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,