Merry Christmas 2024--A Family Update

Merry Christmas 2024!

Barrett, Aubrey, Macy, Luke, Cara, Dayna, Catelin
Brexit, Zeke, Titus, Bowen, Perry

This year was pretty full, but Catelin’s breast cancer diagnosis in August really focused our world around her treatment. She will finish her first round of chemo on January 3, and begin round two for another 12 weeks two weeks later. It’s amazing how much goes into getting through this process!

In August all of the women in the family, (along with Dayna’s sister and niece, Mari and Carrie), met in Irvine,CA (where Cara lives) for a week of fun and activity. That was just after we had a  week of fun and activity in Orlando with Cara’s family. We visited Sea World to satisfy the boys’ fascination with sharks! This fall Luke and Barrett, went to an Ohio State game in Columbus.

Barrett had the adventure of getting snowed in at Colorado Springs during a trip to the Navigator’s headquarters in November, and then spent a few days with the Johnsons in California. He has also finished Cru’s HQ transformation. It really is beautiful, and if you are ever in Orlando, we’d love to give you a tour.

Dayna still enjoys working twice a week as a nurse at Shepherd’s Hope, (where she was awarded “Nurse of the Year”) as part of her role with Cru, but has taken some days off to help Catelin. She enjoys a near daily drive with Brexit so he can see peacocks and the lakes. 😊

Catelin invited us all to visit Tarpon Springs with her for her birthday in June, and that was really fun. She was also the main planner for the California trip. She continues to love her work and team at Orlando Health, where she works in Talent Management. She has been incredible about how she’s going through this cancer journey.

The Johnsons are arriving in Orlando on New Years Eve to visit us and Perry’s family for a couple of weeks while Perry attends a conference. Cara is homeschooling Zeke. Titus and Bowen are in preschool classes. The boys love cars, "squishmallows," and ranking their favorite things (colors, cars, people!) Cara got more house painting done. They enjoy their church and host a weekly Bible study in their home.

Aubrey is working for Oschner Health, a Louisiana hospital system, as a remote compensation specialist. She has moved in with Catelin (just down the street) while she considers where she may want to live next. She has enjoyed serving on a federal grand jury this year!

Luke still enjoys his work with Northrup Grumman in Melbourne, FL and we get to see him pretty often. He still plays soccer, basketball and baseball. He put on the deep sea diver suit in Tarpon Springs. He has traveled a lot this fall, several times back to Charlottesville.

Macy is in her third year at the University of Florida studying psychology and criminology. She has a good  friend group and enjoys life at school. She has picked up some part time childcare jobs in Gainesville this fall, which she enjoys.  She still played on the adult softball team this year.

We are very grateful for all that God has blessed us with, and the kindness that people have shown to Catelin and to us during this journey. May you and your family be aware of God’s hand in your lives, and remember He is near.

For all of us,

An end of year request

A few weeks ago I looked up verses about giving thanks. There is one refrain I read again and again.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever.

With the struggles, setbacks, and challenges that come with life, this was a great reminder to me to look to who God is, and that His love is eternal. 

Our daughter Catelin began her chemo treatments this last week and it helps to remember that God is good, present and His love has not changed.

Last week I sat with the a young ministry team who has just returned from a trip to the Ho People in India. This people group is only 1.2% Christian, and the majority follow Sarnaism, a belief in wood spirits. Our team was teaching believers to orally present Bible stories that introduce the gospel.

God’s enduring love is reaching those who have never heard.

You are an expression of God’s enduring love for us. Your support through prayers, investing in our ministry, and encouragement is tangible evidence of God’s care for us. Thank you for how you support us and our ministry.

As missionaries with Cru, we see God provide through faithful partners like you. It is typical that some have to end their support, and this year that has been more than usual. As this year draws to a close, we want to ask if you will consider helping with a special gift.

If you are considering additional giving this month, would you prayerfully consider a special gift for our ministry? Special gifts this month can help us enter 2025 with the ability to continue to focus on the ministry projects we are currently engaged with.

If you are able to help, the easiest way to give is to visit give.cru.org/0374749 and indicate how you would like to help,  You can also mail a check made to “Cru” to our home address (4126 Stonewall Dr, Orlando, FL 32812).

We are grateful to you for your faithfulness to the Lord, and your friendship with us we serve with Cru.  Whether you can help with this need now or have already helped, we are grateful for how you have partnered with us. 

May you also be reminded of His goodness and enduring love.

With love and thanks,

Navigating changes

On Friday I began a four week course on Change Management.   As an internal consultant with Cru, most of my work is helping our leaders with some kind of change or transition.

One of Cru's ministries, the Josh McDowell Ministry, is entering into a significant period of change.

In August, Josh McDowell, (founder, author of More than a Carpenter, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, and other great resources), wrote to our staff to let us know that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and is stepping back from more active ministry.  

I've been consulting with Zack Wilson, the CEO of the ministry, on many of the transitions they are making and will be making with this change.  These include a move to a multi-site/remote workforce, office changes, a refocusing of their ministry purpose and strategy, and greater integration with all Cru ministries.  We are prioritizing several projects. 

Zack is keenly aware of the impact of some of these changes for his staff and for Cru.  And he wants to be sure that the McDowells are cared for and honored well as they step into a new season of life.  I'm very impressed with the intentional way he is pursuing clarity of their mission.

Catelin, Brexit and I on Halloween

And our family is adjusting to some unexpected changes.  As you know, illness requires a reorientation of our lives.  Our daughter Catelin has begun a long journey with breast cancer that has and will require surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation and more that will last over one year!  It's requiring many changes in her life to focus on her treatment.

We have a big role in providing the support she will need during these treatments.  It's caused us to adjust our calendars, find time to go with her to appointments, and just be there for her.

Change has a way of causing us to pause, reflect, consider what is most important and what God is calling us to.  It requires faith, because change means things are new and uncertain.

My friend Mike reminded me recently that God is still God.  Still all loving, all knowing, all powerful.  He has not changed.  

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."  James 1:16.

 Because of that, we can trust Him with the inevitable changes in life, even when they are hard.

Thanks for your love and support,

Recognition is nice!

We are so proud!

We have mentioned quite a few times that Dayna is a volunteer registered nurse at Shepherd's Hope as part of her Cru ministry.  Shepherd's Hope is the largest organization in the Central Florida area providing medical care to the uninsured.  They have 5 clinics and hundreds of volunteers.  

This summer Dayna was chosen as Volunteer Nurse of the year!  We are very proud of her and realize what an honor it is for her to be chosen.  It really is a great group and I'm glad Dayna is able to use her nursing skills there.

Family time

In August all of our kids, son in law and grandkids were at our house for a week. It was really great to have everyone around!

I hosted a conference!

When I became an "internal consultant/coach/project manager/etc" about 7 years ago, there hadn't been a lot of success in making that role work in Cru.  But after 6 years, my boss, Cru's CFO, asked me to facilitate the ability to provide more consulting inside Cru.  

I have had some folks begin reporting to me.  I have the small Transformation Center of Excellence team, focusing on Process Improvement, two consultants with different skillsets than me, and that's it.  

But, as we planned a time together to help us know how to do that "come alongside" role, we discovered other teams and people who are in the space of project managers, coaches, and consultants.  So, less than 2 weeks ago, we had a conference for 20 people for 1 1/2 days, and it went very well!  

One team shared that they felt underutilized, invisible, and not sure how to make a better contribution.  They were encouraged to know others were serving in similar roles.  I've had two invitations after that gathering to talk about how to better approach these kinds of engagements in Cru. 

I love working on "high leverage" projects that will impact our staff and their ability to focus on and accomplish the mission God has called us to.  Thank you for supporting us with your finances and prayers to allow us to serve as missionaries with Cru.

With love and thanks,

Cru's New President

Today Cru commissioned our 4th president, David Robbins.  Below is a video of the service, but I started it about 40 minutes in where various National Directors from around the world affirm our calling.  I found that encouraging and visionary.  Following that is David's 20 minute address if you want to hear from him.

We are encouraged by the Board of Director's selection of David Robbins and look forward to serving with him.   If you'd like to watch the entire commissioning service, you can watch it here.

Thanks for your partnership with Cru.

A busy time at Cru

In 2017 I asked Cru leadership if I could "just help people" for a while for my job.  I had been the HR director for our headquarters and half of our staff overseas, and after a reorganization, I found myself in a position to respond to requests from some of our leaders to help them.  They agreed to let me report to our CFO, Mark, for a year to do that.

After the first year, Mark said it was time to find another place to serve because "it doesn't make sense for you to report to Finance if you aren't doing finance."  I suggested that as a member of Cru's leadership team, he should care about all of the work I'm doing because I'm helping parts of Cru be more effective.  Mark was reluctant, but agreed to  let it ride another year.

East Rotunda almost done.

Seven years later still report to Mark.  And I have been able to respond to many requests for help, with a wide variety of opportunities.  I told someone recently that my job is to be "caulk" and help with some of the gaps in Cru.  I've helped with engagements with the Jesus Film Project, Unto, StoryRunners, HR projects,  leadership transitions, organizational design, and of course, our Lake Hart renovation the last 4 years.

This past year Mark asked me to have Nate, who leads a Transformation Center of Excellence, report to me, and this summer Steve, who has been an operations leader for the Campus ministry, and lives in Minnesota, will join us half time as a consultant.  Now there are 5 of us helping solve problems, coach leaders, and fill gaps, with a couple others doing similar work alongside.  And none of us do finance.

The nice thing about this job is that Cru leaders are genuinely appreciative because they are asking for help with something that they aren't making progress on, or don't know how to move forward. The hard part is that we can't address all of the gaps we see!

There has been a lot going on around Cru lately:

The biggest news is that Cru has named a new President.  David Robbins has been leading our FamilyLife Ministry, and at 46 is a youngest leader since Bill Bright was 46!  He is Cru's 4th President, and everyone seems genuinely excited about this selection.

In Xenia, Ohio, Athletes in Action has just dedicated the John Wooden Family Fieldhouse, which will be a great base for ministry for athletes from around the world.

Unto, a ministry I have worked with a lot, is relocating their headquarters from Dallas to Orlando.  Working out of our Lake Hart headquarters will save them $300,000 per year!

Our Summer

Our summer fun will kick into high gear when Cara and her family will arrive in July for a week, and then the following week all of the girls will head to California for a week together, while the boys (Luke, me, and Brexit, our dog) will stay in hot Orlando!  

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support that allow us to serve with Cru.  

P.S.  Here is a quick update I made for our Lake Hart staff in May.

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,