Misson Hub

Mission Hub is one of the technological tools that is helping local ministries.  It is an app you can download to your smart phone or tablet or search “mission hub” to learn more about it.  On the mission hub website you can watch videos of how it is being used.

    This tool helps campus ministries or churches track and stay in contact with those they meet and minister to.  It can be used for communication to a whole group, or to be sure you don’t lose track of that student that asked for more information about who Jesus is.

  You can watch some videos of how Mission Hub works here.

    We'd also love for you to check out some of the stories of God working at www.cru.org.

Difficult, but worth it.

    “I didn’t sign up for this.” 

  
   Have you ever said that about your job, your life, your family?  I said this in the last few months, maybe more than I’d like to admit. 

    As you know, Cru changed it’s name over a year ago.  However, the name change is just one facet of how we want to live out our values of Faith, Growth, and Fruitfulness.  We are also looking at our strategies, our internal systems, structures and how we work together with the body of Christ to reach the world with the gospel.

    While I’m excited about the direction we are headed and our willingness to look at how we do everything, change doesn’t happen without some pain.

    One area we recently began addressing is the whole area of digital strategies and technology.  In April we reorganized four of the teams working in these areas under one team.  Part of that process required that we let go 14 of our salaried staff.  I was responsible for carrying that out and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.  I vote on not doing it again! 

    On the positive side, I am able to be a part of the transition team to establish this new team and set our priorities to serve and resource the field staff and volunteers.  There is a building excitement about this change and a hope we’ll be more effective at involving others in the mission.

    Technology supports everything that makes a ministry like Cru function:  donations, email, websites, financial services...it is integral to reaching the world for Christ today.  The fact that we are making significant efforts to be as effective as possible with that technology is encouraging. 

    Thank you for being a part of our team so we can be a part of changes like this.

    With love and thanks,

Adversity and Celebration

There is a lot to catch up on.  This has been a spring season for the ages in terms of eventfulness!  Let me tell you about last week, and that will be a start.

Last Monday at baseball practice Luke slid into a base rolled his ankle and dislocated it and broke his leg!  He had surgery on Wednesday morning to set the joint, but will be in a cast/boot for 3 months!  It was especially hard for him because his team is entering the Regional Tournament this week and have strong hopes of playing in the state tournament.

Adversity reveals a lot about character, and Luke’s heart has been revealed in some neat ways.  As we drove home from the clinic the first night, he told me he had been thinking about Romans 8:28 and how he could trust God with the injury.

As he was coming out of anesthesia, another patient was panicking as she woke up from her surgery.  Luke made sure to ask the nurse tell her that he was praying for her.

Life is not easy.  We have friends out of work, friends who have lost loved ones, friends facing terminal cancer.  The Lord promises to be near to those who call upon Him.  

On the other hand, life is full of things to celebrate.  Cara and Perry graduated from the University of Central Florida last week.  Cara’s degree is in Civil Engineering (structures and geotechnical) and Perry’s is in Mechanical Engineering (thermo-fluids).  

They walked one after the other across the stage while Macy and I watched with Perry’s parents and brother (Dayna was home with Luke because it was the day after surgery).

Cara and Perry will move to Baltimore this summer where Perry will begin his PhD work at Johns Hopkins.  We’ll miss them being so close, but are proud of both of them.

And now we get to visit Baltimore!

Thank you for your faithfulness to Him and your partnership in our ministry with Cru.  You make such a big difference to our family and to those we serve.  I promise I'll do better at keeping you updated...look for more updates this month!