The Why and the What

 When I talk to teams about change management, I say it starts with knowing answers to the "why and what" questions.  Why are we doing this?  What are we doing?

I thought you might enjoy watching this 4 minute video that answers these questions about Cru's mission.

The Whole Campus to the Whole World from Creative One Media on Vimeo.

Day to day I can lose track of the impact of our work on students and people around the world.  It's great to be reminded of the why and what of what we are doing, and I hope you are encouraged about how you are investing in Cru and our ministry with Cru.  Even without emotional background music, the impact of all we do is life changing!

I (Barrett) am working on several projects, including how how Cru pays our hourly/salaried staff*, our job architecture, and our online learning delivery.  For those familiar with HR you might be saying, "Wow, cool!"  Most of you are probably yawning!

I am in the position of getting to select the projects I work on, and these are what I call "high leverage" projects.  These all can help ensure we have a more consistent and supportive way to pay our hourly/salaried staff and equip all of our staff across the entire ministry.  This work will allow our ministries to focus on their work and be better supported to do their work.

Dayna recently conducted a CPR training for some of our new Cru childcare workers at Lake Hart.  The most challenging part may have been getting the room tech to work, but they figured it out.  She continues to give two mornings a week to Shepherd's Hope, where she loves using her nursing skills to serve others. 

Our Lake Hart renovation project keeps moving along.  The Bill Bright Strategy Center will open in late May, our East Building Rotunda/entrance by July 1, and our north building renovation will begin this summer.  Did I ever tell you, 4 years ago, that this was a 2 year project?  Haha!

The East Rotunda to come!

The East Rotunda right now.

We are grateful for your investment in us and our ministry with Cru.

With His love,

At a recent parent weekend at UF,
Alberta posed with Macy!

*While most of Cru staff are missionary staff like us who raise our support, we also need to hire and pay some staff to do some specialized roles (IT, finance, etc) and roles that may not need a degree (landscaping, data entry, housekeeping). These roles are an important part of supporting our field ministries.

A Jesus Film Project Milestone--2100 languages!

When we were in high school in 1979 we drove 45 minutes to a theater in northern Kentucky to watch a film called Jesus. Little did we know how God would use that film in the next 44 years.

By God’s grace, Jesus Film ProjectⓇ has translated the JESUS film into its 2,100th language. The latest translation is Waorani, a language spoken by approximately 3,000 Indigenous people in Amazonian Ecuador. The completion of this project in particular warrants celebration, as five Christian Missionaries were martyred by warriors from this tribe in 1956. We completed the translation with the help of native Waorani speakers, and in collaboration with Indigenous groups and Waorani elders. We are excited to announce that the translated version of JESUS is set to premiere among the Waorani people in early 2024.

Here is one of many articles you can read about this milestone. You can also read more at jesusfilm.org.

Dayna and I worked with the Jesus Film Project in 1998-1999 when they reached 1,000 languages, and this year I've been helping the Latin American and Caribbean Core Team with their strategy to reach everyone in that area of the world. I'm also working with the team that dubs and mixes sound on these films to improve their studios and increase our capacity for media creation.

I November they had an official launch of the new Animated Story of Jesus, including a short clip of the animation in progress. We think you'll love watching about 7 minutes of the launch.

We are so thankful to have the privilege to serve with this ministry!

With much love and thanks,