Thank you for praying for my health. For more than a year, I’ve been battling myositis, an autoimmune disease that causes muscle weakness. On August 17, I’m having an outpatient procedure at a local hospital that will repair damage done by the disease. Please pray for a successful surgery and recovery.

This year, I celebrated a milestone. I have now been on staff with Cru for 40 years. How can anyone do anything for 40 years? For me, I get out of bed each day, get dressed, look around and do the work God has called me to do.

Sometimes it has included interviewing people who trust the Lord to live in them and through them as they teach others about Jesus.

Mark and I traveled to Nepal. We met a man whose wife miraculously recovered from cancer. She prayed to Jesus, and He healed her. Everyone in the village decided to follow Jesus, too. (In this photo, Cru’s leader in Nepal helped me wade across a river to an isolated village to meet new Christ-followers.)

When our staff members heard the story, they traveled to the village and taught them that Jesus offers more than physical healing. Then, they showed the new pastor how to care for his people. What a wonderful story.

Another day, it included walking the neighborhood with my friend Donna, knocking on doors and asking neighbors if they wanted to join us for a Christmas Coffee. Twenty neighbors accepted our invitation. One of our friends explained the true meaning of Christmas. Twenty-five years later, the Bible study that started that night still meets.

Sometimes, it included teaching elementary, middle school and high school students how to write. It also included teaching classes for adults. Now, Mark and I are preparing to teach another writers training class for Cru writers in mid-September.                            

You have been an important part of that story. Your prayers

and gifts through the years have allowed us to create content for our print publications, Cru Storylines and Cru.org that students, educators, staff members and lay leaders use to share their faith and make disciples.

Thank you for your kindness and your friendship through the years. Please let us know how we can pray for you as well. We’re so grateful for you.

Sincerely in Christ, — Anne Marie, for the Winz family

Last month was full of family events and news for us. Amid a lot of work projects, we were able to take two short trips and do our best to support one big move from afar. Here’s a quick recap.

The month started with our daughter, Bethany, moving from Nashville to Green Bay, Wisconsin. She started her new job there, and likes both the place and the job. She’s farther from us, but is close enough to Verona, where Michael lives, that they can visit each other over a weekend.

We enjoyed Father’s Day in Holdrege, Nebraska, where I grew up. It was a full weekend which started with a small family reunion as my brother and his wife joined us for two days. Dad’s moving a bit slower, but his memory is clear. We drove to places where he spent part of his early life and on Sunday morning, took him to the church he attended for 50 years (top photo).

The next weekend, we traveled to Clearwater, Florida, where we celebrated Anne Marie’s mom’s 90^th birthday. Anne Marie’s four siblings — Joe, Eileen, Kathleen and Maureen (from left to right in the lower photo) — were there from four different states, along with her aunt and a cousin from two other states. Her mom, Helen, is doing well and enjoyed the party.

All of that didn’t keep us from making progress on work projects. Anne Marie completed the editing of a Cru Storylines article and worked on a writers training event planned for this fall. I was in two all-day planning meetings with people from six teams. We developed a process that will help our teams work more smoothly together to serve our readers and to help them grow spiritually. Now, I’m the project manager helping carry out the plans we made in those two days.

This month, please pray for both of us as we work with one other team leader to continue planning the upcoming writers training. Pray for capacity for me as I edit some Cru Storylines articles while one of our editors is out for a medical leave. And please continue to pray for Anne Marie’s health as she battles an autoimmune disease.

We’re grateful for your prayers and generosity, which allow us to serve God full time.

Sincerely in Christ, Mark, for the Winz family

Every three months, the editors, writers and photographers who work on Cru Storylines gather together to plan upcoming stories. Like many publications, it starts with team members — usually the writers — pitching story ideas.

In our pitch meeting last week, we heard story ideas from three continents.

• In Canada, a Cru staff member who has a passion for cooking organizes events where people gather for a gourmet meal and also hear the gospel.
• In Kenya, a woman began helping girls and young women get feminine sanitary products through a school program. The girls asked her about self-esteem, sexuality and relationships. She realized they needed much more than sanitary towels. She began using a Cru program called the Priceless Project to offer answers.
• In Hungary, an event called the Crescendo Summer Institute brings classical musicians from all over the world together. Some professors and students are followers of Jesus, and some are not. The Christians share their testimonies and lead spiritual discussion groups.

We briefly brainstormed each idea together. Then, the editorial team reviewed the ideas and decided which ones to pursue. From our previous pitch meeting in February, we’ve already started work on a story from not too far away for us in Tampa, one from Guatemala and one from Portugal.

Anne Marie recently pitched two stories that we plan to work on in the near future, one about Cru’s outreach to grad students at Clemson University and one about the JESUS Film’s 2000th translation — the Zo language, spoken by people in and from Myanmar. In the photo above, Zo speakers watch the film.

Over the next few weeks, would you please pray for Anne Marie as she finishes editing a Cru Storylines article about a Cru staff member here in Orlando who trained to become a spiritual director so she could help people make sense of their spiritual journeys. We hope that story will be complete by the end of this month.

Also, please pray for wisdom for me and the other editors to plan well as we consider the story ideas above. Pray that we’ll chose and tell stories that encourage people in their faith. We’re grateful for your prayers and generosity, which allow us to tell these stories and do much more.

— Mark, for the Winz family

How well do you deal with unexpected changes to your plans? I don’t do so well. I like to make a plan and stick to it. Often, that doesn’t work. I’m learning that I need to be willing to see my plans change. Sometimes these changes are small, and sometimes they’re big.

Last month, I had a plan for the last day of the Evangelical Press conference. It was sidetracked during lunch when I bit into my salad and a tooth cracked. I missed lunch and two conference sessions right after lunch to visit a local dentist. Then, I had to change my schedule back home. A few days ago, I saw my dentist in Orlando and learned I’ll need a root canal. That will use another half day that I planned to use differently. These are small changes that I can make easily.  

But I’ve also been thinking about big changes. Our Sunday School class is studying the Book of Acts. The way faith is lived out completely changed when Jesus died, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and then sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in his followers.

Understanding the role of the Holy Spirit in my own life dramatically changed my life as a college student. At church camp between my seventh and eighth grade years, I’d developed a more personal faith in Jesus. My faith grew through the next six years thanks to involvement in church and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

But while I knew that my faith was real, there was little difference in my day to day life. As a college student, I became involved in Cru, and began to understand the role of the Holy Spirit. Two things I learned still influence me today.

• First, the Holy Spirit dwells in everyone who accepts Christ. “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him” (Romans 8:9, English Standard Version).
• Second, while the Holy Spirit dwells in me, I can give Him control of my life or chose to go my own way. I make this decision day-to-day or even moment-by-moment. As one bible study leader put it, I get to decide if the Holy Spirit is a resident, or the president of my life.

It’s amazing to study Acts and see those first followers of Jesus go from fearfully huddling in a room to boldly proclaiming the message of the risen Savior to the world. I want to face the world with that kind of faith. And I want to face my own shortcomings with the Holy Spirit’s power.

Sometimes, want to lean on what I learned as a print publication writer and editor for 30 years. But as we show the love of Jesus online, I have to change. While there are lessons we can carry forward, we also need to change for this new platform and for upcoming generations. I need to rely on the Holy Spirit to make these changes, too.  

Over the last year and a half, we’ve changed a lot of plans due to Anne Marie’s health. We’re grateful for your prayers for her. She’s doing well after a medical infusion last week. Another infusion is planned for next week. Please keep praying for reduced pain and increased mobility.

Sincerely in Christ, Mark, for the Winz family

Hello from Orlando. We’re headed to Pennsylvania soon. We plan to attend the Evangelical Press Association convention April 11-14, then to speak at two churches the next two weekends.

At the convention, we’ll interact with professional Christian communicators from across the country and learn how to be more effective in our work. In addition, Mark is scheduled to offer advice to the team that produces a denominational magazine and Anne Marie plans to help judge the group‘s annual scholarship entries.

Then, at both churches, we’ll report about our work with Cru and thank church members who help fund our ministry. We’ll be at Parker Ford Church in Pottstown the morning of April 16 and at Great Valley Presbyterian Church the morning of April 23.

Please pray we’ll encourage people at each stop and for safety and health as we travel and interact with a variety of people.  

Thanks for your prayers and for playing a part on our ministry team.

—Mark, for the Winzes

Around the world, people celebrate holidays that are unknown, or little known, in the United States. One of those is International Women’s Day on March 8. Anne Marie first became aware of the holiday when she worked for the International School Project. She suggested that we take advantage of the event to share the gospel. 

She wrote an article for Cru.org titled “5 Examples of Women God Honored in the Bible” that will help women see how much Jesus loves them. She starts the article this way: 

This International Women’s Day, you can know that God sees, honors and values women. He has designed a special place for us in His plan to restore and redeem humanity. God’s love for women is radically different from the world’s.

Both now and throughout history, many women have endured unfair treatment and have been devalued by culture and society. 

She goes on to point out that women are more likely than men to be victims of violence, to live in poverty and to be illiterate. Those facts are among the reasons the United Nations officially recognized the day in 1977. 

Anne Marie went on to highlight ways that Jesus honored women. She included five examples.   

1. Mary, the Mother of Jesus; 

2. Mary Magdalene, the First Person to See the Resurrected Jesus;

3. The Marginalized Samaritan Woman (John 4); 

4. The Woman With Chronic Illness  (Luke 8) and

5. The Woman Who Wept Publicly (Luke 7:36-50).

She also let readers know about her.BIBLE, where anyone can hear the Bible read by women. You can listen to any book of the Bible on the her.BIBLE website or app, or read more about it in a Cru Storylines article I helped edit called “Highlighting Women’s Voices in God’s Story.” 

Anne Marie closed the article with: 

This International Women’s Day, remember that God sees women, honors women, celebrates women and has a special place for us in His mission to bring restoration to a hurting world. 

How can Jesus’ interactions with women encourage you today?

This month, please pray that women from around the world will encounter Christ in meaningful ways. Pray that her article will bring comfort and understanding to women who encounter it. As always, we’re grateful for your prayers and generosity. 

— Mark, for the Winzes

Happy New Year. We hope your Christmas celebration was enjoyable.

We enjoyed the holiday, spending five days in Nashville at Bethany’s home. Michael joined us from Wisconsin for most of the time. Bethany enjoys watching cooking shows on TV, and we benefitted as she prepared most of the meals. We played games, did puzzles and watched Christmas movies. It was the first time in more than a year that all four of us spent more than a few hours together.

As we move into 2023, we’re looking forward to continued ministry opportunities. Anne Marie is coaching a writer on our team and is serving as the editor for a story. She’ll take on more writing assignments soon. She also writes devotionals for our church.

I continue to serve as the managing editor for Cru Storylines articles. I help lead weekly editorial meetings, and plan and assign stories to our writers, editors, photographers and illustrators. As a project manager, I also coordinate other communications projects. Our Advent devotional series just ended, and soon we’ll launch our Holy Week series for this year.

We’re grateful for another year to serve God with our skills. Thank you for helping to make that possible through your prayers and generosity.

Please pray for God’s guidance as we take on new projects. There are more opportunities than there is time, and we want to be wise. And please keep praying for Anne Marie’s health. She’s doing well fighting an autoimmune disease, but she’s taking a variety of medications. Pray that she’ll be able to reduce those without pain and with increasing strength. And do let us know how we can pray for you.

Sincerely in Christ, Mark, for the Winz family

This month started with sad news for our family. Anne Marie’s dad, Jim Larkins, passed away on Nov. 1. While he’d been ill, we still weren’t ready to say goodbye.

I met him a few months before Anne Marie and I were married. That trip included a playground basketball game with a few of Anne Marie’s family members. Jim was clearly a better player than I was. I later learned he’d played college ball at Georgetown.

A second basketball-related event came about four months later. We arrived in Pennsylvania a week before our April wedding. We hadn’t noticed that we scheduled our wedding for the weekend of the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament. That was always an important weekend for Jim. He was a fan of all sports, but especially college basketball.

That weekend in that year was especially important. After we arrived in Pennsylvania, we learned that Jim was passing up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He’d won the lottery that allowed him to attend the tournament. He never said anything to us. He gave up those tickets to walk Anne Marie down the aisle.

Over the last seven years, we saw the forbearance he showed then in a more important way. After a bout with stomach cancer, he could no longer swallow. The muscles in his throat refused to work.

He had to feed himself through a feeding tube. Yet he was a good sport, rarely complaining about the inconvenience. He even took part in a few family events that happened during a meal.

Before we heard about Jim’s passing, we planned to use this letter to tell you about an article Anne Marie wrote for Cru Storylines called “Giving Thanks When Chronic Illness Moves In.” It tells about her commitment to keep thanking God even as she’s battled an autoimmune disease this year. Instead, we’ll invite you to go online to Storylines.Cru.org where that title will appear in the near future.

And Anne Marie and her family are learning how to keep thanking God through this loss. Please pray for peace and comfort for Anne Marie, her mom, Helen, and her siblings, Kathleen, Eileen, Maureen and Joe.

Through it all, we’re grateful for your friendship, prayers and generosity.    

Sincerely in Christ, Mark, for the Winz family

In July, Heather visited her family for the first time in 20 years, and her 6-year-old son, Kaiden, finally met the family. Amazingly, Cru Storylines played a role in arranging the reunion.

Last week, we joined Cru staff members around the world for one of Cru’s twice-a-year days of prayer. It brought to mind how Heather’s connection to our publication started. Three years ago, Anne Marie and I were in Pennsylvania. As Cru’s day of prayer overlapped with our trip, we joined several Philadelphia-area staff members for the day. We met Brad Daubenspeck, who told us about Heather.

She was separated from her family and visited a Bible study that Brad’s wife, Kim, was part of. Heather, a single mother, needed help. She needed to work and wanted to find someone who would watch Kaiden, then a month old. Kim volunteered. The Daubenspecks became Heather’s family in the Philadelphia area. They even invited her to move in with them.

When I  told the Cru Storylines editorial team about the story, we agreed that it might belong in our publication. Sarah Wontorcik, an intern on our team, wrote the story. Due to COVID-19, there was a delay before photographer Ted Wilcox was able to visit to do his work.

We finally published the story, “Grace Without Conditions” (shown above), in our January issue this year. It told how the families met, how Heather came to faith in Jesus, and how she helped in Brad and Kim’s ministry. 

At the Cru staff conference this year, in line for coffee, Sarah met Brad and Kim. They excitedly told Sarah that Heather’s sister had found the online story. The sister contacted Kim on Facebook. The family had been looking for Heather for 20 years, wondering if she was still alive.

We often tell you about how our online communications ministries reach a large number of people. But those numbers represent real people who are being reconciled with God, just like Heather has begun to reconcile with her family.  

Thanks for the role you play in this ministry of reconciliation. We’re grateful for your prayers and generosity. Please keep praying for Anne Marie to find relief from her symptoms as she faces an autoimmune disease. She’s started a new, more aggressive treatment plan this month, and we continue trusting God for a return to good health.

— Sincerely in Christ, Mark, for the Winzes

Last month, we spent a lot of time with our coworkers preparing for the coming year. Because about half all of Cru staff members work on campuses, we plan around the school year. Our jobs continue to adjust to help make disciples and share Jesus’ love as effectively as possible.

Twice, we met with the Cru Storylines team (shown in this photo). Soon, we’ll change how we distribute the story we write. Instead of sending a separate email with only one kind of stories, we’ll add our content to another Cru newsletter. That way, the maximum number of people will see our stories, and Cru Storylines readers will see other Cru materials.

You can sign up for the Cru newsletter by going to Cru.org and clicking on the blue “subscribe to Cru” button or by going to this page.

We then spent a week meeting with the more than 40 people who work with Cru’s communications team. We got to know people who do different parts of the work — writing and editing; photography, video, audio, illustration and design; and the technology to get the products we make into people’s hands.

We talked about making sure everything we publish offers each reader a chance to take a step closer to Jesus. If someone knows little about Jesus, we want them to find basic information. About 30% of those who come to our website come through a Google search. They might know nothing about Cru and little about faith.

For those already following Jesus, we want to help them. Maybe they’ll learn to pray, to study the Bible or to lead a discipleship group.

We want all of our publishing to be welcoming to all readers, confident about the importance of following Christ, and wise so no one will feel the material isn’t beneficial for them.

We’re grateful to you for making it possible for us to do this work.

Sincerely in Christ, Mark, for the Winz family