I walked onto campus with a phrase in my mind—“The Cornell 10.”
I’d been invited to speak on the Cornell University campus to a gathering of believers. In the days before as I prepared to share, I felt God say that he wanted to do something special at this event!
In the 1880’s, Cornell was one of the hotbeds for the Student Volunteer Movement that changed the world when young people began to volunteer en masse to give their lives to bring the gospel to unreached peoples. In 1890, there were 934 Protestant missionaries in the world. By 1920, there were 14,000 because of the impact of this movement.
I felt God saying he wanted to mobilize Cornell to be a missions-sending force again. Specifically, I felt led to ask for 10 young people who would give themselves to long-term service in Asia—the Cornell 10.
After arriving, I made my way across campus to the auditorium where we would be meeting, and as the worship team prepared, I began to walk through the seats praying for the students who would sit there, asking the Lord of the harvest to send out His workers. As the worship team began to play, you could tangibly feel the presence of God in the room. I turned to look up the stadium seating as hundreds of students began filling the room.
As I began to preach, all across the room, I could see God moving in the hearts of students who felt His call to bring the good news to those who have not yet heard it. In response to the message, students began to come to the front of the room kneeling and weeping as they offered themselves as ones willing to go.
After the service, dozens came up to talk to me about feeling called by God to different nations. In all, 35 students signed up to explore the idea of coming with us to Asia. I’m continuing to ask that out of those 35 students, God would raise up 10 to go long-term. God is doing something amazing at Cornell, and I believe it is going to overflow in missionaries to Asia!