Vonette Bright, Campus Crusade for Christ Co-Founder passes to her reward
By Mark Ellis, Special to ASSIST News Service
ORLANDO, FL (ANS - December 24, 2015)
-- Vonette Bright, co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU), one
of the world’s largest Christian ministries, died December 23rd due to
complications from acute leukemia. She was 89.
Inspired by a passionate burden to help others find Jesus Christ and learn to follow him, Vonette and her late husband 
Bill
Bright spent more than 50 years leading and building Campus Crusade for
Christ to its current size of more than 25,000 staff members and
300,000 volunteers working in 173 countries.
Bill
Bright spent more than 50 years leading and building Campus Crusade for
Christ to its current size of more than 25,000 staff members and
300,000 volunteers working in 173 countries.
Bill
and Vonette launched Campus Crusade for Christ in 1951 at UCLA with the
goal to “win the campus today, win the world tomorrow.” Remarkably, the
campus ministry at UCLA is still the largest branch of Campus Crusade –
a tribute to the Bright’s enduring legacy.
The
Campus Crusade movement spawned other notable and highly impactful
ministries including Athletes in Action, The JESUS Film Project, The
Josh McDowell Ministry and FamilyLife.
When Vonette finished college she was a nominal Christian, and didn’t really have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
“I
can remember when I first heard that if I were the only person in the
universe, Christ would still have died for me, and that I could know and
experience His love and plan for my life,” she wrote later.
“I immediately thought: If God has a plan for my life, I certainly wish He would hurry up and show me what it is.”
She
was already in a relationship with Bill and held a teaching contract in
her hand, but she had some confusion about her standing with God. “I
was trying to figure out why I was put on this earth, and all I got for
my quest was confusion.”
Vonette
said she finally began to consider who Jesus Christ is, and she had to
admit to herself she did not really know Him personally.
One day the significance of John 14:6 leaped into the forefront of her thoughts.
In that classic verse Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
The
recent college grad came to the realization she had tried to live a
good life, had high moral standards and been active in church, but
something was still missing in her life.
Note: A memorial service will be held Jan. 8, 2016, for Vonette at First Presbyterian Church of Orlando in Florida.
Photo
captions: 1) Vonette and Bill Bright. 2) Mark Ellis, Pam Christian and
Dan Wooding, pictured at the Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network studio in
Orange, California. (Pam Christian was the previous host of the show
with Dan Wooding).
About the writer: Mary Ellis is senior correspondent for the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net) and also founder of www.Godreports.com, a
website that shares stories, testimonies and videos from the church
around the world. He is also co-host for "Windows on the World" with ANS
founder, Dan Wooding, on the Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network (http://hsbn.tv)
** You may republish this or any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net).
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