This month marks a milestone for me. I became a Cru staff member 40 years ago. As I reflect on those years, I invite you to reminisce along with me.
I could write a book about what I’ve seen God do, but I’m not sure you’d want to read it. So, in the spirit of a picture being worth 1,000 words, I’ll save you 11,000 words of reading by showing you 11 photos (with brief descriptions). That seems appropriate since I studied journalism in college with hopes of becoming a photojournalist. And I’ve used my journalism training and interest in photography throughout my career.
My first assignment was “continental writer” in Cru’s Central Asia and South Pacific Area Office in the Philippines. This Worldwide Challenge article about the EXPLO 85 conference is the first one I wrote for the magazine. That issue included three of my photos as well. Along with my communications work in the Philippines, I made disciples in my local church. With me are (left to right) Jun, Clamore, Sol, Jodly and Ray. At times, I also visited a campus every week and led a Bible study of young professionals. In India, I saw how God was using the “JESUS” film to plant churches in villages in 1987. This meeting outside a home was a newly formed church, and the photo ran in the magazine.
When Anne Marie and I first got married in 1988, we lived in a small house in the San Bernardino mountains in California. It featured 50 stairs from our driveway to our front door.
In 1991, Anne Marie and I traveled to Nepal to report about what God was doing there. Christians there often faced persecution. They built this church to look small from the street. Still, it was crowded for this worship service.
In Bangladesh, I saw showings of the “JESUS” film in rural villages. I photographed so many of these shows in Asia that the Jesus Film Project® Office asked me write instructions for photographers in other continents.
Raising Michael and Bethany gave us much joy. In 1999, we went on a six-week-long Cru mission trip to Spain. We helped package and distribute Christian literature to North Africans who worked in Europe and were returning home for vacation to Muslim-majority countries.
The January 2001 issue of Worldwide Challenge, celebrating Cru’s 50th anniversary, was one of my favorites to put together. I was an editor for the magazine from 1993 to 2016, including being editor in chief from 2009 to 2015.
After Anne Marie developed the Writing for Life training program, we trained many Cru staff members and other Christian professionals. In 2017, we led a training for Cru’s Italian staff members. This was a highlight for me as I had traveled to Italy on a Cru summer mission trip as a student and was eager to show Anne Marie some of the sights I’d seen years ago.
We were in Colorado for Cru’s national staff conference in 2017, as we had been every two years during most of our years as staff members while living in the U.S.
The last feature story I wrote was for our new online magazine, Cru Storylines. I traveled to Slovakia in 2017 to report about Speak Out camps. At Speak Out camps in Eastern Europe, high school students learn English while learning what it means to know Jesus as Savior.
Thanks for being part of my 40 years serving God with Cru. We’re grateful for your prayers and generosity.
