Daniel and Zana Osu, church planters in Romania, head into a Gypsy village and show Magdalena, a film that tells the story of Jesus through the eyes of Mary Magdalene. Magdalena, a complementary version of the JESUS film, is a Cru ministry tool.

Some viewers place their faith in Christ at film showings. A week later, Daniel and Zana return and lead follow-up lessons. The training is oral because most Gypsies don’t read and write.

Daniel and Zana baptize believers and start a church with regular services. They train leaders in the church and appoint a pastor. Soon, church members travel with the couple to another village to start a new church.

I watched all of this happen for a week. What a pleasure to meet Daniel and Zana, and their friend Gina, a Cru staff member who invited me to Romania and who translated while I was there on assignment with Cru Storylines.  (In the top photo, Zana and I are in one of the 12 churches the couple has started. In the second photo, Daniel invites people to trust Christ to forgive their sins at a showing of the Magdalena film.)

For thousands of years, Gypsies have been enslaved and persecuted, mostly because of their dark skin. They responded by dropping out of society.

Parents don’t register their children and obtain birth certificates. Without that documentation, their children can’t go to school. They don’t learn to read and write, leaving them eligible only for menial labor jobs, that pay low wages. Children marry early. Daniel was 14 when he married 10-year-old Zana. A year later, Zana gave birth to their first baby.

It’s a culture of uneducated children raising children while trying to figure out how to break out of generations of poverty and persecution. They face overwhelming obstacles , and yet, God shows up. Daniel and Zena have planted 12 churches in 6 years.

Now, it’s time for me to write the story. I have a first draft done. I will also write captions for the pictures and two smaller stories that will run alongside the main story. Please pray that what I write will glorify God and encourage believers as they see God at work in a glorious way.

Thank you for praying for us, and for playing a role as we tell of God’s glorious works.

— Anne Marie —

Below, Gypsies, a people group often despised by those around them,  watch the life-changing message of the JESUS film as seen through the eyes of a woman who was despised in her culture. (All three photos are by Guy Gerrard, the photographer who joined me in roaming around Romania.)

As I post this online, Anne Marie is preparing for her trip to Romania which starts in tomorrow.

This was not the original plan.

As you know, I lead a team of writers at Cru^®’s headquarters. Primarily, our team produces Cru Storylines™, our digital magazine. We also write and edit for the Cru.org website and other Cru publications.

Now, our team needs help. Between other responsibilities such as stories and fund raising, and some illnesses, no one on our team could take this trip.

Fortunately, Anne Marie recently turned some work over to another editor in her office. That means she’ll have more time to write and train other writers. I eagerly asked if a trip to Romania might fit her schedule.

She made several adjustments to make this happen. She leads, or helps lead, three Bible studies, so she arranged for group members to lead some sessions. (In the photo above, Anne Marie teaches a Sunday School class that she led for several weeks this spring.)

Meanwhile, I’ve agreed to temporarily serve as editor of Cru Storylines while our editor in chief deals with a health issue. Depending how long this temporary role lasts, I might end up editing Anne Marie’s story. It’ll feel just like three years ago, when she was writing for Worldwide Challenge and I was editor in chief of the magazine. We’ll let you know how that goes.

Please pray for Anne Marie over the next few weeks.

• September 13-14, pray for safe travel, especially with Hurricane Florence in the Atlantic.
• Please pray, too, for the storm to dissipate and for those affected.
• September 15-21, pray as she interviews Daniel and Zina who are planting churches among the Romani people — formerly known as Gypsies — and Gina, a Cru staff member.
• September 22, pray for safe travel back home.
• Through the rest of September and October, pray for her writing and editing process while she also prepares for two training events in early November.

Thank you so much for your generosity and prayers.

In the cafeteria in Slovakia (above), I met with the Christian students we focus the story on, left to right: Tomaš, Matej, me and Miška.

Slovakia remains my focus about one day a week. Our editor, Rachel, is helping me refine my story as I work to tell how God is at work through Cru’s evangelistic SpeakOut camps in fewer words. I can’t expect readers to want to know all I saw and heard.

As a high school student, I often padded my writing to make it longer. Now, I struggle to make it shorter. After we complete the story, we’ll work on secondary stories and a map.

As you pray for me to finish the Slovakia story, please also pray for Anne Marie. She’s  next up to travel to Eastern Europe.

She and her director have adjusted her workload so she can travel to Romania to get a story about Romani people coming to Christ through the JESUS film for Cru Storylines™. Now, she’s planning the story, then will work with a photographer to arrange travel, likely in late September.         

As always, we thank you for your partnership in the gospel as we share these great stories of God at work in people’s lives.

I interviewed Miška in a corner of the same room (bottom photo). Both photos are by Ted Wilcox, the photographer I traveled with during this trip. 

I walked into a room in Piešt’any, Slovakia, along with Ted, a photographer. Chairs crowded around tables on the gray, slippery-when-wet floor reveal this to be a typical cafeteria. Quietly, we moved to the back of the room, near folding metal doors that would later roll up to offer hot food.

About 40 people, all but one younger than us, sit around simple tables with black and white checkered table cloths. This group staffs the Cru SpeakOut camp.

A SpeakOut camp brings together four groups of people: Slovak volunteers, Cru staff members and interns (including Slovaks and visiting Americans), American summer mission team members and high-school age campers. Typically, the campers are not yet Christ-followers; they attend the camp to learn conversational English, while the other groups teach English as a way to build relationships with the campers and share the gospel.

Each morning, campers learn English slang and vocabulary, including words that will help them understand the gospel as the week passes. Each afternoon, they meet in small groups where the gospel is explained in different ways by Slovak volunteers and visiting Americans. Evenings bring fun activities, like American culture night, featuring hamburgers cooked on a charcoal grill and a late-night talk show spoof.

Ted and I came here to tell the stories of three of the Slovak volunteers in a future issue of Cru Storylines™. Tomaš (Toe-MAHSH) came to know Christ as a camper at SpeakOut last summer after his freshman year in high school. He’s a student journalist, and was eager to work with Ted and me and to talk about journalism. Five boys from his high school came to camp together last year, and they started a Bible study at school and have grown in faith over the last year.

Matej (MAH-tee-ay), one of Tomaš’ classmates who came to Christ during camp last year and his closest friend, also returned as a volunteer. A bit more subdued and introspective as he talks, his ready grin shows joy. He stands out as the tallest boy at camp.

Miška (MEESH-kah), a university art student, returned for her fifth SpeakOut camp. She came to Christ as a camper in 2012, then served as a volunteer in 2013, 2016 and 2017. Thoughtful and quiet, she doesn’t seem outgoing, but she’s an exuberant storyteller. (In the photo above, Matej in on the far left, Miška is next to him in red and Tomaš is on the left. Their discipleship group is meeting in the corner of a storage room—note the bags of supplies on the left side.)

Thank you for praying for my trip. We gathered a plethora of information and photos. And thanks for praying for Anne Marie’s studies. She completed both classes, earning two A grades.

Over the next few weeks, please pray that God will be glorified in the story as I write about what He is doing in Slovakia. We’re grateful for your prayers and partnership with us.

– Mark –

Anne Marie and I walked along East Avenue in Holdrege, Nebraska, my hometown, scanning the crowd and looking for my high school classmates. I recognized two women, and they looked at me with a sense of familiarity. I began by addressing one by the wrong name. I was forgiven with a laugh. Forty years is a long time.

Soon, a few others arrived on the side of the street. Our 40th class reunion included watching the Swedish Days parade together last Saturday. I’m grateful we could be there. (In this photo, my dad prepares to ride in the Swedish Days parade representing his church. It was his first ride in a convertible. He wisely wore a hat, while we let the Nebraska wind style our hair.)

That day—the second in a very busy weekend—included six activities, ending at dinner with about 30 of the 112 people who made up my high school class.

I hadn’t been to a reunion since our 10th. I wish I’d done better at keeping up with my classmates, including some who couldn’t make it. We celebrated together over growing families and advancing careers. We also mourned as we heard of classmates who had died or were ill.

Visiting Holdrege usually brings a similar mix of emotions. As in many small communities, some businesses are struggling, but there are good memories and sparks of hope. On Sunday, we spoke at the church I attended while growing up where we met a few families new to the church.

I’m grateful we caught up with so many classmates, saw what’s happening in the church and community, and spent Father’s Day with my dad. We’re grateful for your prayers for our trip.

As you think of us over the next few week, please pray for two things:

• Anne Marie has already started four weeks of seminary classes. As Cru staff members, we’re asked to take a set of classes to ensure our ministry effectiveness. Pray that she’ll successfully meet the requirements and apply what she learns.
• July 13-22, I plan to travel to Slovakia to write a story for Cru Storylines. I’ll tell about three students who came to faith in Christ through summer camps that Cru runs, and who now have come back as camp leaders themselves this year.

As always, we’re grateful for your role in our lives through prayer, generosity and friendship.

Five years ago, a couple moved from South Korea to Mexico City to re-launch a Cru^® ministry on a college campus. They knew very little Spanish. The move was an act of faith, one that many Koreans have taken as they’ve gone to countries around the world with the gospel.

You can read the whole story, “Two Cultures, One Home,” in the latest issue of Cru^® Storylines at cru.org/storylines/. The campus ministry has grown, and now 15 student leaders and more than 40 students build disciples and proclaim Christ across the campus. My coworkers, Phil and Tom, wrote and photographed the story.

I’m grateful we can tell that story and others to encourage people as they see how God is at work around the world. If you go to that issue, you’ll also find a video about rapid church planting in Cambodia, encounter college students helping people in Houston still recovering from last year’s hurricane, and meet five students and staff members who are part of Cru’s Destino outreach to Hispanic students across the United States.

Thanks for praying for us after reading our last letter. Our 11-day, five-state trip to visit friends and ministry partners went well. We visited people in South and North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. Along the way we connected with several families, including a woman who discipled Anne Marie when they were both college students, two friends we first met when we lived in California and a couple who are missionaries with a branch of Wycliffe. One highlight was spending two days with Bethany in Nashville—in the photo above, we’re taking a hike near her home.

As you think of us in the next few weeks, would you pray about these two requests?

• Pray that we’ll effectively give and receive feedback in our teams at Cru’s headquarters. Each May, we meet with those we supervise and also with our supervisors to review progress on goals we each set a year ago. Please pray that each meeting will be encouraging and helpful.
• Pray that we’ll plan and prepare well for a short trip to Nebraska to visit friends and ministry partners in mid-June. Pray we’ll connect well with several families, even though we’ll only be there a few days.

Thanks for your prayers and generosity.

Anne Marie and Steven, one of the 15 writers in our class last week, were almost late for lunch on the second day of our training. He stopped her to ask if we might be willing to train the 30 or so writers who work on the magazine and website he edits. What a strong endorsement

Our 15 students came in with solid credentials. Eleven work for Evangelical Press Association member publications. The other four are freelance writers, and three have won EPA writing awards. Still, they felt we could help them improve their skills.

As usual, we started by telling the class (above) that they won’t start writing until the fourth of five steps. They learned to gather information, sort the information they gather and then organize it before they write. After writing, they rewrite the story before publishing it. Our two-day training took place before the EPA conference formally started. (Below, Anne Marie stands by the sign that helped class members find our meeting room.)

The rest of the week, as local communications professionals, we helped host the conference. On Thursday morning, Steve Douglass, Cru’s president, and Dela Adadevoh, Cru’s vice president for area leaders around the world, joined Rev. Gabriel Salguero, a board member of the National Association of Evangelicals, to discuss the role of mass communications in world evangelization in the next decade.

Then early Thursday afternoon, Judy Douglass, Anne Marie’s director, spoke at EPA’s luncheon. As the founding editor of Cru’s Worldwide Challenge magazine and a former EPA board member, she fit in well with the group. We helped our Cru staff friends get situated for both events.

As you think of us in the next few weeks, would you pray for two things:

• Please pray for us to apply lessons we learned during EPA to our work.
• Pray for our trip to visit friends and ministry partners in the Southeastern U.S., as we plan a trip in late April and early May. Pray we’ll connect well with several families.

Thank you for playing an important role in our lives.

Yesterday, I taught week seven of an eight-week Writing for Life class to Cru ministry writers. They’re improving their writing quality and speed.

Heidi, from Cru’s legal team, joined the class. She’s battled and beat cancer three times, and now wants to write her story.

Tori, once a student when I taught high school writing, now collects stories of how the JESUS film is changing lives worldwide. She, too, is in the class.

It feels like harvest time.

Mark and I are in the midst of a three-month training season, one of my favorite times of the year. I’ve written curriculum and tested it. I’ve planned events, written schedules and created notebooks. Now it’s time to teach and to trust God.

Today, I’m emailing final details to eight presenters who will teach during “Called to Write,” a one-day writers conference at Cru on March 8 for bloggers, authors and ministry writers. So far, 57 people have signed up. Both Mark and I will teach breakout sessions.

I’ve been planning for a two-day training event during the Evangelical Press Association annual convention in April. Writers from Christian publications across the country are signing up. We’ll cap the class at 15 so everyone can receive feedback. We’ll both teach on those two days.

Below, you’ll find a prayer letter from our friend Karen Rogers (with me in 2014 in the photo above), who we got to know at training events at Athletes in Action. She wrote about how God was at work at a gymnastics meet at Michigan State University in the aftermath of the recent scandal.

As we prepare for our March 8 training at Cru and the April 3 and 4 EPA training, would you pray for two things:

• That God will put the right people in the room.
• That He will allow them to get everything they need.

These prayer requests cover all the details involved as we prepare for each event, and this prayer will help us focus on the people who will attend.

Please tell us how we can pray for you as well. Thank you for your partnership in the work God has called us to do. We can’t do what we do without you.

_________________________

Here’s Karen’s latest prayer letter:

In the Midst of Suffering

Karen and I tackled Athletes in Action’s ropes course in 2014 (above), as we had in 2013. Walking 25 and 40 feet above the ground, then writing about it, forced writers to find words to use all five senses to describe the experience.

Two mothers stood with tears in their eyes as they watched the large huddle of gymnasts on the floor of Jenison Field House at Michigan State University surrounding their daughters with love and prayer.

Three days after the sentencing of Larry Nassar, former USA Gymnastics and MSU doctor, a quad gymnastics meet was held in East Lansing. Right before the event, over half of MSU’s gymnasts met together where they were led in God’s Word and prayer by Emma Garner, an AIA intern I coached last summer.

Student athletes from almost every sport at MSU attended the competition to support the team, who have been harassed on social media. 

Immediately after the awards ceremony in which MSU placed first, fans began to leave, but the gymnasts stayed on the floor as Libby, a student leader in AIA and a gymnast at Rutgers, led all four teams in prayer.

“We wanted to pray that God continues to heal them and help them move forward, MSU specifically, but also anyone, athlete or gymnast that has been affected by this whole thing,” Libby said.

Hailee, an MSU senior, said, “This prayer symbolized how powerful God’s love is and made our team feel like we matter.”

Hannah Wilson, AIA staff at MSU, reflected, “The greatest victory that night was a girl stepping out in faith and pointing others to Christ in the midst of suffering and pain. Watching an athlete use her sport’s platform to openly glorify the Lord was one of the most incredible things I’ve witnessed during my time with AIA.”

Three days after the meet, a record number of students and coaches came to an AIA meeting, where staff member Julie Gillespie shared about her own experience of sexual assault. She talked about God’s redemption and healing, explaining that He does not abandon us in our suffering, but He is with us.

Afterward, many expressed a desire to know God more. I have the privilege of coaching interns like Emma each year. Pray God will mobilize other laborers for the harvest field. Pray He will bring healing and change to the sports culture in the U.S.
– Karen

Over the last five months I’ve been thinking about leadership in new ways. Last September, I began leading Cru^®’s team of writers and editors.

This job is different from leading the team that produced Worldwide Challenge^® magazine. The magazine team shared a goal: to produce and distribute an issue every two months. People held nine different roles—most filled by just one person—but we all understood our goal.

Leading the writers and editors team flips that model. Most team members share one role, writer. But the team is responsible for a wide variety of goals. A priority is to write and edit stories for Cru^® Storylines, the digital publication that replaced the magazine. We also prepare stories for Cru.org, our website, which focuses on a different audience. We’re launching a plan to help the different branches of Cru collect stories that they can use. Our team also produces Cru’s annual report.

An important part of my role is training the next generation of editors. In the office, I work with the new leaders of Cru^® Storylines. Beyond Cru, I’ve been asked to train editors from around the world through the organization Magazine Training International this summer.

That fits into part of what we are trying to do within Cru. We’re working to make our outreaches, publications and the organization as a whole more welcoming to a wider range of people around the world. We want to work better with everyone, no matter where we grew up, our ages, ethnicities or anything else that makes us different from one another.

To help us prepare for that, three of us—Rachel (above, center) editor in chief of Cru^® Storylines, Melody, it’s managing editor (above, right), and I—attended The Lenses Institute late last year. This Cru training invites us to put on the “lenses” others see through in order to understand their perspectives.

Would you pray for two things for us this month?

• Please continue to pray for the Writing for Life training Anne Marie is hosting at Cru’s headquarters. She’s teaching two classes each Thursday afternoon.
• Pray for my adjustment to this new leadership role as I continue to adjust. Pray that I’d serve the writers and editors well in preparing them for the mix of work each one is responsible for.

Thank you for your generosity and prayers for us.

Happy New Year! How did your 2017 end? Did you enjoy Christmas?

We celebrated Christmas with the family as both Michael and Bethany made it back to Orlando. We had fun catching up, playing games and finishing a 1,500-piece jigsaw puzzle. Anne Marie’s parents joined the four of us for church on Christmas Eve (in the photo above), and to exchange gifts on Christmas Day. Photo by David Taylor.

Michael moved to Wisconsin almost two years ago to work for a medical software company. He enjoys life there. In his spare time, he plays ultimate Frisbee and runs with two clubs. Last November, he ran the Madison marathon—a great accomplishment.

Bethany felt at home in Nashville soon after she arrived there for college. Now, a year after completing school, she plans to stay. She thrives in her work with A Rocha, a Christian conservation organization, as she starts her second year there.

Anne Marie and I plan to start the new year working together to train writers in our office. The writers I supervise and several others Anne Marie knows are eager to start training in two weeks. Today, in our headquarters news-letter, we invited others to join the class. So far, 19 people have signed up. We may need a second class.

Would you pray for two things for us this month?

• Pray for our Writing for Life training at Cru’s head- quarters. Pray for the right people to be there, and for each one to complete an assignment each week. We’ll meet once a week this spring.
• Pray for my coordination with the new managing editor for Cru Storylines. I’ll train her individually over the next two months. (And if you haven’t done so yet, please subscribe at Cru.org/Storylines/Subscribe.)

We’re grateful for your prayers, generosity and friendship as we influence the world for Christ through communicating the gospel to others.