It’s a new year and all around us are things going on globally.  We’d like to share a few of the global stories Keynote, Cru, and we have happening.

First, Keynote has a team out right now traveling the globe. Literally, they will circle the world in 3 weeks.  First stop has been Spain as they lead worship for the STINT (1 year) teams serving around Europe.  Then they’ll be in Turkey to lead worship for another group of staff.  Finally, it’s off to Thailand to lead worship for the staff serving in Asia.  You can’t imagine what it’s like to be in a room full of people who have had to worship God quietly and carefully for months now being able to shout praise songs to the Lord.  Please pray for health and safety for all travelling and for God to work in the hearts of all of our staff, that they would be blessed and refreshed at these conferences.

Second, let’s head back to Spain and hear from our friends who lead ministry in the ports.  Many North Africans travel back and forth between Africa and Europe on ferries leaving from  port cities in Spain, France and Italy.  The lines can be long and so there’s a great chance to share gospel packets with those waiting.

In Marseille in 2011, a 50-year-old North African businessman accepted a gospel packet from Operation Transit volunteers, even though he said he was an atheist.  He started reading the New Testament and his heart softened: he thought its message could be from God.  He read Josh McDowell’s book “More Than a Carpenter”, and he became convinced: he placed his trust in Jesus to be his Savior and Lord. Seeking more help and wanting to connect with other believers, this man got onto Facebook with an alias. He said he was Christian and a national of his North African country: so another Christian in that country friended him and helped him connect with a local house church. That same church was organizing a team to send to one of our port projects. One member had taken part in our outreach a few years earlier, and found the experience so great that he was returning and bringing a team.  The businessman, now a Christian for two years, came along on the team.  He gave away gospel packets and learned to be bold in telling people about Jesus. He has been sharing the good news of God’s love and grace through Jesus Christ ever since: with neighbors and with relatives: including people in a very fundamentalist Islamic sect. Last month he also participated in some discipleship training in his home country.

Last, but not least, we too are shifting our ministry focus.  After 6 years serving full-time with Keynote, Karl will be limiting his time with Keynote and begin serving remotely with the Global Technology Office (GTO) of Cru.  Based in Orlando but with some remote staff, GTO brings innovative technology to leaders and leadership development to technologists.  Karl will be helping to make sure that our ministries around the world have access to systems like donations processing and general ledger.  We’re excited to be shifting our focus to the international side of the ministry, which is where I started with Cru.  I will continue to serve in the local office, which will be growing soon as the nearby Campus ministry regional office moves in with Keynote.

Please pray that we balance our time well between Keynote work, some remodeling in preparation for the office merger, and financial support raising that needs to happen before we officially transition to GTO work.  We appreciate your partnership in ministry!