A picture of Cru's Lake Hart Campus

Here are two recent videos that highlight Cru's newly updated Lake Hart Campus and the work that happens here.  The first is the Grand Opening video for the last two office wings, and the second is a video posted on Cru's LinkedIn page that gives you a picture of what it's like for one couple to work at Cru.

Over three years ago Cru's current president asked me to lead the transformation of our campus from a siloed, departmentally segmented office to an activity based environment.  The objectives were to 

• Accelerate the mission
• Foster collaboration and innovation
• Exhibit care
• Demonstrate Stewardship

And our design principles include

• Flexibilty
• Accessibility
• Holistic solutions
• Ease of use
• Safe & secure

Thank you for allowing us to serve Cru and these ministries by providing such a beautiful space to work in.  

Summer 2023 recap

Technically summer doesn't end until September 21, so let me share a bit about what what we've been up to.

HR Stuff

What some may consider not so exciting, I prepared a recommendation to update Cru's compensation philosophy for our hourly/salaried staff.  This will help us consider how we best attract, resource, and retain these important staff.

Jesus Film Project

In early July I traveled to Bogota, Columbia to be with the Jesus Film Project Latin America & Caribbean Core Team to help them as they developed their plan to provide resources to help everyone hear the gospel in their heart language.   Their three strategic anchors are to identify and expand strategic regional partnerships, establish alignment internally with Cru national ministries, and to prioritize the least resourced people groups in each country.

Lake Hart Transformation

Last week we had the ribbon cutting for the last two wings of Cru's Lake Hart headquarters.  These 8 wings have taken over 3 years to complete, so we are excited to have all of the office spaces open.  Lake Hart supports over 1,000 staff on 25 different ministries/departments.  

The experience we have gained from leading this project has allowed us to help our Canadian headquarters, the National Christian Foundation, and several other ministries as they adjust their office space to meet the new reality of work.  I didn't know missionary work would include how offices work, did you?

If you are ever in Orlando, please let us know.  We'd love to show you our Lake Hart campus and all that is happening here.

Family Time

We had our California crew come to Florida for over two weeks and we got them here for over a week!  We got everyone together at one time, so we took our Christmas photo that you'll see again in December!  A highlight was visiting the Cars hotel at Disney to see the life size heroes.  We also canoed, swam in beaches and pools, and identified airplanes landing and taking off.

We are so grateful for your friendship and partnership with us as we serve with Cru.  So much of our work is invested in helping our staff serve effectively, and that is what you do for us.  

With love and thanks,

A Helping Hand

We hope you are having a good start to your summer!  We had a fun family trip to Charlottesville to see Luke hooded at graduation.  He is now Doctor Brown!  He finished his PhD last summer, but we all wanted to come see the ceremony. 

Macy is home for the summer and will be working childcare at Cru's Biblical Studies classes.  We love having family around!

We are also looking forward to hosting the grandkids when the Johnsons visit in July/August.  

Last week at Cru we hosted a food packing event with Unto, our humanitarian ministry, a team I have worked with over the last seven years.  Unto's goals now include helping Cru launch into 200 unreached people groups and 5 million people over the next seven years.

I just returned from Xenia, Ohio to  meet with some AIA leaders about how to support the expansion of their Sports Complex & Retreat Center, a launching pad for ministry around the country and the world.

Next month I'll spend 3 days in Bogota, Colombia with the Jesus Film Project's Latin America & Caribbean core team. I'll continue helping them clarify their strategy to help each Cru national ministry reach those without the gospel in their own language. 

Thank you for supporting our work with Cru and allowing us to lend a hand to so many of these amazing ministries.  We are so grateful for your investment in us and all we do.

With love and thanks,