#2 Testimonies - Year-End 2024, New Year 2025

I referenced one confirmation that God has me in the right place for impact in my previous post (see here). More validation continues to push my resolve to work hard to keep CO missionaries on the field for longer, healthier, and hopefully, fruitful ministries.

As we look toward 2025, I desire to give even more time and effort to my International Network Operations role. Read the field testimonies below to understand why! 

Rodrigo in Monterrey, Mexico: 
Jon, your coaching and training are beneficial to our development and resourcing of our campus ministry team in Monterrey. It helps us connect and see what other regions are doing. Hearing best practices and networking with other international regions will be very helpful.

Zack in Guadalajara, Mexico: 
Thank you so much, Jon. I've talked to our Director and we are going to adopt some of these support-raising strategies as a team and individually. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us, super helpful!

Fabiana in Belo Horizonte, Brazil:
Your role as a liaison between our field team and other regions, network leadership and CO Serve is valuable because you bring vast international field experience where you walked in our shoes and understand the specifics of what our needs are. 

Jeff about Lima, Peru:
Thank you so much for your prep work for the team in Lima. The document you drafted with perspective and practical points about hiring was worth gold. I think this type of information will be so helpful as they consider their first national hires in Peru.

Dan in Birmingham, England:
We are still very much at a pioneering stage in the U.K. That brings with it a lot of excitement but also uncertainty and unfamiliarity. As a Resource Director, Jon’s experience and encouragement are invaluable to me. Having someone who understands the challenges and can give gospel perspective and practical help makes a massive difference to our day-to-day ministry in Birmingham.

Thank you so much for doing your part in reaching college students around the world. I hope that you are encouraged as your investment continues to reap benefits in God’s harvest field in the new year!

To put us in a position of strength for the mission ahead, our 1-time goal for 2025 is $12,000. With your increased monthly investment or year-end gift, together, we can be more effective to boots on the ground in Mexico, Brazil, Peru and England.

Scan the QR code to click on the image to go to our online giving page.

#1 Year-End 2024, New Year 2025

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At the close of our first full year at Campus Outreach SERVE, I will be sending several updates over our different media, and am mailing a physical year-end update to many of you. We are glad to share how your partnership and investment are impacting our lives personally and CO ministries around the world..

Here is an encouraging message I received recently from a team member in Brazil about the podcast series I produce with CO SERVE:

"The podcast helps keep the vision before me, and even gain a greater vision, for my primary work of evangelism and discipleship on the campus. The interviews, filled with biblical truth and practical ministry experience, are incredibly encouraging. I've even used quotes directly from StaffCast episodes in my one-on-one meetings with staff members."

This is just one confirmation that God has me in the right place for impact. As we look toward 2025, I desire to give even more time and effort to my International Network Operations role. Read the field testimonies below to understand why!

Thank you so much for doing your part in reaching college students around the world. I hope that you are encouraged as your investment continues to reap benefits in God’s harvest field in the new year!

To put us in a position of strength for the mission ahead, our 1-time goal for 2025 is $12,000. With your increased monthly investment or year-end gift, together, we can be more effective to boots on the ground in Mexico, Brazil, Peru and England.

Scan the QR code to click on the image to go to our online giving page.

PREVENTABLE ATTRITION: how is your ministry partnership combating it?

Several major missionary studies over the past 30 years have stated that 71% of returning missionaries annually do so for PREVENTABLE reasons. This is called preventable attrition for career missionaries. Those reasons include lack of financial support, lack of organizational support, personal concerns, inadequate pre-field training, poor cultural adaptation, loss of vision/drive, team conflict and disagreement with the agency. (source: Mission Frontiers, Nations Outreach)

I began researching missionary attrition after a conversation with a potential financial partner who was unsure about supporting someone who is not "boots on the ground". As one of those "boots on the ground" for 20 years, I admit I needed to remind myself of the importance of my current role. The rhetorical question in my mind was, "If the need is boots on the ground, what is the biggest need for those boots on the ground to not return prematurely?" Do we just send more people into the field, or can we also provide support that helps keep those missionaries on the front lines for longer, healthier, and, hopefully, fruitful ministries?

When I was developing Season 3 of the Campus Outreach StaffCast, I asked a CO Network Director what he thought the staff needed to hear the most. His answer was immediate: "They need encouragement that is specific to what they are doing. They need encouragement from those who have been through what they are facing and who encourage them to rely on God, to persevere when it's tough, and rejoice when it's fruitful."

I am glad to say that the goal of our staff-focused podcast series is exactly that—"a podcast produced by CO Staff for CO Staff."

Beyond that, I enjoy the direct and indirect ways that I work alongside staff on campuses around the globe on projects like publishing a Home Ministry Assignment Guide, developing Latin American resource staff on the field, and highlighting impact each year through our CO SERVE Annual Report. 

I am confident that your ministry partnership is impacting staff across the CO regions so they can impact the next generation of leaders around the globe. Thank you for investing in this ministry with us. 

Please be encouraged by watching this one-minute video testimony from the Director of our Cape Town, South Africa team about the StaffCast. 

James Broadaway - Cape Town, South Africa.

Lusaka, Zambia Spotlight Video

A recent project our Marketing and Communications (MarComm) team completed was a joint investment with the Campus Outreach team in Lusaka, Zambia. This project was personal for me, as I have been friends with the Lusaka Regional Director for almost 20 years. I first met Tim Byrd at an international staff conference in 2005 when he was still single and adjusting to his first field assignment in Johannesburg, South Africa. Now Tim, Niai and their family are pioneering on the campuses in Zambia.

The spotlight video shows how God is working in Lusaka, Zambia, beyond what we could have imagined! Students are sharing the gospel, growing in God's Word, and changing the culture for Christ.

Watch the video to learn more and hear from CO Lusaka Staff and students.

Thank you for partnering with us as we invest in churches and staff around the world as they labor on the college campuses to reach students with the gospel.

Keys in Hand

On Monday, July 8th we closed on our house! With keys and deed in hand, it's official. 

The whole process of finding the house that is now ours was fraught with ups and downs. Please read the previous post for more on that. I am certainly a post-processer, so just now I am beginning to think more about what God is teaching us through this process. By no means have I figured it all out, but trusting in God's sovereignty, wisdom and goodness was where our battle of faith was fought. 

This update is meant to celebrate the Lord's faithfulness. Me and my family testify to His sovereignty will, His wise guidance and His good timing. We don't understand it all, for truly His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9)

We have already entered year 2 of our transition. Now, our house is a key piece for us to be able to think long-term in Birmingham for the next 10-15 years. We are excited to see how our fight to walk by faith is shaping this new phase of life and ministry.

Thank you for praying with us, encouraging us and partnering with us!

Our First House

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In our almost 18 years of marriage, we have had several abodes—apartments, a house, rentals and ministry housing. We made each of them into a home for our family, no matter how long or short our stay was. And now we have wonderful news to share! We are days away from closing on our very first house as property owners. 

The reality of our journey is too much to include in an update. In summary, what we imagined would be a process that would fit neatly into our first year of transition to the US ended up not so "neatly" and came with challenges and the need to walk by faith. 

The market is not currently kind to buyers; we visited 30 properties and made a total of 6 offers over 8 months and were overbid on all of them. Our commitment to keeping the kids in the same schools (they have thrived!) and Birmingham's confusing mesh of incorporated municipalities with their own school systems limited our search area. Tathiana and I were constantly challenged to think about giving up on the idea of finding a house in the "sweet spot" - where we needed to stay because of schools, what we wanted in a home and how much we could afford. We began to look almost exclusively at rentals within the same school zone over the past 2 months - really feeling that a move to a rental would be disappointing. 

We were confused. We believed that God had His hand in our first year with the ministry housing that was arranged, the schools that we loved, the churches we visited and the friends we made—to then have to think about leaving it all for another region of Birmingham after moving cross-culturally just one year before. I did not struggle in doubting God's sovereignty, but I wavered when considering His goodness and wisdom. "What are you doing, God?" I said over and over in my prayers.

Then, almost in an anti-climatic manner, we visited one last house on the last week that we could wait before committing to a rental. The house has all the "wants", is in an area that we need and is within the price range we can afford. Our agents were wonderful in assisting us, and we put in a good offer and it was ACCEPTED! We are now just days away from closing and excited about what year 2 of our new phase of life and ministry will be like as we plant roots with our first house.

We are amazed at the Lord's provision. We are thankful for everyone who prayed, listened, encouraged and bore our heavy burdens as we waited for His provision to become reality. Thank you for celebrating with us, also! Amém. 

Praise and Prayer: Housing and Support

I am happy to share with you that our 1-time goal of $20,000 to cover our support account from the transition expenses has been raised! I praise God for His provision and for the generosity of our financial partners. The vast majority of the $20k was donated by current monthly partners, and some partners even gave multiple 1-time gifts over several months.

This is an amazing confirmation that the Lord will provide for our ministry and our new season of life and ministry in Birmingham with Campus Outreach SERVE. We, also, share with you two very specific prayer requests.

First, we continue to labor in support raising for our new monthly budget based in the US. I am contacting current supporters to make sure we are well connected and also networking out into new relationships in Chattanooga and Birmingham. I want to be faithful and dedicated to doing the groundwork work as God connects us to new churches and individuals eager to partner. Until we are able to raise 100% of our monthly budget (we are currently around 72%), all 1-time gifts are greatly appreciated.

Second, we are in need of more permanent housing as we come to the end of our first year in the US. Our current housing situation in Birmingham has been such a blessing, this is a big reason for praise! However, we have a deadline for how long we can stay at our current missionary housing, which is June 15th, 2024. Our desire was to be able to use this first year to settle and take a good look at the market here in Hoover, AL (southern metro Birmingham). The market has shifted a bit, but not enough that we have found a property in the "sweet spot" that combines WHERE - so the kids can stay in the same school system, WHAT - our desires and needs for a house, and HOW MUCH we can afford.

I do believe that God answers prayers, so I earnestly ask that you pray with us for a property that fits into that sweet spot, or a rental option that allows us to prepare for a near-future purchase.

Thank you for your partnership and care.