CrossWays: A Christian Youth Leadership Experience

CrossWays is a life-transforming, nine-day experience at Pepperdine University for high school students in the summer after their sophomore and junior years. The goal of CrossWays is to enrich students' lives both spiritually and academically in order to develop strong Christian leaders by equipping them to love and live like Jesus in order to serve and lead as he did.

Students will reflect with and learn from some of Pepperdine's finest professors, Christian university students, and well-known guest speakers. Along with classroom experiences and interactive group activities, participants will write a personal statement of faith and develop a Life Map as they become more aware of their giftedness. This process will help students reflect on their past, their current situation, and begin to think critically about upcoming decisions.

CrossWays will also offer students opportunities to practice what they are learning. Pepperdine's location offers exciting opportunities for students to engage Southern California's diverse population and fast-paced secular culture. Through visiting organizations that serve the city's homeless, students will learn to live, love, serve, and lead like Jesus.

CrossWays will enrich the lives of the students as relationships are developed through fun and challenging group activities. Lasting friendships with key Pepperdine personnel as well as current Pepperdine students will benefit them as they move into their college years. Most of all, they will meet peers from all over the country, learning together what it means to live, love, serve, and lead like Jesus.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc., the total cost for all nine days of CrossWays is only $275. This covers all your expenses once you arrive on campus including housing, food, and ground transportation. This fee does not cover transportation to and from Pepperdine, but if you fly to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), we will arrange for a shuttle to bring you here for a minimal fee.

Jeff Walling

Jeff serves as the director of the Youth Leadership Initiative at Pepperdine. He is a nationally recognized public speaker who addresses over 65,000 teens each year throughout the world. Before coming to Pepperdine, Jeff served churches in Orange County, California for over 20 years, followed by serving as the preaching minister of the Providence Road Church of Christ in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jeff and his wife Cathryn, live on campus at Pepperdine and have three grown sons.

Zac Luben

Zac has served in youth ministry for over eight years at the Culver Palms Church of Christ as the Youth and Family Minister in Los Angeles. Currently, Zac serves at the Associate Chaplin for Pepperdine University. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, he has graduated twice from Pepperdine with both his B.A. in Religion and his Master of Divinity. In 2006, he married his beautiful wife Christina, and they have a 5-year old, Jude!