internet ministry

Kay and I celebrated 50 years with Campus Crusade for Christ in July. Here are some highlights over the years. We’ve also documented these years in a Google Photo Album here.

The Nigeria years (1976–1992)

1. This journey begins in 1976 at the Campus Crusade for Christ headquarters in San Bernadino, CA. Keith, Kay and baby Jennifer attended training before arriving in Nigeria in March of 1977.
2. Teaching Electronics and Discipling Leaders in Bukuru, Nigeria. Keith served as the head of the electronics department, where he taught vocational skills and discipled students and teachers. Keith and Kay led couples Bible studies with other lecturers. Among those discipled was Peter Agu, who is now a university professor and a major ministry leader himself. God added Daniel and Jonathan to complete our family.
3. Translating and Dubbing the JESUS Film: Keith directed the production, dubbing, and recording of the JESUS film into 10 major West African languages which made the Gospel accessible to millions of people in their own native languages. Kay typed the scripts in languages she could not understand. Keith developed a wordless Four Spiritual Laws and follow-up sessions to enhance ministry among oral cultures.
4. Kay actively ministered to women by leading discipleship Bible studies and participating in the Women’s Bible Study Fellowship. She also coordinated physical fitness classes for women and faithfully played the organ for morning church services.
5. Kay taught second grade at Hillcrest School, a missionary school located in Jos: Kay served the missionary community and local families by teaching second grade and later elementary physical education at Hillcrest School in Nigeria. She considered it a great privilege to help children from diverse nationalities learn to trust Christ while providing them with a quality physical and academic education.
6. Evangelism, Discipleship and Church Training: From 1977 to 1992, the Seabourns served full-time in Bukuru and Jos with the Great Commission Movement of Nigeria (the local name for Campus Crusade for Christ), training laypeople to use print, video, and audio tools for evangelism and discipleship.
7. Assisting Other West African Nations: In the early 1990s, the Seabourns expanded their reach by helping other West African countries record and dub the JESUS film. This included Keith travelling to Gambia to record the film in Mandinka, as well as producing languages for Ghana and Sierra Leone.

The Faculty Ministry years (1992–2001)

1. Keith pioneered internet outreach by launching the “Telling the Truth” project and Leadership University. These platforms equipped Christian professors and students worldwide with apologetics resources to defend their faith and share the gospel.  Joining Christian Leadership Ministries (CLM, now renamed Faculty Commons) in 1992 after returning to the U.S., Keith was tasked with exploring the new Worldwide Web. In 1994, he officially pioneered and launched Internet Ministry. By 2001, this family of websites had ministered to more than 20 million visitors, serving over 18 million truth articles to individuals in 134 countries.
2. Kay successfully maintained CLM’s nationwide network of over 10,000 university professors, verifying addresses and ensuring faculty members received The Real Issue publication. Her diligent administrative work was essential in equipping these educators to use their platforms of influence for Christ.
3. Keith established the Virtual Faculty Office Project: To counter the popular misconception that scholarship and Christianity are incompatible, Keith created Virtual Faculty Offices on Leadership University. This project allowed Christian university professors to publish scholarly writings and personal testimonies, growing from 16 to 47 offices online by 2001.

The Global Technology years (2001–2013)

1. Keith and Kay established the Global Technology Office: Upon Keith being selected as the first executive-level Chief Technology Officer for Campus Crusade for Christ in late 2001, Keith and Kay established the Global Technology Office to help identify, build, and deploy strategic digital solutions across the global organization. Kay led the wives of technology staff to find places to engage in ministry since they sometimes felt disconnected at the global headquarters. This new role required moving to the CCCI- HQ in Orlando in 2003. Daughters-in-love Michelle and Meredith joined the family and we were blessed with five grandchildren during this era.
2. Keith founded the MinistryNet Global Conferences: Beginning with Budapest in 2005, Keith founded the MinistryNet conferences. These gatherings equipped ministry leaders from dozens of countries to build strategic digital plans, eventually leading to the establishment of Digital Strategies as a core ministry strategy of Campus Crusade for Christ.
3. Kay coordinated critical logistics and administration for massive global conferences, including the Pamoja Africa gathering. During this continent-wide event, she assisted with registration for 2,400 people and helped facilitate computer training labs for African staff.
4. Keith led the development of the Global ConneXion Community Platform: Keith’s team developed and rolled out mygcx.org (Global ConneXion), a community platform that saw the rapid formation of over 4,000 unique “communities of purpose” to facilitate global peer-to-peer collaboration.
5. Kay utilized her skills to train women leaders from various countries, equipping them to use digital strategies and share their faith. Kay’s training in education was invaluable in helping equip and resource Cru staff.
6. Keith led the innovative mLearning (mobile learning) initiative to deliver seminary courses via mobile phones. By loading courses like the “Essentials of Christian Living” onto microchips, he enabled pastors in remote African villages to receive vital leadership training.

The Global Church Movement years (2013–present)

1. Keith and Kay refined church planter training materials: Keith and Kay led a team to refine and improve GCM’s core church planter training, called MC² (Multiplying Churches and Communities).
2. Keith and Kay travelled globally Launching Church Planting Initiatives: Taking numerous trips to Africa in 2013 and following years, Keith and Kay began to train MC² trainers. Training conferences inspired and mobilized pastors and denominations to engage in the Great Commission. They visited over 60 countries around the world during this era.
3. Keith coached Global Church Movements (GCM): Keith coached GCM leaders like Ignatius (Kenya), George (Nigeria) and Adama (Mali). Later leaders were Apollos (Nigeria), Tamadji (Chad), Miktile (Ethiopia) and so many others. Since 2010, 314,905 new churches and missional communities have been planted.
4. Keith and Kay model long-term engagement in the Great Commission: In recent years, Keith and Kay have spoken and modeled marriage and lifetime engagement in the Great Commission.
5. Keith helped found and launch Coalition of the Willing: Keith is a founding board member of Coalition of the Willing (COTW), a multi-organization collaboration to see a church planted in every village among every people. The iShare tool built for Campus Crusade for Christ and then donated to COTW is used to track every village and identify gaps where there are no local churches.