As we celebrated Thanksgiving a couple of weeks ago, we looked back with gratitude on all God has done in our lives and ministries in 2017. We hope you feel the same about your year as it ends.

Travel and training filled much of our year. Two highlights came in May, as we traveled to Nashville to watch Bethany get her college diploma and then to Italy where we trained Cru staff members to write more effectively.

I helped our team launch Cru Storylines <cru.org/storylines/>, our new digital magazine, in August. You can see our latest issue and subscribe by going to that link. Then in September, while still serving as managing editor for the publication, I added a new responsibility.

Now, I also serve as team leader for our writers and editors. This new role includes making sure each team member is becoming an effective writer. I’m also developing an individual training and mentorship plan for each writer and editor. I also assign stories and meet with each team member every week.

Anne Marie’s last training event of 2017 helped the Jesus Film Project’s writers. We’re especially eager to help this branch of Cru. When we lived in Asia, much of our reporting covered the JESUS film/ as it was used to plant churches and introduce people to the gospel.

In Ghana, a paramount chief—a leader over other chiefs and over about half a million people—appeased the spirits when his people suffered or faced conflicts. Suddenly, his exhausting schedule lightened. Fewer people were coming to him with problems. He investigated and learned they were watching the JESUS film and giving their lives to Christ.

The chief watched the film and called upon the Cru Jesus film team. He said, “Jesus is now my Master and my King. I want all 500,000 people in my district to see this film before I depart”—meaning before he dies.  Now, he introduces the film to other paramount chiefs.

Every day, we count it a privilege to be able to serve with Cru and be a small part of what God is doing around the world so the gospel can reach people on every continent.

These highlights come with some challenges. This year, I faced a medical problem that needed urgent treatment.

Just before we left for Italy, I began having trouble with my left eye. Small rips had formed on the retina. My doctor said that I could lose sight in that eye if it was not treated immediately. I underwent two sessions of laser surgery to repair the rips.

He saw similar weaknesses in my right eye, and while not as urgent, it too required laser surgery last month. I still have at least one more treatment for the left eye. Then, once my eyes recover from the surgery, I’ll need new glasses.

We’re grateful for your concern for us and your interest in our ministry. Your gifts will help us continue to play a role in sharing stories of how God is at work around the world.

Scott, an editor and writer for the Jesus Film Project, said, “I found myself asking yes/no questions,” after completing an exercise that involved him interviewing a partner to get a story.

On Thursday, Scott and 15 other Jesus Film writers joined me to learn how to ask interview questions that lead to life-changing stories. The group included country specialists who travel around the world to interview local staff members face-to-face about showing the film and planting churches.

The Jesus Film, a documentary about the life of Christ and the most translated film in history, is now available in more than 1500 languages and has been shown in 230 countries around the world. Our staff members and other missions agencies use the film to share the gospel and plant churches.

The stories canbe amazing. But someone has to collect them. What happens when country specialists travel half-way around the world and ask staff members if they have any stories to tell, and the staff members say no?

If a specialist asks better questions, like: “What happened?” Or “What else?” And “Can you tell me about someone who was there,” suddenly, the local staff members remember stories they had previously overlooked.

I also taught a simple story-telling model they can follow, and then we brainstormed open-ended questions they can ask that will lead to concrete information they can use.

Of course, we had to practice. Each person found a partner. Then, I passed out transcripts from two stories that were published in Worldwide Challenge. Each partner role-played one of the people while the other one asked questions.

That’s when Scott had to rephrase his questions so he could get more concrete information. It’s one thing to talk about asking open-ended questions. It’s another to actually do it.

It has been my pleasure to train teams of writers throughout Cru and in other like-minded organizations to write better stories. Thank you for praying for us as we do the work God has called us to.

Last month you prayed for us as we spoke three times and connected with our friends in Pennsylvania. The trip was encouraging. For example, on a Saturday morning we taught a seminar called Writing Your Story for friends from one church. People who attended told us it helped them see their own stories in a fresh way. Now, they have a plan if they decide to continue writing their stories for their children and grandchildren.

Please pray for us this month:

• Pray for the Jesus Film country specialists to ask better questions that lead to stronger stories as they travel and interview people around the world.
• Pray for me, too. I work two jobs. When I’m not training writers, I manage a website and a newsletter that goes to our staff women. Pray that we will serve our audience well and help them grow in their faith.

Let us know how we can pray for you, too. Thank you for praying for us and for funding our work. We’re so grateful for your help as do the work God has called us to do.

We ended September with thankful hearts.

As you know, September started with a visit from Hurricane Irma. We missed having electricity for four days, but our house wasn’t damaged.

Yard work filled a day and half as we pulled three pickup loads worth of debris to the curb (left). The debris from Hurricane Charley in 2004, by comparison, was about enough to fill a dump truck.

During that week, I traveled to Virginia to visit an organization that’s helping us produce Cru Storylines. We value their expertise in digital communications, and the trip was productive.

Then last week, Bethany arrived, making the trip the hurricane stopped in September. One more reason for us to be thankful.

Now, we’re preparing for an October 12-24 trip to Pennsylvania to visit two churches and as many friends and ministry partners as possible. We’re preparing to teach a class at one church, and to visit another for a missions conference, where we will have two speaking opportunities.

As you think of us, would you pray for these two things:

• Pray for our preparations for three speaking opportunities at the two churches. Ask God to help us play a role to build up the body of Christ every time we speak.
• Pray that we’ll be able to meet with as many families and individuals in Pennsylvania as possible, and that each visit will be mutually encouraging.

We are grateful for your prayers as we travel and for your partnership as we both seek to influence the world for Christ through communicating the gospel.

August ended with fun, and September started with disappointment and concern.

We spent the last weekend of August in Wisconsin, visiting Michael to celebrate his 25th birthday. We went to a zoo, a farmers’ market, the state capitol and a state park. (In the photo above, we stand on a bluff 500 feet above Devil’s Lake.)

We enjoyed seeing Michael in his place. He likes life there, and his job is going well. He works for a medical software company alongside technology workers in three hospitals.

Next, Michael visited Bethany in Nashville during Labor Day weekend. After that, we looked forward to Bethany visiting us in early September. However, her trip was interrupted.

Last week as she planned to drive to Florida, Hurricane Irma came up from the Caribbean Sea. We watched it on radar and prayed for the storm to dissipate or move over the uninhabited Atlantic Ocean. We kept an eye on the projected path, which changed daily.

Finally, Bethany and we agreed she should wait. We were sad not to see her, but as up to 1/3 of Floridians evacuated their homes, many leaving the state, it made no sense for her to come.

The hurricane passed between Orlando and Florida’s west coast, but near enough that we felt the effects. We had about 10 inches of rain over two days and faced winds of up to 85 miles per hour. We put plywood over our windows just in case. We lost electricity early Monday morning and now, as of September 13, are still waiting for it to return. We spent two days cleaning up a lot of yard debris and removing an avocado tree that was destroyed in our back yard.

As you think of us, would you pray for these three things:

• Pray for those still recovering from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and thank God with us for the people aiding recovery efforts in Texas, Florida and the Caribbean.
• Pray we’ll find a time when Bethany can travel to Orlando in the near future.
• I’ve taken on a new role at work. Along with being managing editor for the Cru^® Storylines newsletter, I now lead our writers and editors team. Pray that the tra
• nsition will be smooth.

Thanks for your prayers for us as we traveled, and as we focus on what God has called us to do in order to influence the world through communicating the gospel.

As our conference, Cru17, drew to a close, Steve Sellers, Cru’s leader in the U.S., reminded us, “It is the calling of Cru to help fulfill the Great Commission by winning, building and sending Christ-centered multiplying disciples into the harvest. We are not diverting from that one ounce.” (In this photo, we pause outside Colorado State University’s Moby gym where the conference met each day.)

The Great Commission is found in Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Steve, said that while our purpose has not changed, the culture in 2017 is different than the culture in 1951 when the ministry started. In light of that, we must change how we carry out this calling on campuses and elsewhere.

Throughout the week, we talked about partner-ships with other organizations and churches. We also focused on connecting with people from different backgrounds and cultures to obey Christ’s command.

You can listen to Steve and others at cru.org/cru17/archive/general-sessions. We were especially encouraged by Andy Crouch.

Anne Marie handled three presentations at Cru17, helping to lead BAM—the Bloggers and Authors Meet-up—and visiting with people at two “ministry meet-up” events.  We both spent time with staff members we have trained, and we discussed two possible future training opportunities.

The conference was only part of our summer travels. Anne Marie spent a few days in Atalanta to attend the wedding of the daughter of a close friend. I stopped in Nebraska on the way to Colorado, and we both stopped there on the way back. We met with 18 friends or families, spoke at two churches and spent some time with my dad.

As we return, plenty is happening in Orlando. Would you pray for these things?

• Our Cru Storylines newsletter is available at Cru.org/Storylines/. You can see the first issue and subscribe for free. Thanks for praying for our team as we got to this point, and please pray that the official launch next week goes well.
• Ask God to guide Anne Marie and her team as they make decisions about their upcoming work.

Thanks for your prayers for us as we traveled, and as we focus on what God has called us to do in order to influence the world through communicating the gospel.

Darnell didn’t mean to hit anyone when he playfully tossed water bottles into a crowd of about 5,000 students. He hoped to persuade some to join theImpact movement at Kent State University in Ohio last fall. But his plan went awry.

One bottle struck Kahalia in the head. Fortunately unhurt, she started attending Impact meetings. Impact, a partner ministry of Cru, focuses on taking the truth of Jesus Christ to the campus, community and world by producing leaders of African American descent.

Although not a Cru or Impact staff member, Darnell, a Kent State graduate, leads the movement. He works as a nurse, and gives hours of his free time to build disciples on campus. (In this photo, a Kent State student fills out a  card indicating interest in the Impact Movement.)

Kahalia later trusted Christ to forgive her sins and became an Impact leader.  Darnel said, “That’s a God thing, because He took my foolishness to reel her in.”

Our coworker, Melody, wrote about Darnell and Kahalia for the Cru.org website. This coming fall, Melody and one of our team’s photographers will travel to Kent State to more fully report the story for Cru Storylines, our new emailed newsletter.

While designers work on the first issue of the newsletter, we’re writing, photographing and editing the second and third issues. We hope to send the first one soon—we’ll let you know when it’s ready. Stories like Darnell’s can motive our readers to share the gospel, build disciples and grow spiritually.

Soon, we’ll arrive in Colorado for our Cru 17 staff conference (July 16-24). I’ll listen for stories of people like Darnell from across the U.S. on campuses, in communities and working through churches. Some of those people will find their way into Cru Storylines.

Anne Marie will focus on meeting up-and-coming writers and helping prepare them for more effective ministries. She’s one of the leaders of the Bloggers and Authors Meetup event. BAM brings together staff members whose primary roles involve building disciples, but who also write. They learn from each other and from a few expert presenters. Also, Anne Marie will follow up with staff members she’s trained thorough Writing for Life.

The staff conference truly enhances our ministry. Would you pray for us?

• Pray that we will accomplish God’s goals in training staff members and story gathering.
• Ask God to refresh us as we meet with like-minded staff members from around the world.
• Pray for God to meet our financial needs, including the cost of travel to the conference and other travel expenses we face this year.
• We plan to meet with friends and ministry partners in Nebraska as we travel. Pray that we encourage those we meet as they hear how God is at work around the world.

Thanks for your prayers and generosity to us in our ministry.

I wondered if the room would work for our training in Florence, Italy. (In this photo, Anne Marie explains the creative process—processo creativo in Italian.)

The day before we started, ten Italians, a British couple and five Americans, including us, met for lunch. As we briefly got to know each other while eating, I was distracted by how small the room felt.

When we teach, we like to move around and talk to students as they practice. This room felt small, but it was the best space available.

The next day, we found the space was tight (see photo below). But it worked. It allowed us—maybe even forced us—to strongly connect with the 10 Agape Italia (as Cru is known there) staff members in the class. Translators helped with the formal part of each session. But as the Italians tried each skill, we were soon trading ideas and even jokes with them. Sometimes, translators helped, but our new Italian friends often found the right English words.

The training, along with the work to find English words, will benefit them. In Italy, the church operates differently from how it does in the U.S. Because many evangelical pastors are bi-vocational, having a job outside the church, Italians are reluctant to fund staff members and other full-time Christian workers. Staff members thus reach beyond Italy for funding in order to serve Jesus full-time. That means they need to communicate stories in English about what God is doing.

Let me tell you about a few of the staff members. Mateo serves with the campus ministry in Rome. Since Italian students are hesitant to listen to a verbal explanation of how they can follow Christ, he employs art to connect with them. (If you’d like to see a short video of Mateo, go to Mark’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mark.winz/posts/1764435260238429?notif_t=like&notif_id=1496948252143619.) Rosaria works with children and teens, inviting them to bring their friends to learn more about the Bible.

The highlight of the week was when Franco, the director of Agape Italia, spoke up the last day of the training. He said this event was an answer to his prayers. He had grown weary of seeing young Italians join the staff team, but lose heart in a few years when they couldn’t raise the needed funds. He felt this training would push this group forward to stay active in ministry into the future.

This was especially good news for Gianluce (pronounced John-Luke) and Simona. This young couple just applied to join Agape Italia as staff members. They planned their first newsletter during the training and found about 300 friends on Facebook who they could connect with.

We are grateful for your prayers. Our travel went well and we felt healthy during the trip.  The notebooks and presentations were successfully translated before we got there.  As we spoke, our translators, Sarah, an American who’s been in Italy for 11 years, and Maria, an Italian staff member who speaks excellent English, were great. And overall, our travel went well with only minor problems along the way. We used planes, trains, buses, taxis and even boats to travel in Italy.

Now, we’re back at work in Orlando. As you think of us, please pray for these things:

• Mark’s team continues to work on a new email newsletter, which will replace the magazine. Pray that we will finish the design of our first issue soon and complete our collaboration with a lawyer to assure our new title doesn’t infringe on an existing publication’s title.
• Anne Marie’s team completed this year’s Prodigal Prayer Day on June 2. Please pray for the parents who love a child who is making destructive decisions, and for those prodigals to encounter God and reconnect with their families.

Thank you so much for your prayers for and generosity toward our ministry.

We just returned from Nashville where Bethany celebrated graduating from Trevecca Nazarene University. We drove back by way of Oldsmar, Florida—an 850-mile trek—so we could see Anne Marie’s parents on the way as they could not travel to Nashville.

A week ago, Anne Marie and I drove north. Over the next four days, Bethany showed us “her” city. My dad joined us, and we attended a Country Classics show at the historic Ryman Auditorium. As a life-long country music fan, it was dad’s first trip to the city. He also visited a museum celebrating music. Late Friday night, Michael flew in from Wisconsin.

On Saturday morning, we watched as Bethany, and about 750 other graduates, were honored. (You can see the five of us on campus in the photo below.) That afternoon, we took my dad and Michael to the airport for their return flights.

Sunday, we went to church with Bethany, then the three of us headed south toward Florida. Bethany joined us as one of her good friends gets married here on Saturday and she is maid of honor. After almost 12 hours, we stopped, well into Florida.

Monday, we went on to see Anne Marie’s parents. (The five of us are in the photo below, thanks to Bethany’s selfie skills.) Anne Marie’s dad’s recovery from his surgery in February is going well. Thanks for praying for him and for our Nashville trip.

We’ve passed a significant parenting milestone as both “children” are employed college graduates.

Now, we’ll focus on our May 17-31 trip to Italy. As you think of us over the next few weeks, please pray:

• For good health as we prepare to travel. Anne Marie is fighting a cold right now, and my eye is recovering from a minor procedure I had just before the Nashville trip.
• For successful and clear translations of our training notebooks and presentation slides by our Italian friends, and for our coordination with our translators as we teach.
• For final trip plans to come together. Our first week there is set while we teach, but we plan to stay a second week for vacation, and still have some arrangements to complete.

Thanks as always for being part of our lives and ministry. And do let us know how we can pray for you.

Most Tuesday mornings, Anne Marie tutors adults who still hope to earn a high school diploma at the Spirit of Joy Dream Center. On April 1, at a celebration of the center’s one-year anniversary, Marquentis received his diploma. (In this photo, Anne Marie looks on as Joy Davis, our friend who runs the center and is a part of Cru’s inner city ministry,encourages Marquentis.)

It was a great start to a busy month.

Anne Marie then went to Dallas to attend the Outcomes conference. She and Judy Douglass presented a seminar that was well-attended. The Christian Leadership Alliance asked her to write a magazine article based on the presentation.

Next, we met in Chicago at the Evangelical Press Association convention. As the organization’s president, I led the board and membership meetings. It’s been a privilege working with the board and the executive director. I’ve been on the board seven of the last eight years, so I’m eager to pass the leadership on to the incoming president.

After the board meeting, Anne Marie and I enjoyed a visit from Michael, who lives a three-hour drive from Chicago. He joined us Saturday evening and Sunday morning. After lunch, he headed home and we prepared for the EPA convention, which started Sunday evening.

The conference was a success. We made valuable connections, introducing one of my coworkers to some editors who can advise her in her new role editing our newsletter. Worldwide Challenge even won eight awards for our last year of publishing.

Anne Marie also connected with some folks who offered her valuable information in her role coordinating two websites and two newsletters. And she was invited to teach her Writing for Life sessions next year when the convention will be in Orlando.

We’re truly grateful for your prayers. Over the next month, please pray for these things:

• Preparation for our upcoming Writing for Life training in Italy. As our notes need to be translated, we must have notebooks and slides done early.
• Our family trip to Nashville to celebrate Bethany’s college graduation.
• Anne Marie’s dad, Jim as he continues his slow recovery from surgery in February.
• Anne Marie’s work on the article for the Christian Leadership Alliance magazine.

Thanks for your partnership and friendship. Please let us know how to pray for you.

P.S. We just shut off our home phone. My phone number is 321-278-4530. Anne Marie’s is 321-202-3650.

This spring and summer is becoming a season of travel for us. Anne Marie will take five trips, and I will take four, between now and July.

During the first week of April, Anne Marie plans to be in Dallas for the Outcomes conference, a meeting of influential people who are part of the Christian Leadership Alliance. Anne Marie and Judy Douglass, her director, will present a seminar about moving communications from print to digital.

On Friday, April 7, both of us plan to arrive in Chicago for the Evangelical Press Association convention. That weekend, I’ll preside over the organization’s board meeting, my last as president of the board. The next three days, we’ll attend the convention.

In May, we plan two trips. First, we’ll be together as a family in Nashville. Bethany finished college in December, but her small college only has graduation ceremonies in May.

Then, Anne Marie and I have been invited to teach a writing conference in Italy. Anne Marie’s first Writing for Life training was in India. Since then, we’ve done seven trainings in Colorado, Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania. Ceil, who took the training in Ohio and then sponsored our training in Texas, now serves with Cru in Italy. She thinks Writing for Life will benefit some of Cru’s staff members there, and has invited us to come.

In July, we plan to be in Colorado and Nebraska for our Cru staff conference and to visit friends.

As we prepare for these longer trips, Anne Marie has taken a few short trips to Tampa (and will likely take a few more) to visit her family after her father’s surgery last month. He’s facing a long recovery. (The photo above, from last Christmas, shows Anne Marie’s parents, Jim and Helen, Anne Marie, Michael and Bethany.)

While in Orlando, we’re busy getting work done ahead of and around these trips. My team writes and edits articles for our website, Cru.org. We’re also preparing a new emailed newsletter. We hope to start it soon, but we’re moving slowly to make sure we get it right. I also edited our annual report. If you’d like to see it online, you can click on this link: https://www.cru.org/content/dam/cru/about/2016-cru-annual-report.pdf.

Anne Marie and the team she works with continues to find ways to more effectively produce their websites and digital newsletter.

As you think of us over the next month, please pray:

• for Jim, Anne Marie’s father, to fully recover from surgery,
• for Anne Marie and Judy as they prepare for and then present their session at the Outcomes conference, and
• for wisdom for me and the EPA board as I look to finish my term with them well.

Thanks for your prayers, friendship and gifts. And let us know how we can pray for you.