Steve Pierce !March 7, 2014

Volume 22 Issue 1 !steve.pierce@cru.org 321-229-5702

10862 Norcross Circle Orlando FL 32825

I’m just back from Bangkok, Thailand. Much of January and early February I was helping plan

for an event there. Bekele Shanko, Campus Crusade’s Global VP for Church

Planting, asked me to help his team put on their big event, which happens every 3 years. So I coordinated the program and technical production with our local Thai ministry staff and churches, the facility and local vendors, to pull it all together in the midst of some serious rioting against the government. God had everything go fine for us, despite having to switch hotels a few weeks ahead of time to be in a safer area, and none of our people were hurt. I was honored to be among missionaries who minister in some pretty tough places in the world, many who have to hide their roles for fear of torture or death. 262 missionaries, pastors and other leaders from Campus Crusade and 23 partnership ministries participated, representing over 90 of the 126 countries we work in presently. We focused on the big change in missions from ‘decisions for Christ’ to ‘making disciples for Christ’, purposeful relationships, lasting movements becoming churches, and doing all of this together in partnership. In the last few years we’ve trained 632,767 believers representing 491,990 church groups to be able to replicate the training within their groups. The purpose of helping to fulfill the Great Commission through winning, building and sending Christ-centered multiplying disciples is well underway. The goal is t0 equip 5 million

multiplying leaders and churches by the end of 2020. “How can this be done?” you may ask. Inspiring believers with a vision of multiplication, then maximizing people, strategies and tools from within each of our organizations are the keys. Then we plan to mobilize leaders within local churches and partner ministries, multiply by training and coaching multiple generations of disciples and tracking their progress as they learn and grow. It is truly exciting stuff to be involved in. Some of the time was devoted to talking about best practices in various areas of the world. Africa, Central America, South Asia and some of the secret and sensitive parts of the world are seeing tremendous success and fruitfulness. Those from each of these areas lead times on what is working in their areas. Our Global Ops VP spoke about leading with information, truly understanding what is happening and making informed decisions over time on how best to apply our resources. We also talked though our measuring tools, mapping systems, and how to utilize the Jesus Film tools, apps and other partner tools. It is truly exciting to be involved with the cutting edge of where God is working to bring people to Him! I’m grateful for the part you play in helping make all these things happen. Thank you so much for what you do in praying and giving from what God has given you to help me be ableto minister.

GLOBAL CHURCH PLANTING