Staff

Chasity Dillman

My freshman year of college at Ball State University I was searching for the meaning of life and for truth…and I found it!  While I had grown up with some Christian influence in my life, it was during my freshman year at a Cru event, that I truly understood who Jesus is and what His life, death, and resurrection accomplished for me. It was the most beautiful thing I’d heard and what I had unknowingly been searching for, but in all the wrong places. I’m still growing and learning how this beautiful and life-changing love affects and restores all the broken areas of my life.  My life isn’t perfect…but it is being made new.  I love telling people about and seeing this message change the lives of those around me…that’s how I came to join staff!  I love college students and I believe that God wants to use students today to impact the whole world!

 

John & Megan Carson

We both graduated from the University of Illinois in May 2010 and got married 6 months later in November. We did an intern year with Cru at U of I and joined staff in the summer of 2011.

John

I grew up going to church but didn’t fully understand the gospel until my Sunday school teacher shared it with us towards the end of my senior year of high school. Even though I had accepted Christ already, when I got to college He still wasn’t first in my life. I put my grades above God. I lived in a fraternity and a couple guys were leading a Bible study through Ephesians. It was through that study that I realized God calls to be first in our lives, but that He wasn’t in mine. As I grew in my understanding of the gospel, I realized the need to go share the gospel with others. After a summer mission trip with Cru following my sophomore year, I felt God might be calling me to join staff. Through my involvement over the next two years that calling felt confirmed. Fun facts: I grew up on a farm, I’ve ran 2 marathons and 3 half marathons, and I’m the 17th John in my family.

Megan

I went into college unsure if I believed Christianity anymore. The first friends I met at college got involved with Cru so I went along with them to Bible study. I struggled to surrender my life to Jesus because I knew He wanted my whole life, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to give Him everything. After seeing so many Christians live out their faith, I could see that they had something special in their lives and I wanted it. They had a personal relationship with Jesus. I started falling deeply in love with Jesus as I realized how much He loved me and would never let me down. Once I decided I wanted to live my entire life for Jesus, the decision to join staff with Cru was easy. What better use of my life than to be a part of Christ’s transformational work in other people! Fun facts: I finished college in 3 years, I’m half Greek, and I’m the only redhead in my family.

 

Ryan Howell

I grew up in a Christian home but never was firmly rooted in what the gospel meant for my life. I went to college with the aspirations of getting a degree and having a good time. It was until I encountered a student in Panama City Beach with cru that I really began to think of the emptiness of my life. After rededicating my life to Christ and joining the cru movement at Ball State I learned what the essence of the gospel was, the life change it brings and the hope it brings. God has brought so much healing that no rehab could do. I have so much joy in serving Him. I once said that I will never ever do full-time ministry after I graduate. Never tell God I will never, He doesn’t forget. So I left the corn fields of Indiana for the corn fields of DeKalb, to bring the gospel to students in need of hope.  Some Hobbies of mine include: watching/playing sports, playing guitar, writing music. I am also a die-hard cincinnati reds and Green Bay Packers fan.

 

Sarah Shannon 

When I first set foot on NIU’s campus as a freshman, I had no intention of being here two years after I graduated.  My plan was to get my degree and teaching certificate in early childhood education, graduate, and move on to get the job I wanted to do since I was three.  Surprise!  God had some very different plans!  During my time as a student at NIU, I got involved with Cru, through an invitation from my best friend.  God used Cru to help me learn more about himself  and experience more joy in following Jesus than I had ever thought possible, even though I had been active in church all my life.  Jesus changed my heart in huge ways and I am passionate about helping others experience the same joy that I found in Him.

My hobbies include sports (especially basketball and tennis), scrapbooking, and speaking Spanish.    The place I would most like to visit in the U.S. is Colorado.