesus, and it’s been a privilege to be your friend and walk along side of you as you strive to live out a life that is glorifying to God.
I can’t help but think, not only about the impact you’ve had on my life, but also the difference you’ve made in the life of my future husband. I’m so grateful for the example you’ve been to Nate of a godly husband and father and for the many times in discipleship where you challenged him with scripture and taught him how to lead as a man of the God. Your loving and caring influence on his life will, as a result, influence our marriage for a lifetime.

I’m so thankful for the time you’ve invested in my life and for your passion in seeing college students come to have a relationship with Christ. When I think back on college, my memories are flooded with numerous leadership meetings, Bible studies, planning events, meeting freshman, and mostly, being guided and loved on by you and your family. So, thank you for making a difference in my life and for having an eternal impact on who I am today.

Love,
Ashley Wittenauer
c/o 2011