Spend your spring break learning to share the Gospel in Panama City Beach Florida.  Big Break will give you the training and experience to share the gospel back on your college campus.

The conference begins with onsite registration on Saturday afternoon. The beginning session is Sunday night. The Monday through Thursday morning sessions provide practical training on sharing the gospel. The afternoons offer the opportunity to practice sharing the gospel in Panama City Beach. The Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evening sessions provide worship, opportunities to share your afternoon experiences, and biblical teaching. Optional seminars will be offered throughout the week on such topics as apologetics, Web evangelism, and worldviews.

This is what a typical weekday at Big Break will look like:

10:00am – Morning Session

12:00 – Lunch and Personal Quiet Time

1:30pm – Evangelism on Beach

7:30pm – Evening Session

There will be groups of students and staff going to Big Break for both the week of March 17 – 24 and March 24 – 31.  The cost of the conference is $299 and that includes your stay in a beautiful condo just steps from the beach, and conference costs.  The Condo’s have full kitchens so you can cook your meals.  We’ll be arranging transportation from Chicago via Buses of Vans as well.  Our early estimate on the cost of transportation to and from the conference is $180.  More transportation information will be available soon.

For more information and to register go to the Big Break Website

Do you want to invest your Spring Break reaching students in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Chicago Metro’s new overseas partnership?  On this trip you’ll have the opportunity to share your faith with students at the Universidad de Guayaquil, a campus with over 80,000 students. Ecuadorian students are extremely open to the Gospel.  You’ll also have the chance to experience Ecuadorian culture and all that Guayaquil has to offer.

The trip will leave from Chicago on Saturday, March 17th and return on Friday, March 23rd.  The cost for the trip is $1600 (This is a current estimate, the price may go down).   It includes flight, hotel, food, in country transportation, and SOS/Medical Insurance.  You can register for the trip using the link below.  The registration also serves as your application for the trip.  A $200 deposit is required for your application to be reviewed.  In the event that you are not accepted on the trip, your $200 will be refunded within 3 business days.  Your deposit is not refundable for any reason other than that  you are not accepted on the trip.

The deadline to fill out the application is February 14th and the deadline to pay the deposit is February 17th.   The deposit counts toward the total payment for the trip.  If your deposit is paid with personal funds it can be refunded later if enough support is raised.

We hope to let you know of your acceptance status within three days of your registration/application.  If you are interested in going please apply as soon as you can so that we can have accurate information in terms of numbers (which helps us plan well and keep costs low), so that you have time to discuss the trip with your parents, and so that you have as much time as possible to raise support for the trip.  Resources to help you with your support raising will be made available upon your acceptance.

Click Here to Apply and Register

Do you want to invest your Spring Break reaching students in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Chicago Metro’s new overseas partnership?  On these trips you’ll have the opportunity to share your faith with students at the Universidad de Guayaquil, a campus with over 80,000 students.  From a recent trip to Ecuador we can tell you that students on this campus are extremely open to the Gospel.  You’ll also have the chance to experience Ecuadorian culture and all that Guayaquil has to offer.

There will be two groups of students and staff from Chicago going to Ecuador, the first from March 14th – 20th, and the second from March 21st – 27th.  The cost for both trips is $1450.   It includes flight, hotel, food, in country transportation, and SOS/Medical Insurance.  You can register for the trip using the links below.  The registration also serves as your application for the trip.  A $200 deposit is required for your application to be reviewed.  In the event that you are not accepted on the trip, your $200 will be refunded within 3 business days.  Your deposit is not refundable for any reason other than that  you are not accepted on the trip.

The deadline to fill out the application and pay the deposit is February 17th.   The deposit counts toward the total payment for the trip.  If your deposit is paid with personal funds it can be refunded later if enough support is raised.

We hope to let you know of your acceptance status within three days of your registration/application.  If you are interested in going please apply as soon as you can so that we can have accurate information in terms of numbers (which helps us plan well and keep costs low), so that you have time to discuss the trip with your parents, and so that you have as much time as possible to raise support for the trip.  Resources to help you with your support raising will be made available upon your acceptance.

Register/Apply for March 14th – 20th

Register/Apply for March 21st – 27th

Do you wan to be among the first students and staff to go to our new partnership location Guayaquil, Ecuador?  On the January Vision trip you’ll have the chance to visit the campuses, meet and share your faith with students in Guayaquil, and help lay the groundwork for movements to be launched among the students there.

The dates for the trip are January 10th – 16th.  We won’t have the final cost until some more arrangements have been made but right now we estimate a cost of $1350 which includes plane ticket, lodging, food, insurance, and in country transportation.

If you’d like to go you can fill out the online registration and application using the link below.  Registration/Applications can be filled out from November 15 – November 29th.  You should receive word of your acceptance decision within three days of completing the application.  Once you receive your acceptance you’ll need to pay a $200 deposit by December 1 so that we can secure plane tickets.  It would be wise to apply as soon as possible so that you have as much time as possible to talk to your parents about going and to raise support for the trip.

You can apply and register for the Vision Trip Here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a passport?

Yes, if you do not already have your passport then go to the U.S. State Department website for information concerning securing your passport in time for the trip.

What precautions are being made to keep us safe?

Several members of the Chicago Metro CCC staff team will be going on the trip.  In Ecuador we’ll be met and guided by Ecuadorian CCC staff who know the country and city well.  Nobody will be wandering the City alone and we’ll make sure to always travel in groups.  We also use International SOS, the world’s leading international healthcare, medical assistance, and security services company, so that we have the best resources available to us should the unexpected happen.

Will my family be able to contact me on the trip?

We are planning on staying at a hotel with internet access, so you should be able to contact your family using any number of online options.  We’ll make sure to pass along the hotel phone number as well as a few Ecuadorian Cell phone numbers that can be used to contact the group in case of an emergency.

Is my $200 deposit refundable?

Because we use the deposits to secure flights and that cost is not refundable to us, the deposit is not refundable.  The only exception is if you pay your deposit before getting your acceptance and you are not accepted on the trip.  In that case we will refund your deposit.

What do I need to know about raising support for the trip?

Once you are accepted we’ll send you a packet of information on raising support for the trip.  For now you can find a sample support letter for the trip here.

From Genesis to Revelation, God’s  heart for seeing people from every tongue, tribe, and nation be blessed and come to know him is evident.  Campus Crusade for Christ exists to help fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.  One of the ways we carry this out is by forming partnerships with cities and campuses overseas.  This fall we’re asking our Chicago Metro staff and student leaders to seek the Lord about where we should partner.  After a process of considering a list of worldwide priority locations for partnership and gathering information, the choices have been narrowed down to four locations: Kingston Jamaca, Guayaquil Ecuador, Lusaka Zambia, and Rome Italy.

Our Chicago Directors have now met with student leadership teams all over Chicago and have shared about the 5 stages of partnership (explained in the video below) and the potential partnership locations information document. At our October 17th Servant Team Meeting we’ll be getting together as Chicago Metro students and staff to select our next partnership.  Between now and then we want all of you to be seeking God about where we should go as well as what part you should play in taking the Gospel to the World.  We’re specifically seeking students who would commit to being forerunners, students who would go to our partnership location at least once over the next two years.  We’re hoping to provide several opportunities to go (an early January Vision Trip, Spring Break Trips, and a Summer Project).

We’d also love to get some conversation going about where we should go.  Please use the comments section of this post as well as the discussion thread we’ve started on Facebook to share your thoughts and how you see God leading us as we pray.

This is Where I Live from Great Lakes on Vimeo.