Renner travelled 56 hours. Selegna was refused a visa to enter Thailand. International travel can be uncertain and frustrating. But Renner and Selegna and 170 others from 32 countries felt God had called them to join us. So they persevered.

Renner wrote: I’m now at the São Paulo International Airport. I spent 5 hours on a flight to be here. I’ll wait 11 hours before flying to Amsterdam. Another 14 hours later, I land in Amsterdam. I wait 9 hours for my next flight. Then 17 hours later, I arrive in Bangkok. Yep, I really need to be with you, guys!

See Selegna’s story.

As I watched the next step in a dream that began in 2005 with the first MinistryNet, my mind filled with David’s question from Psalm 8: 4 “What is man that you are mindful of him?” Overwhelmed by God who is allowing me to see a dream coming true — engaging the power and reach of the internet to help people know him and to grow to be like him.

Our theme “Decisions to Disciples,” focused on new ways to move people forward in their journey to follow Jesus.

One of the unique additions to this MinistryNet was spending two hours each morning in small innovative workgroups. We were seeking to solve a problem or develop an innovative approach to moving people from making a decision, to being a disciple of Jesus. Each group developed a short video to present their proposed solution. The best solutions will receive seed funding to develop a prototype. With MinistryNet less than a week old, three groups are already developing their prototypes.

Imagine the power of 170 people returning home to 32 countries with new strategies, new passions, new relationships with like-minded digital ministry entrepreneurs! This is our dream becoming reality.

You can watch many of the MinistryNet 2011 sessions here. [Note: You will need to create a sign-in using TheKey. It's free.]

Would you like to know more about the diverse projects in internet ministry happening in Campus Crusade for Christ? Visit the MinistryNet Conference Virtual Ministry Fair.

What is your plan to use the opportunities of the internet to deliver the timeless, unchanging message of Christ in fresh, changing ways?

Over 19,000 years of helping those far from God connect to him and find a life of meaning and purpose and forgiveness and restoration.

Kay and I were in a reception to honor those serving with Campus Crusade for Christ for extended years. It was a Hebrews 11 moment. I felt privileged to be in the room with modern giants of the faith.

19,000 years of combined experience pioneering new ways to reach people, pioneering new places to reach people. Some of these pioneers walked onto radical campuses in the 1960s to engage free speech platforms to share Christ. Some worked behind the Iron Curtain in the 70s and 80s, then rushing people and strategies into spiritually impoverished countries when the curtain fell. Some moved into eastern Asia in the 90s speaking in code to avoid detection which could result in expulsion from the country. Some lived in places with no electricity or no running water because they wanted to incarnate Jesus. These pioneers found creative ways to live and minister in dangerous, closed, and hard places.

All for the love of Christ. All for the call of being God’s ambassadors. All for the privilege of helping others know Jesus and experience a purposeful life.

This was a summer to re-evaluate, to renew, to reconnect with God’s call on our lives. We choose to not live out of our past reputation. Rather, we choose to be alive to God’s ongoing call on our lives. We’re looking forward, not backward.

Francis Chan challenged us with Jesus’ warning to the church at Sardis. Jesus warned to not live on past reputation. (Click here then click on the highlighted video.)

Kay and I celebrated 35 years in full-time ministry. I took a theology course to stay sharp. Kay spent time with new staff women doing creative things. We had time outdoors enjoying God’s creation. We had amazing times of worship with 5,000 colleagues.

We are ready to go forward.

What part of your past good reputation are you resting on that might be limiting your ability to look forward?

We are launched. The mLearning pilot project launched in Kenya with 33
students. Over the next 12 weeks, pastors and Campus Crusade staff will
learn more about following Christ as his disciples.

Our team’s goal is to learn about delivering discipleship training in a
mobile phone. After just 2 weeks, we’ve learned a lot! We’re hoping the
students learn too! Like most pilot projects, we had to make many
adjustments just to get started.

There were technical challenges to overcome, administrative matters to break
through, financial opportunities to trust God. Like NASA’s Space Shuttle, it
takes a huge amount of energy to get liftoff. The shuttle consumes 1.5
million pounds of fuel in it’s first 1 minute of flight. I don’t know how
much energy our team in Kenya expended, but we do have liftoff!

This project is a partnership between our Global Technology Office (GTO),
the Nairobi International School of Theology (NIST, International Leadership
University-Nairobi), an Orlando mega-church, and an unnamed
corporate/academic partner. We are using technology developed by a research
university for government and commercial purposes.

We thank so many of you who have prayed these past few weeks. So many
difficulties have been worked through or worked around.

Kay and I leave for Thailand this week. We’re helping lead the Operations
Leadership Connection, 80 global leaders coming together for training, vision
and fellowship. More about that project soon…

Please pray with us:

• Visit our OLC prayer site. We will be posting prayer requests daily over the next 2 weeks.
• Join Kay and I in praying that we will be “the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing”. [2 Corinthians 2:15]

	Co-workers David Ngaruiya of NIST (left) and Jerry Hertzler of GTO (right) meetin with Pastor Robert of Rongai, Kenya (center).
	NIST staff learning to use the mobile phones.
	50 mobile phones being prepared to carry the basics of the Christian life to students.

I went to Las Vegas and married my niece.

I’ve had a lot of fun telling this to people. It does cause them to listen closely. Kay and I traveled with my parents to Las Vegas where my niece was getting married. I had the privilege of performing the wedding ceremony. It was extra fun to have Jennifer join us there.

Two weeks later found us in Seattle. We helped host a meeting of young leaders who are extremely internet-savvy. We spent 3 days together in listening prayer, strategizing, and exploring how Campus Crusade can do even better at using internet communications to help more people know Jesus.

While in Seattle, we introduced our non-American friends to “American culture,” attending a Mariners baseball game at. We appreciated the retractable dome when it began raining and the dome slowly covered us.

We have the opportunity to be mentored by someone who have been missionaries longer than we’ve been alive. (Russ Martin)

That’s not how I might have put it, but it really was quite an honor to spend an extra day with Russ and Meredith Martin. They are young Campus Crusade staff members in Canada. Keith has been mentoring Russ. We asked Meredith to plan our day. We explored the fish market, the Seattle Underground, and drank coffee from the original Starbucks.

But a true highlight of the day was when Meredith gave us an art lesson in a park on the Seattle harbor. It was so much fun and very relaxing. Kay sent her completed drawing to Jennifer who wrote “I put it on my bulletin board like you used to do with my works of art!”

Following our time in Seattle, we spent a very fun Memorial Day weekend with Ned & Judy Keller, lifelong friends and co-workers who now live and teach in Michigan.

We are blessed by the relationships in our lives. These are relationships with an eternal purpose. We have the privilege of working with some of the most amazing people.

175 people. 37 countries. Antalya, Turkey. Four days. Exploring how to use the internet media of today to share the gospel and follow up new believers.

Wait! Hold on! That’s coming soon. That’s the next trip. I’ll share more about that later. I’d like to tell you about what happened on my recent trip to Africa.

SMS till you drop. Used courtesy of FutureAtlas.com.

There are 4 billion mobile phones in use around the world … and 6 billion people.

Mobile phones are enabling African countries to leapfrog generations of communications technology as they spread rapidly.

Mobile users on Facebook are 50% more active than non-mobile users.

Recently, I met with Dr. Emmanuel Bellon, Vice Chancellor of Nairobi International School of Theology. Emmanuel sees distance education as the only effective way to increase theologically-trained leadership. He is implementing a plan to expand distance education.

Keith and Emmanuel Bellon

There is an urgent need for trained leadership to guide the exploding church membership in Africa. Our training institutions do not graduate enough leaders to supply the new churches planted each year in just the city of Nairobi alone. It’s fairly normal for a church to see its trained pastor preach once every 3 months. The interim times are led by lay leaders and women, mostly untrained. There is an urgent need for trained leadership across the African continent. Dr. Emmanuel Bellon.

But in Africa and many other places, the “last mile” is the hardest. Few have internet in their homes. But millions have mobile phones.

So, what if we could provide theological training to 20,000 pastors through a mobile phone? What if we could train thousands in how to share their faith with their friends? And follow up the hundreds of thousands of new believers?

We think we can.

We will run a pilot project in Africa next summer with a focus on training CCC staff in several countries. We will learn much about the possibilities of training millions through a mobile phone.

Now, back to the future. Kay and I are in Turkey for 2 weeks hosting conferences. We’ll tell you about that in a few days.

A very special opportunity presented itself while we were in Thailand. We helped our associates from the country where 41 were recently imprisoned. We talked about improving their security to help prevent any more of our associates from being sent to prison. We talked about email security, website security, and notebook computer security. We identified steps for them to take. It is a privilege to help protect our associates through helping with security precautions. These are very special people who risk much as they serve God. I am humbled to sit beside them and advise them on security issues. Please continue to pray for the 41 and their families.

It was our first time back to sub-Saharan Africa since we returned to the U.S. in 1992. It was a chance to renew old friendships. It was a chance to meet a new generation of leaders who have come after us. It was a chance to reconnect with the people and cultures of Africa. It was awesome.

In 1977, Kay and I were privileged to be a part of the first-ever continent-wide meeting in Swaziland. In 2007, Kay and I were privileged to be a part of the second continent-wide meeting in Kenya. What a fantastic blessing. What a privilege to observe first-hand the growth and development that has happened over these 30 years.
We were part of a team of 40 people helping serve the largest gathering of Africans ever assembled by Campus Crusade for Christ. In addition, we led a smaller team to help train 300 African campus staff in using our Mobile ConneXion toolkit.

Austin Okomohwo was just beginning as a staff member of Campus Crusade in Nigeria 16 years ago when we left Nigeria. He now gives leadership to the campus ministry strategy for the entire continent. At Pamoja, he was the overall Conference Director. 16 years ago, he asked me, “How long have you been on the staff?” When I told him 14 years (at that time in 1992), he said, “Wow. That’s a long time. What have you done for all those years?”

This time it was my turn. I asked Austin, “How long have you been on the staff?” When he answered 16 years, I asked him with a smile, “Wow. That’s a long time. What have you done for all those years?” Austin and I laugh at how both of our plans have been extended by God as he continues to call each of us into fulltime service. Both are captivated by the vision of everyone knowing someone who truly follows Jesus.

Pamoja Africa was dedicated to building a new generation of leaders equally captivated by God’s call to build a new Africa, an Africa that moves from desperately needy to fully participating in God’s plan to redeem the nations.

MOBILE CONNEXION TOOLKIT

“I’ve been looking for a good way to improve communication around our area. The Mobile ConneXion toolkit looks like just what we need.” Kennedy is the campus ministry coordinator for the 17 countries in French-speaking Africa.

Our team trained 300 staff and distributed 300 toolkits.

Our purpose at Pamoja was not to teach computer skills, but to enable staff to communicate effectively with each other. So many staff are isolated in their assignments and unable to benefit from sharing ideas, vision, and strategies. Our mobile connexion project addresses this need.

The toolkit is engineered to enhance communication across Africa. For those without computers who depend on internet cafés, the toolkit allows them to move from their homes to their offices to the internet café and work on their email, send and receive documents or presentations, keep their bookmarked locations, and connect to our Global ConneXion communities to share ideas with others.

But the part of our mobile office toolset that caused the eyes of the African staff to light up is the Skype software and small set of portable headphones. They are now able to talk with one another from computer to computer for no cost. They are so excited.
The overwhelming experience for us here, on the field, watching faces, hearing excited voices, tells me that our current tools are powerful, useful, and helpful. When we show the list of 300 communities that have already sprung up, African staff are excited that they can join other staff from around the world in communities of interest. Some women were signing up today for the ComputingWomen community for women wanting to learn basic computing. It is truly becoming a Global ConneXion for the staff here in Africa.

Our mobile office toolset and Global ConneXion communities are helping build a new generation of leaders for a new Africa. We are taking steps toward our vision of building local movements every so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus.
Note: For more information on the Mobile Office Project, visit our website.

Read our PDF version of this newsletter.

DOING WHAT WE LOVE TO DO

September found Kay and I spending 3 weeks helping lead 8 conferences developing leaders from around the world. Building into others is one of our greatest privileges.

When I was a student at Texas A&M University, Frank came by my dorm room one afternoon and shared how I could know God personally. Frank was a fellow student who loved to tell others about Jesus. I had already made the decision to accept Christ as a youngster through my parents and my church. Frank continued to meet with me and help me learn to grow as a Christian. During those months of growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I decided to invest my life helping others learn to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit every day, to live life abundantly, and to invest in the lives of others. When Kay and I married, we began to dream together of fulltime opportunities to disciple others and soon joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ.

For 30 years, we’ve had the privilege of helping build strong disciples and develop leaders.

So spending 3 weeks in beautiful Budapest, Hungary with 80 leaders from around the world was awesome. We love doing this. The greatest part about our time in Budapest was not the “touristy” opportunities (which we did thoroughly enjoy!), but rather the privilege of helping fulfill the Great Commission through growing our capacity to build and sustain movements of evangelism and discipleship in every location in the world.

What does building discipleship infrastructure look like? It looks like Ray developing training curriculum in computer skills and teaching staff throughout the Middle East so their computers become tools to create and distribute evangelistic and discipleship materials.

It looks like Oumar setting up email accounts for staff throughout French-speaking Africa so they can hold email conversations with young people who are seeking Jesus. It looks like Russ and Mark developing a flash drive of software that will run on any computer so that staff who do not own a computer can take their “mobile office” into any internet café to easily communicate ministry ideas with one another. It looks like Richard flying from Singapore to countries around the Pacific Rim helping them plan strategically and wisely.

Kay and I help develop these leaders who then multiply throughout their areas of the world. We love this! It’s not work, it’s a privilege.

MEETING WITH MINISTRY PARTNERS

During the next few weeks, Kay and I are doing another thing we love. We are meeting personally with many of you, our faithful partners. We can share more stories and answer your questions.

Kay and I continue to have the privilege of being your partners in this mission. Together, we are building leaders. Together we are building capacity for the Great Commission. We appreciate doing what we love with people like you.

SKYPE IS EFFECTIVE IN INTERNET EVANGELISM

Oumar Diagne, technology leader for French-speaking Africa, writes: S.D. came into my office very enthusiastically and told me “Oumar, I have a success story!” He told me how he had a ministry opportunity with a man using SKYPE (computer to computer communication). S. D. told the man that he and his wife worked with Campus Pour Christ. The man replied that it was hard for him to work with his wife at the office and that it was better that she remain at home. As the conversation progressed, S. D. discovered that his friend was actually divorced. S.D. agreed to keep everything confidential and continued by presenting the Gospel to the man while on-line. The man broke down in tears, which S.D. could see through his Web camera, and he led his friend in a prayer to receive Jesus as his Savior and Lord!

NOTE: Oumar is the technology leader for French-speaking Africa. He is a leader in using internet technologies for evangelism and discipleship throughout Africa.

DID YOU KNOW…

• that Campus Crusade for Christ staff maintain over 600 websites in almost 30 languages?
• that you can search these 600 websites? Click here to test it out.
• that over 300 communities of purpose have been formed in our Global ConneXion community tool over the past several months? (Visit here to learn more.)

You can download and print this prayer letter here: Doing what we love.

“Vacation” usually means going somewhere. This year, our vacation was hosting our family in Orlando. We’ve had a great time over the months of May and June as Daniel, Michelle and Abby visited, then Kermet and Novlee, ending with Jonathan, Meredith and Mallory. Jennifer joined us several times and even included her MK friends.

To read the entire prayer letter, you must have Adobe Acrobat PDF reader installed. Then click here.