Over the last year, I’ve learned new vocabulary words. As our team works more closely with other Cru teams, we’ve found that each team uses different terms to talk about work. If we’re going to be effective, we need to learn each other’s languages. I’ve actually leaned back on some of the training I took before moving to the Philippines.

This week, I’ll be in online meetings every afternoon as part of a “narrative workshop,” one of those new terms. The workshop includes Cru communicators from across the US and from different branches of Cru, such as the Campus Ministry, Athletes in Action, FamilyLife and others.

We’ll look for themes that we can all incorporate into our work throughout 2021.

This year, our overall focus was division and reconciliation — both between people and God and between one another. You can see some of this play out on Cru.org, Cru’s main website, and our stories in Cru Storylines.

People feel separated from God in light of COVID-19. They are asking, Where is God and how is He at work? Cru.org addresses some of these questions directly, while our stories show how God’s people are responding with caring and innovation.

Our story, “Summer Missions Went Virtual,” shows how between February and May, Cru leaders changed all of their efforts to send students overseas for summer missions. Leaders and students “traveled” online to places like Australia (shown in the photo above), Russia and others, and connected with students via Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms. People in those places heard about God’s love and grew spiritually with help from people who were in the U.S.

As our team cannot travel right now, we had to search our files for photos to illustrate the story. Our writers did interviews by phone and online. So much has changed, but we still share how God is reconciling people to Himself.

As you think of us this week and in the near future, please pray for the narrative workshop and that our teams will continue to learn how to our work with no international travel through the end of this year. And please pray for wisdom for both of Anne Marie and me as we supervise the work of communicators telling the good news of what God is doing around the world.

We’re grateful for your partnership and prayers.

Let me tell you about two new friends, Samuel and Amal, from Lebanon. We met during an online Bible study sponsored by the International School Project. You likely heard about the explosion that rocked Beirut earlier this month. The explosion flattened the port and damaged buildings across the city up to six miles away, as shown in the before and after photos. 

When the explosion happened, Samuel and Amal, ISP staff members,  were 25 miles away in the mountains. Had they been at their apartment in Beirut, less than a mile from the port, they likely wouldn’t have survived. The blast blew doors and windows into their home, and broken glass covered their floors and furniture. “We badly need your prayers,” Samuel said. They verified that our staff members and key teachers survived the blast unharmed, but they, too, suffered damage to their homes. 

Earlier this year, Samuel and Amal led ministries to students and teachers at multiple schools. Every week, they hosted assemblies during school hours and club meetings during recess. On March 15, when the city shut down because of COVID-19, they continued, but with online meetings. They discussed topics like fear, worry, surrender, and God’s care for teachers and students during and after the virus. 

Nana, another staff member, started a Facebook page for teachers. She posted a video viewed by 9,300 people. She received messages from 27 people. Teachers are still asking questions, and they want to know more about starting a relationship with Christ. 

Samuel and Amal, and Nana, will rebuild their apartments, and help their neighbors. They also plan to help teachers repair their homes. Schools were closed before the blast. Now, before they can reopen, they have to be repaired. 

Will you take a minute and pray for our staff members and key teachers as they clean up? Ask God to help them repair the damage and to be able to help others around them. Pray that they will have opportunities to talk about their faith as they work.

Thank you for your prayers and generosity. Your gifts allow us to continue the work God has called us to do.

— Anne Marie, for the Winzes

Last week, I took an eerie walk in my office area. At 1 p.m., the lights were off. I heard no sound but the humming air conditioner. It was my first time there since the office was closed due to COVID-19 more than 120 days ago for any work that could be done from home.

The visit was representative of changes my team is going through this summer. I was allowed in to clean out a desk and office. Sarah was an intern with our team during the last school year. In May, she moved home to Michigan, but couldn’t enter the office to pack up. Now, she finally has her pens, decorations, mugs and other office items.

Then in June, I began supervising all eight writers and editors on our team. I’d shared leadership with Jason for a time until he moved to another writing and editing role in Cru. This month, I’m working with my director to reorganize the team to offer more opportunities to our writers.

In August, we’re expecting another writer to join us. I’ll be getting to know him by phone as we prepare for his arrival. We still don’t know when our office will reopen, so having someone join the team will be a different experience than it has been in the past.

Even as we go through these changes, my team and Anne Marie’s team both continue to disciple people long distance. The enclosed newsletter, which Anne Marie edited, shows how teachers connected to the International School Project continue building disciples, even while schools around the world remain closed.

My team looks for ways to continue to help readers of Cru Storylines build disciples. You can see our latest issue online at Cru.org/Storylines. Our July issue featured “Reflecting Jesus in these Hard Times” to help readers interact with others while social distancing. And I’m excited we got to publish “The Most Important Week of the Year” as it takes place in Nebraska. Reading it now feels odd, as it was gathered last August, before COVID-19 was on our radar.

For the next issue, we’re working on a story about how Christians can appropriately wrestle with doubt, one showing how Cru’s summer mission trips changed to online discipleship on short notice, and we’re telling about a gardener who gives away his produce to aid his neighbors as he shares the gospel.

As you think of us over the next few weeks, please pray for me as I supervise our team and add a team member while we all work from home. And would you  pray for Anne Marie’s team to continue serving teachers  around the world without being able to travel as they have in the past?

We’re grateful for your friendship and partnership in or lives and ministry.

— Mark, for the Winzes —

P.S. If you’d like to give a gift to our ministry now, you can do so here.. Thank you.

We hope your family is safe and healthy during these trying times. We continue to actively participate in evangelism and discipleship around the world through the work that ­­­our teams are doing.

Teachers finished their school years teaching online. For teachers in Albania, the learning curve was steep. The Cru ministry in Albania provided professional training videos on YouTube. Since early February, the videos have been viewed more than 70,000 times. One principal sent a congratulatory note, thanking the team for helping the teachers at her school. Other teachers look forward to connecting with International School Project teacher communities near them.

In Ecuador, teachers gather on Zoom for prayer meetings, Bible studies and ISP-sponsored training seminars. Recently, 87 teachers logged on to a bi-weekly zoom call. The topic was, How do you find joy during the lockdown? Mayra, the minister of education in the coastal city of Manta, invited administrators from 30 schools. 

In Zimbabwe, Mavis, an ISP staff member, said, “I had gone to fetch firewood at a friend’s farm. Then the friend invited me to stay overnight so that I could share the word with about 20 people in that community. I had doubts because of COVID-19, but I agreed. The following morning they came to work and we had time for a devotion. The greatest miracle I saw [that] day was 10 people placed their faith in Christ.”   

Thank the Lord with us that even in the midst of the pandemic, people are coming to Christ. Please pray with us for teachers around the world who have now wrapped up their school year and are wondering how to plan for the coming year.   

Also, please ask God to heal our land and bring harmony and peace. Pray that we in America will see our need for a Savior.

Thank you for your faithful support of this work. Your help allows us to continue giving the hope of Christ to people around the world.

P.S. You can click here to give to our ministy.

Recently, Arvin and Jason reconnected after four years. Arvin, a Cru staff member in the Philippines, was excited to learn that Jason had become a follower of Christ and had become a missionary with another organization.

In 2016, Arvin was a student actively involved with Cru on his campus in the Philippines. One afternoon, he met Jason and shared with him how to become a follower of Christ. However, they were not able to finish as Jason’s class was about to start. Arvin got Jason’s contact information and they set another time to meet, but they did not connect as planned.

Now, in 2020, Arvin learned that their encounter four years ago was part of God’s plan of pursuing Jason. In 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.” Arvin planted, and as others influenced Jason, he had grown.

Arvin’s experience reminded me of Bill Bright’s definition of success in talking about Christ with others: Success in witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.

I saw the value of that definition in the Spring of 1980. I was nervous as I approached a stranger on a beach to talk about Jesus. So much was new. I was at a real beach for the first time, facing the Atlantic Ocean. And as part of a Cru outreach, I was expected to talk to strangers.

Still, I felt less pressure on that beach than I had in the past, even when having similar conversations with people I knew. The difference was that definition. I was under no pressure for a person to respond — that was up to God. I was only responsible to share the message.

During this pandemic, I hope you’ve had a chance to share with others the comfort and peace a relationship with Jesus offers. As we do, we don’t have to worry about the response.

As you think of sharing God’s love, I’d like to offer two ideas. First, GodTools is a Cru app that will help tell others about Christ. You can see how it works on YouTube at “GodTools: Helping you Share Your Faith.” Second, you might find helpful information for yourself or to share at “FamilyLife, Home Isn’t Canceled.”

Please continue to pray for people to seek Christ during this time. We’re grateful for your prayers and partnership in our ministry.

P.S. During this pandemic, some of our ministry partners have had to reduce their giving. If you’re in a position to give a gift, you can so so here: https://give.cru.org/0262910. Thanks for your interest in our ministry and your concern for us.

As we all figure out life amidst COVID-19, we’re praying for you.

Anne Marie and I both work at home for now, getting as much of our normal work done as possible. Along with my normal work, I’ve been helping write updates as part of Cru’s COVID-19 crisis team, keeping our staff members informed about how they can continue proclaiming the gospel and making disciples using digital tools. Anne Marie is figuring out how to lead the International School Project communications team without any in-person meetings.

Around the world, people are more interested in spiritual things amidst this pandemic. Bataa, Cru’s National Director in Mongolia, told ISP, “It is paradoxical to see how the lack of physical relationship is translated into people’s openness in the online environment. Surprising, more people are becoming more open and willing to discuss their important life issues online.”

Teachers who are part of ISP communities are taking the gospel to their students via online lessons. Here’s one story from a Russian teacher:

“Today I had a lesson remotely [online], and at the end of the lesson a boy offered to pray the Lord’s prayer from Scripture. Then we started a conversation where all the children joined in. In the end they asked me to pray for them. This is all glory to our Lord.”

My team continues to offer Cru staff members, volunteers and disciples digital tools. Two of those are God Tools and MissionHub. They both offer ways that anyone, including you, can grow in your faith and help others do likewise.

In the Philippines, where we lived 30 years ago, a version of the JESUS Film broadcast on television nationwide.  

On April 9, Magdalena, a version of the JESUS Film, had its Philippine TV Premiere in one of the top broadcasting stations of the country, GMA Network. The movie was dubbed in the local language, Tagalog, by Filipino Christian actors and actresses involved with Artists in Touch, a ministry of Philippine Campus Crusade for Christ.

GMA’s report for the Magdalena TV broadcast states that the airing reached 5,625,178 viewers all over the Philippines. It topped the viewership in the time slot for the whole country. This number does not include those who watched through the internet that day and those that watched via a Facebook Watch Party the following day.

Please continue to pray that the gospel will continue to go out and people will continue to grow in their faith during this pandemic.

We’re grateful for your prayers and partnership in our ministry.

During May, followers of Jesus around the world plan to work together for a common goal. Go2020 is a joint effort of dozens of Christian churches and organizations, including Cru, to invite people to pray for those around them, show love to those they pray for, and  find ways to tell them about Jesus’ love.

Our team is working with others at Cru and beyond to help motivate those we have contact with to take those three steps.

First, a few months ago we began planning how to encourage the readers of Cru Storylines to participate. While there was information available from other sources, we asked Cru’s video team to produce a video that we trust will encourage people to take part. The video features Daryl Smith, Cru’s co-director for North America and Oceania.

Next, I worked with a team made up of people from several Cru departments to create a page on our main website, Cru.org. I wrote the words for the site and found Cru resources to help people take these three steps. We included the video, a Cru.org editor worked on it, and a designer put the items together and made sure the links worked.

Within two weeks, we went from having a concept to having the page ready to post. You can see it all at Cru.org/Go2020. If you want to learn more, you can see the main Go2020 page for the U.S. at Go2020usa.com, and for the world Go2020.world/home.

Our team continues to work on such projects to help disciple people around the world online, in partnership with a growing number of Cru departments and other organizations. 

Over the next few weeks, would you pray for Anne Marie as she takes on leadership over some parts of the International School Project’s communications work while a coworker is away from work to give birth. Also, please pray for our daughter, Bethany, as she starts a new job and moves back to Nashville. We’ll miss her, but we’re excited for her new opportunity.

We’re grateful for your prayers and partnership in our ministry.

“What would you ask God if you saw Him?” Oksana asked her 5th graders as they looked at a table covered with 50 photographs. The images are part of Soularium, an ice breaker tool designed by Cru. She asked students to choose an image that represented the question they would ask, then to write the question.

• “How much longer will my mother live?” a boy wrote, choosing an abandoned kitten image.
• “What can You [God] do?” another student, who chose a photograph of a broken glass, wrote.

Oksana shared with the International School Project team: “We listen to people and the Holy Spirit! He directs us to serve people and to share the gospel! In the next homeroom period I plan to share with the children that the Lord answers each one of us. In the DreamMakers-DreamBreakers elementary curriculum, one of the last lessons mentions a letter from God to people. I want to pray about how best to share this with the students.”

Teachers like Oksana, who attended ISP’s DreamMakers-DreamBreakers conference, trust God to help them creatively find ways to pass the gospel message on to their students. Oksana also reaches out to her colleagues, sometimes in the face of  opposition.

Last spring, Oksana planned an ISP seminar in her city. Before it even started, some teachers asked the school director to forbid the seminar. Fortunately, the school director supported Oksana, so the seminar was held and was successful.

Afterwards, the teachers who resisted Oksana wrote a letter to the local education authority. Oksana was summoned to speak before this board. She immediately asked teachers in the ISP social network group to pray for her. Within minutes, replies flooded in from teachers — some giving Scripture, others promising to pray, and others who summarized the teacher’s legal rights. God answered their prayers. Many other teachers defended Oksana, and she was cleared to continue her work in the school.

Oksana is one of hundreds of teachers across Russia serving as volunteer missionaries in their schools, communities, and country.

Thank you for your continued prayer and financial support as we serve people like Oksana. This month, please pray for Mark and me as we plan for a video training that Cru leaders have asked us to produce which will train writers around the world.

May God richly bless you as you continue to trust Him.

—Much love, Anne Marie, for the Winz family

Happy New Year! We hope you enjoyed your Christmas and other holiday celebrations. We enjoyed ours.

Michael spent a week in Orlando, so all four of us were together for the first time since last Christmas. We went to church on Christmas Eve, then enjoyed dinner and watched our favorite Christmas movies. Over the week, we played games, completed four jigsaw puzzles and played miniature golf.

We also enjoyed good meals together. Anne Marie coordinated the kitchen and cooked most meals, but we all got in on the act. Bethany baked desserts and did some cooking. Michael cooked macaroni and cheese and Thai stir-fry. And being in Florida allowed me to cook part of three meals outside on the grill.   

Now, we begin the new year with gratitude for last year and with anticipation of all the opportunities 2020 will bring.

Anne Marie is taking on some additional communication work on the International School Project communications team. One of her coworkers is preparing to give birth this spring, so Anne Marie will help fill the gap at work. She also plans at least two trips this year.

Mark’s team continues settling in after their move. He was the point person for the physical move and they are working at their new desks. At the same time, Mark is still coordinating moving some shared team items, setting up new archival storage for past publications and getting office supplies in place.        

Over the next few weeks, would you pray for Mark and his team to complete the move process and to get back to work on Cru Storylines.

We’re grateful for your prayers and partnership in our ministry, and we wish you all the best in the new year and beyond.

Last week, in Mongolia, 75 teachers from five schools attended an International School Project conference. They learned how to talk to their students about developing morals and values to help them make better decisions.

Teachers gathered in small groups after each keynote talk to discuss what they’d heard. A facilitator, a Mongolian teacher who’d attended a previous ISP event, led the conversations.

Twice during the conference, small group facilitators shared their testimonies, explaining how they came to follow Jesus. Some were nervous as they shared, but most of the group members responded positively and asked lots of questions. 

However, one older woman angrily objected. She said to the others, “They are trying to force us into their faith!” Before the facilitator could respond, two younger teachers said that because the speakers had taught so many helpful principles, they wanted to hear whatever the facilitators had to say. 

One of my favorite parts of my new job is collecting reports like this one. Thanks for praying for my transition to this new work. 

After the conference, teachers split into communities based on where they live. They’ll meet for prayer, Bible study and professional development during the coming year. 

Over the next few weeks, please pray: 

• for teachers who attended the conference in Mongolia to join communities where they can both find and offer encouragement  in their faith, and 
• for Mark and me as we travel to visit Mark’s dad, Ross, and visit friends in Omaha.    

We wish you a very happy Thanksgiving later this month. We’re so thankful for your faithful prayers and generous gifts. We’re grateful for your friendship.

— Anne Marie, for the Winz family