Day 1,459

August 1st, 2010 was my initial hire date with Campus Crusade for Christ International.  My first "real job" out of college.

Tomorrow, I start my 5th year... day 1,460.

As a college student, my plan was always to work hard, maybe climb the corporate ladder, have a family and support full-time missionaries. Little did I know, GOD's plan all along was for me to actually be a full-time missionary - at least for this season of life.

Most of my STINT team

 Looking back on these 4 years, (it's enjoyable to reminisce and start to see reasons for various life events or experiences), there were many seasons. Seasons of adventure, hardship and tears, packing and moving, cultures and languages, forever friendships built, and many pioneering endeavors I would have never could have imagined or thought I'd get to be apart of...

The National Campus Office conference team.                                                                             Jesus Film Media teammate Nifer and I on a conference call.

 Recently, I was in Denver, Colorado to speak at a conference. My overall purpose was to cast vision to the leaders of the intern teams serving overseas (STINT), about ways their teams could partner and be digitally trained and coached using Jesus Film products and strategies on campus overseas. As I prepared for this presentation, I also took time to reflect how this project came to be:

2010 - Pioneering STINT in France to resource Christian minorities.
2011 - Intern with the Cru National Campus Office conference team.
2012 - Join staff with Jesus Film Media and raise financial support.
2013 - Report full time and develop the STINT Partnership project.
2014 - Continue to develop the STINT Partnership project, training a new team in the partnership process, and possibly model partnerships for other ministries from it.

During my time on STINT, I met several influential leaders in the Global Missions world. While working on the conference team, I built rapport with some really fun people who orchestrate a wide variety of Cru conferences - including ones for STINTers. And during both of my internship years, through various circumstances, I learned more about Jesus Film and their desire to "go digital" in ministry and wanted someone with a marketing/networking background on this new team.

Representing Jesus Film Media at the 2013 STINT Briefing

The combination of these timely life experiences could only be put together by the Creator of all things. I don't think I'll ever realized how blessed I am to have been apart each of these ministries, but I am thankful to have been able to take time to see how they all have come together. I am excited and trusting the LORD to continue to grow and develop this STINT Partnership in the coming years to magnify HIS Name to the nations!

STINT Briefing: Day 2 and 3

Things are going well here in Chicago! Here are a few more short stories from yesterday and today:

• Yesterday, I bought 14 mini iPads (iPad Mini). This year, a STINT team is pioneering a new digital strategy. Similar to the "World Race", this team of 14, will be headed to 9 countries over the course of this year. The goal is to use technology, partnering with The JESUS Film Project to raise up national leaders in these countries and start ministry movements. I am praying that they get to experience radical things and are able to share what they learn with us at Jesus Film Media. It's like they are our field testers! How cool is that??
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Today, I met for lunch with the first ever STINT team headed to The Netherlands. I was really excited to meet with them, as they are my alma mater's  (Grand Valley State University) campus partnership. I was able to show and train them with the foundational functions of the JFM app. They were all excited for the possibilities of how they can incorporate it in their ministry this coming year. A few of them still have some support to raise. Will you pray God provides for them soon?
  
  
• This afternoon, my teammate Danny and I, met with a national from North Africa, named Mohammed*. He is in a influential leadership role for our companies digital ministry called Virtual Led Movement. During our meeting, he also told us that most college students in his country, have smart phones - which is why he wants to know how to share the app. It was a simple training done in 5 minutes! We also specifically showed Mohammed the valuable method of downloading the films to the user's device - which, once downloaded, eliminates the need for data or wifi. He is excited to take this news back to his country and share with his team!

*Names changed for security reasons