In my early teens, I crept through the woods along a narrow river trying to keep a group of other boys in sight. I tried to keep quiet so they wouldn’t find me. I failed. But my attempt was sufficient to get an older Boy Scout’s initials in my Scout handbook. I was completing the tracking/trailing requirement that was then a badge requirement.

I hadn’t thought about that sneaky walk for several years. But when I was in Nebraska earlier this month, I recalled it as my dad and I looked down from the dam that turns the Republican River into a manageable flow. As we drove across the dam, we talked and recalled fishing trips and our family’s one attempt at camping in a tent. (Attempt, as Dad reminded me that my mom ended up sleeping in the car.) 

Dad reminisced as we drove through South-Central Nebraska. We stopped at my cousin’s farm and talked with his family.  We drove by the area where Dad’s family lived before he was born, to a small town where he started school, and through another small town where he graduated from high school. He still brags that he was third in his class, then smirks and reveals that his class had only three seniors.

Due to COVID-19 guidelines where he lives, we couldn’t go inside restaurants. Instead, we used the Runza drive-through. (For those of you not from Nebraska, that’s a fast-food chain with only six sites outside the state.) Dad favored chocolate shakes and fries, something he doesn’t usually get. We ate three meals in the parks in my hometown.

Around times of reminiscing with Dad, I connected with about a dozen friends in Nebraska. Thanks for praying for my trip. And thanks for praying for Anne Marie as she took part in a writers conference. She had a great time, and she has a fun opportunity before her. She’ll tell you more in our next letter.  

In the meantime, we’re getting ready for another trip. During the COVID-19 “shutdowns,” Anne Marie’s nephew got married. Now, at last, we’re planning to celebrate as a family. Anne Marie’s four sisters and brother plus some of their children will be there. During the next week, would you pray for all of us to stay safe and healthy as we travel for this family gathering?

Starting next week, we’ll finally feel fully back into life and work in Orlando. Would you pray for both of us as we continue to play leadership roles on our teams? Anne Marie’s director is on maternity leave. Pray for Anne Marie and the team as they re-organize their work after doing a digital upgrade. I continue to lead the writers working on Cru Storylines. Several stories that we’d begun working on for upcoming issues didn’t work out. Pray that we can find the right stories to inspire our readers to follow Christ closely and to share the gospel with people around them.

Thanks for your prayers and generosity.

— Mark, for the Winz family

I spent most of the week before last editing a group of webpages. It was a sad task, as I had to tell some Cru staff members that they must continue limiting ministry activities because of COVID-19.

Since last March, I’ve been the primary writer for Cru’s COVID-19 crisis team. Initially, we sent a weekly email to all U.S. staff members informing them about the changing situation. As things stabilized, we slowed the frequency. The 42^nd email went recently and I’m preparing the 43^rd.

As we informed staff members of the situation, we also put that information and even more onto web pages. The pages cover health, travel, facilities and meeting-size limits. At first, the tone was about closing things down. We added pages as needed, without an overall plan. We didn’t know from week to week what we would have to say next.  

Then, as we gained some increased freedom to meet and interact with people, the tone changed to “reengaging” with ministry activities. In June, I was hopeful that the day might come when we could remove all of those pages. But as cases continue arise in some places, we had to make a sad decision.

We decided to change the tone to continuing a ministry in a world that contains COVID-19, and that likely will for the foreseeable future. It gave me a chance to review the whole set of pages and to organize and update them.

The virus still affects us daily. Neither Anne Marie nor I go to our offices every day. We’re cautious about visiting Anne Marie’s parents in nearby Clearwater. And we haven’t visited my dad since November 2019 (shown in the photo above). We’ve also avoided other travel.

As you think of us over the next few weeks, would you pray as we both plan to begin to travel once more? In early September, we both have travel plans, but we won’t be traveling together.

• I plan to go to Nebraska the first several days of September to visit my dad and other people we haven’t seen for such a long time. Please pray for good health for me, my dad, and everyone I’ll visit. And pray that there won’t be too many limits on my visits with him due to restrictions in the place where he lives. 
• Anne Marie plans to take part in a writers conference in early September. Pray that she and all the participants will arrive in good health, and that everyone at the event will remain healthy. And pray that everyone there will leave inspired with better writing skills.

As always, we’re grateful for your generosity and prayers for us. And do let us know how we can pray for you.

— Mark, for the Winz family

Dorina, a television broadcast journalist in Albania, invited Djana, an International School Project staff member, onto one of the country’s most watched TV shows to discuss marriage and family life. Before the show, Djana explained her faith to Dorina and gave her a Christian book about marriage and family life.                       

Next, Djana invited Dorina to participate in the English camp   that the ministry organized every summer with teachers and other professionals. During the camp,

participants heard the gospel several times and were invited to accept Jesus.

Dorina hesitated, asking questions about faith like, “Why should we pray, when God knows everything?”

Dorina took part in the camp in 2019, then returned again in 2020 because she wanted to know God more. During the second camp, she prayed and received Christ into her life. She said, “I have discovered that when I pray, God changes me.”

Since then, Dorina has studied the Book of Romans with a group. She prays for opportunities to share her faith with other women.

She also prays for her husband and relatives to accept Jesus. And she regularly takes one of her colleagues to church, and she prays for and shares Jesus with that colleague. I enjoy telling stories about how God is working through the International School Project.

I also want to invite you to join a 30-minute webinar hosted by an ISP leader.  You’ll learn more about ISP’s techniques and how you can be salt and light to your peers. For more information, send an email to info@ISPonline.org

God is at work around the world. Thank you for the invaluable part you play in helping us tell these stories. Please continue to pray for us as we plan, collect and write stories like these to encourage the body of Christ.

—Anne Marie, for the Winzes  

At long last, our family was together the last week of May. We celebrated Christmas together in 2019, but by Easter of 2020, Anne Marie and I canceled a planned trip to visit Michael in Wisconsin.

On our Monday together, we celebrated all four birthdays with steaks on the grill and a berry-covered cake Bethany baked (below). Tuesday, we visited Anne Marie’s parents near Tampa. Friday was declared our Mothers and Fathers Days — the day started with Michael and Bethany making brunch.

It all brought to mind the days when our prayer letters regularly included updates about kids church events, dance recitals and track meets. We no longer update you about Michael and Bethany frequently, so here’s what they are doing now.

Michael continues in his fifth year working for a medical software company in Wisconsin. He likes life there and continues to run year-round and bike. With the fading of COIVD-19, he hopes to rejoin group runs and play ultimate frisbee. He also follows a local soccer team. 

Bethany works from home for a branding company, helping other companies represent themselves accurately to their clients and potential clients. She likes living in Tennessee and recently moved to a house with a large back yard. That’s great news for her two Samoyed dogs, Rhema and Glory (joining us, right).

Now that their visits are over, Anne Marie and I have moved on to planning our teams’ summers. Along with continuing writing and editing, those we supervise will have vacations, take classes and engage in other summer activities.

We’d appreciate your prayers for wisdom as we plan and lead our team through the season. We’re grateful for your generosity and prayers for us.

— Mark, for the Winz family

Last month, our team got some good news. After all the turmoil 2020 brought, the work we did was recognized by the Evangelical Press Association. Cru Storylines was declared the best digital publication that represents an organization. In addition, we won six awards for specific items — articles and photos — that we published.

One article, “When Telling Stories Goes Beyond the Campfire,” won two awards — for Feature Article (combining writing and photography) and for the best Controlled-Light Photo (shown above). Our photo team also won two other awards: ““Taking Sight and Salvation to El Salvador” (Photo Feature) and Best Use of Photography among all digital publications.

Two articles won awards for writing: “How a Trip Across the Street Led to Change Across the Globe” (Interview Article) and “Peace to the Far and Near: How God is Using Digital Ministry” (Evangelism Article). The last article was named the best one in that category. The judge said, “This is both an inspirational and practical article on how to be a fruitful Christ-follower through digital ministry. What’s more, there are links to additional resources for those who want to go deeper, as this article motivates readers to do so.”

The judge’s comments were a highlight for our team. We want every issue to show people how God is at work, and to motivate our readers to build disciples and introduce people to Jesus. And in 2020, we especially wanted to show how to do that digitally. 

Next, I’m helping edit an article for the July issue of Cru Storylines that will show how a new online tool from Cru is especially helping women grow in their faith.

Her.Bible is an online audio Bible narrated by women from many cultures and walks of life. Some women find it especially helpful if they come from traumatic backgrounds.

Becca, my coworker who wrote the story, interviewed one woman who was rescued from human trafficking. Because she’d been treated abusively by men, hearing an audio Bible in men’s voices was troubling. Another woman suffers from a learning disability that makes reading difficult. She’s found that the audio Bible helps her faith grow.      

As you think of us over the next few weeks, please pray that the work we both do will help people everywhere make disciples and follow Christ more closely. We’re grateful for your prayers and generosity.

— Mark, for the Winz family

Recently, I interviewed Elena, an English teacher in Moldova, a small country in Eastern Europe sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. 

Last September, teachers in her city began teaching in person after being out of their classrooms since the spring due to COVID-19. Elena and six friends had formed an International School Project group, and they wanted to help.

They gave masks to teachers in schools across the city. The masks came with a bookmark, thanking teachers for their selfless work and inviting them to be part of a Facebook group. The teachers were grateful. Some even cried because they’d been remembered. 

When the virus surged, some schools shut down completely and others stayed open half-time. Educators who had never taught using video conferencing were told they must teach online. Some students didn’t have computers but might be able to follow along on a cell phone. 

In December, 20 teachers who wanted face-to-face contact attended an in-person ISP Christmas party. They wore masks and sat socially distanced from each other. At the party, Elena and her friends invited the teachers to a parenting class featuring ISP curriculum. 

Now, every morning at 8:15, Elena and other teachers gather in her classroom to pray for each other, their students, the school and their country. When I asked if they had seen anything happen as a result of prayer, she offered a modest answer. 

She told me while some schools across the city had completely shut down and others had moved to half-time in person instruction because of COVID-19, her school had remained open for the entire school year.

God is at work around the world through teachers, even during a pandemic. This month, please pray for me as I write Elena’s story for our upcoming newsletter.

Thank you for your prayers and generous gifts. You allow us to continue following the call God has placed on our lives. We’re so grateful. And please let us know how we can pray for you, too.

— Anne Marie — 

How have you adjusted to COVID-19? For Anne Marie and me, the changes came in our personal lives for the most part. We haven’t seen Michael, our son, or my dad in more than a year. This week, our daughter, Bethany, celebrated her birthday with several online parties.  

Our work moved home, but our jobs changed little. Anne Marie canceled a trip. We both miss being with our teams in person. But our writing, editing and planning goes on.  

But for Cru staff members who don’t work in offices, everything changed. In the current issue of Cru Storylines, my coworker Mike Chapman reports about a ministry in New York City that had to adjust. The ministry, called Street2Street, brings together Wall Street professionals with teens in the city who want to play basketball. Here’s a bit of the story:

Woody [Woodfin, a Cru staff member] set up a Zoom account, trained his staff and moved Street2Street online. All through the spring, they provided online academic help, chapel and even physical workouts.

Discovering that after Street2Street’s activities, all the kids were staying online to play networked video games, Woody wanted in. His staff members started playing video games with the kids and hosting virtual tournaments. When the pandemic hit, New York City closed down more than 100 neighborhood parks. “Kids want to stay in their own neighborhood,” Woody says, “so they’re gonna be looking for stuff to do, probably online. If they do, they’ll find us playing video games.”

As of the end of 2020, hundreds of kids are involved with Street2Street online. The ministry has accomplished its goal of reaching 20,000 kids, and their 20th “neighborhood” was virtual. “Because the post-COVID world is going to be scared,” Woody says, “we’re going to continue virtual events and activities.” They’re also establishing a Street2Street community center with athletic training, academic support and spiritual enrichment.

You can read the rest at Cru.org/Storylines under the title “New Nets Bring New Life.” Mike used the phone to interview people for the story, but how could we show the story?

Our photo team wasn’t able to travel. After planning with our editorial team, one of our photographers, Guy Gerrard, developed a plan. He went to a local Orland basketball court and photographed players. Since these weren’t the Street2Street players from New York, we didn’t want to simply show the photos. Guy turned several photos, like the one above, into illustrations.

This month, as you think of us, would you pray that both of our teams will continue to successfully do our work in the midst of COVID-19, and for our Cru staff members around the world to continue finding ways to proclaim the gospel?

When I was in fifth or sixth grade, three friends and I agreed to give up candy for Lent, the season before Easter. During that time, our family visited my grandmother in the nearby town of Oxford.

In Oxford, there was a store that sold a wide variety of Jolly Ranchers hard candy. In Holdrege, I could get some flavors of Jolly Ranchers. Sour green apple, cinnamon and grape were easy to find. But in Oxford, they sold watermelon, lemon and other exotic flavors.

So, having forgotten the agreement in my excitement, I ate a few and took several home. When I realized what I’d done, I felt guilty. I put what was left in on a shelf until Easter passed.

But the good news is that while Lent is often seen as a time of sacrifice, it is really about God’s forgiveness. Lent is a time to prepare our hearts for Good Friday and Easter. Those holidays remind us of God’s love — that He offered His Son’s life for our sins and that we can enjoy a new resurrection life.

How do you celebrate Lent? Or, for that matter, do you celebrate Lent? Many times, I let this important season slide by. But this year, I’ve thought a lot about it.

Our team produced a series of devotionals for the season that are available through our website. Anne Marie and I each wrote one. You can sign up to get them via email from the Lent 2021 page on Cru.org.

The one I wrote includes an anecdote from 2013 about the friendship a group from my church here in Orlando enjoyed while sorting coins (shown here). The coins came from fountains at a local theme park. The park donated them to a home for children with serious disabilities. But the wet, dirty and mixed coins weren’t bankable. The group needed to clean and sort them.

As they worked, they were serving the home’s children in the spirit of generosity that Jesus modeled. God’s Spirit empowered them to serve, and to enjoy the fellowship.

This month, as you think of us, would you pray that those devotionals will help people grow in their faith? As always, we’re grateful for your friendship, prayers and generosity.

Oh, and you might wonder: After enjoying those Jolly Ranchers, did I admit my failing to my three friends? No, I confess now, I didn’t. (Dan, Randy and Scott, if you read this, I hope you can forgive me five decades later.)

— Mark, for the Winz family

NOTE: This letter contains sensitive information. Please don’t forward or post it on a website.

Dear Friend,

Every Christmas, teachers in Russia host evangelistic parties for their peers and students. Despite the pandemic, they pressed forward in 2020.

Several Russian teachers gave their students Bibles. One teacher said, “Praise the Lord! On Christmas Eve, the children again heard the story of the birth of their Savior, made a nativity scene, and received a children’s Bible as a gift.” (In the photo above, you can see them with their Bibles.)

Irina has been praying for gospel opportunities since participating in a six-week ISP Bible study where she learned how to share the gospel with her colleagues.

“I prayed for one of my colleagues,” she explains. “God brought us closer [and in the process], I learned a lot about her. I gave her a Bible today. It turned out that she had dreamed of getting a Bible. She recognizes what a precious gift it is and said that she would definitely read it. [I] thank God for this wonderful project that is leading us on the right path.”

Ludmila received permission from her students’ parents to give away Bibles. Now, Ludmila and her students are studying the English text of the Bible together. (In the photo on the right, one of the students reads his Bible.) 

Please pray for those who now have Bibles to grow to know God, and for new believers to grow in their faith. Pray, too, for Christian teachers who will help guide these new believers.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support. Your gifts allow us to help teachers and students in Russia and around the world hear the gospel. We’re so grateful.

— Anne Marie

How are you? We pray that you and your family are healthy and safe, and that you are continuing to grow in your faith, even in the midst of our current pandemic.

Even though Mark and I and the teams we’re on have been unable to travel and collect stories during this time, we’re hearing stories from all over the world about how God is at work in people’s lives. Previously, International School Project staff members traveled the world training teachers how to deepen their faith and reach their peers with the gospel.

Now, our team members meet with teachers online via Zoom to plan both virtual and in-person outreaches. Later this month, six teams of Mongolian teachers plan to travel to cities in their country where there are existing teacher communities.

They will train Christian teachers to explain their faith to their peers and help them grow in faith. They’ll also hold professional training events for teachers in those cities. A seventh team will travel to a new city and seek to establish a teacher community there.

In Cambodia, teachers from cities across the country join a weekly prayer and planning video call. In several of the cities, teachers are planning professional training events as well as evangelism and discipleship training for teachers who are ready to reach out to their peers.

In Ecuador, our local staff members have opened up new ministries in three cities. Most of the work was done via video calls. They host a weekly call so teachers can pray with each other and encourage each other.

God continues to open doors for us to reach teachers around the world, who are some of the most influential members of their societies.

Pray for teachers in Mongolia, Cambodia and Ecuador to grow in their faith and introduce their co-workers to Christ. Pray for Mark and I and our teams as we help Cru staff members around the world tell the stories of how God is at work in their lives and help disciple people through digital methods.

Thank you for your generous gifts and prayers for our ministry. You allow us to continue doing the work God has called us to do.

— Anne Marie —