from 20 to 34 campuses represented, and from 22 to 55 CCC staff helping (including us). It feels like a movement is taking off. A couple of nights ago, 40 Destino students from around the country spontaneously got on Skype and called each other to encourage each other in their walk with God. Apart from our staff, students have planned a trip from Texas to NYC over spring break to help grow the Destino movement there. Think about this…right now 1 in 4 kindergartners are Latino and 90% of them were born here. They’re not
going anywhere. In 30 years, the U.S. will be nearly 1/3 Hispanic. In the next 5 years, there will roughly be a 10% increase of non-Hispanic 18 year olds, but a nearly 80% increase of Hispanic 18 year olds in America. God is building a movement to win them to Christ, build them in their faith and mobilize them to reach the nations. We are so excited that we get to be a part of this and that God has also called you to partner with us!
Here is a glimpse of what God did during the Destino Conference this year:
The names of teenagers were scrawled all over the soccer ball. Jose Luis received the ball in front of over 200 Destino students and staff at our annual winter conference in San Antonio in January. Every one of us was in tears or holding back tears. You see, ten years ago, Jose Luis—a student involved with Destino at Texas A&M, was an orphan, and temporarily housed in a shelter in San Antonio. He had never been back to his orphanage until Saturday, January 16th, the day of our outreach in San Antonio. Dozens of cars and vans
loaded up and went to various places for the outreach. The van Jose was in went to a place he had never heard of. But when he stepped into the orphanage building he realized he had been there before. Then he saw the soccer field in the backyard and it all began to click. This was where he was housed 10 years ago. He began to shake with emotion and prayed silently. Somehow he was able to get through his emotions and share his story with the 13-17 year olds housed there. In each house he was able to relay in Spanish how he understood what it was like to be separated from your parents. He understood their loneliness and sense of rejection. He told them he was literally in their shoes when he was 14. He told them of God’s love and forgiveness available in Jesus Christ. Jose and the other Destino students shared the gospel with 40 teenage orphans and 20 of them received Christ. He told them that he was in college now and that they could make it because he made it. One boy told Jose he was ready to quit on life until he heard from Jose on that Saturday.
Unknown to Jose, they all signed a soccer ball as a “thank you” to him and Destino for bringing them encouragement. And to Jose’s surprise, a Destino staff member presented him with the soccer ball that night at the conference—and we couldn’t help but cheer with joy!
Here is a story from Tom Allen, a staff member in Texas:
Some may have already heard this story, but on campus today some students who were at the conf last weekend said they stayed up till 5am singing praise and worship and in the process met 3 highschool students who were from Louisiana who just came to SA that weekend for no aparent reason. Just a random trip. When they asked the conference students why they were at the hotel the students shared the gospel and all three high school students prayed to receive Christ in the lobby of the hotel. They said some of the students got their FB name to friend them but that's all the info they seemed to have on these three students from Louisiana who just "happened to be at that hotel for no apparent reason. Even better, that conference was a first time Destino exposure for the students who retold it to me. They just kept saying how they felt so joyful and peaceful after the conference they are hungry for more. One of our other new girls said after the Fall advance in October when she went back to work all her co-workers were telling her how different she seemed, just so peaceful and happy.
Praise God, Tom
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