Dear Family and Friends:

Last month, Cindy and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary! It was also the 10th anniversary of our joining staff. (We celebrated our 10th at Campus Crusade for Christ’s New Staff Training.) Going back even further, 30 years ago, (1983), I (Mike) graduated high school and 40 years ago, I received Christ as my own Savior. So I have been married for half my Christian life and we’ve been Crusade staffmembers for half our married life!

It really doesn’t seem possible…time is so fleeting! As delightful as marriage is, personally, I think I needed half my life to prepare for the challenges of marriage. I suspect our marriage needed the first half to prepare for the challenges of ministry. “New” deficiencies in my own character are always popping up—and ministry challenges both of us in countless ways. The devil is always there to oppose and discourage, and answering God’s call involved deliberately turning a blind eye to my shortcomings as a step of faith, because I felt some of them very keenly. Don’t get me wrong: I am not saying that it turned out that they were not really there! There were tons more that I wasn’t even aware of! However, once we finally showed up on the battlefield, God started working on us. Thankfully, He doesn’t wait until we’re without fault before He begins working through us! Instead, it’s in our deficiencies and infirmities that His strength is most perfectly shown. There’s something ironic, too, about the parts of the body which have the greatest dependency, which are characterized by weakness and are the least “presentable.” In God’s Christ-centered economy, it’s these who end up receiving the most grace and serving a key role—so that our natural tendency to admire men for their talents, accomplishments and personality would be turned upside-down.

So although we’re nothing particularly special in and of ourselves, in the last 10 years, God has given us a platform to share our hope with the world. We have shared with new believers in locations we would never have reached in person: I still remember when Ricky in Fiji first started coming to our online Bible study. I remember when Rose in Guyana agreed to join as a GMO volunteer Online Missionary. Getting to lead a Vietnamese single mom connecting through a smartphone, in a remote village as she prayed the sinner’s prayer was among the many high points of March’s Live Chat trial. Seeing dozens, perhaps hundreds, of individuals pray to receive Christ with me, following up with thousands who already had done so on our websites, and being there to mentor countless others as they shared about their spiritual breakthroughs has been unforgettable. I often think, who am I to get to see this? Just someone who decided the significance of what I had done to that point was nothing compared to what needed to be done.

Once again, it looks as if we’re at a turning point. It’s hard not to see our life in these seasons: we were practically newlyweds when we moved to California; then we spent 9 years there. Cindy worked for the first five as a creative designer for a national brand, and Mike helped bring a small electronic color pre-press business into the new business of new media. We bought our first house there. Both our kids were born there. We participated in service in our local church, helping with the music program, social events, regular men’s meetings and prayer group, Sunday School classes, building projects and short-term missions trips.

I recently heard a powerful quote from british journalist Malcolm Muggeridge: “Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message.” I hope that this recollection of the last 10 years hasn’t seemed too self-involved, but we want to be good listeners to what God wants to say to us. Even though we have another year to get ready, most of our co-workers are leaving this year, so it’s in the forefront of our minds these days. If the planned move from Orlando to Dallas next year happens to be around August, that will mean 9 years here in Florida, just as we had 9 years in California, and I think for us, it’s all highly significant. What will the next decade bring, as we turn this page? We are grateful that you are part of our story! However you joined our team of supporters or prayer-warriors, your investment in us makes it possible for us to serve! Thank you for helping us pray for wisdom and resources for the coming year!

Love, in Christ,

 

Mike & Cindy
One Day Closer! (Romans 13:11)

P.S. See our latest family photos here!

Download a copy of this letter in for Acrobat Reader (PDF) here.