This month marks a milestone in our ministry. We celebrate 15 years as a couple working with Campus Crusade. We wanted to reflect back on our journey and celebrate what God has done through our ministry in three different locations.

Fall 1993 to Spring 1997, Fall 1998 to Spring 1999
Kansas State University

Our first assignment found us at Kansas State University. During our 5 years, we saw God work in many lives as we shared the gospel and mentored students.

For Anne, the most memorable part of ministry at K-State was the women she discipled. It was exciting to see these women lead others to Christ and lead small groups of their own. For Jeff, it was having the privilege of leading John to Christ and helping John become a life-long disciple. Jeff was honored to be in John’s wedding in 2001.

In the Summer of 1996, we took eight students with us to Hungary for SpeakOut English camp. We enjoyed getting to work alongside our K-State students as we built relationships with Hungarian students and shared the gospel. Our summer experience prepared us for the next big step in our ministry.

Fall 1997 to May 1998
Debrecen, Hungary

It was ten years ago that we had one of the biggest adventures of our staff career. We joined eight other Americans on a campus in eastern Hungary. We enjoyed working with the Hungarian students already involved in the campus movement. One of our students is now part of the campus team in Budapest.

Both of us agree that it was one of the most challenging years of ministry, but also one of the richest. We are still close to many of our teammates. Recently, we have reconnected with some of the students we met that year.

Fall 1999 to December 2004
Student LINC, Orlando, Florida

Anne worked with Student LINC our first year in Orlando. She helped Jess (left in the picture) to start a new ministry to Doane College in Nebraska. That ministry has been continued by successful generations of student leaders.

Working with Student LINC was a great opportunity for Jeff to use his years of ministry experience and combine that with his creative talent. Jeff was able to help fulfill the original vision of GodSquad.com and make it into an indispensable resource for students and staff. The site is utilized around the world as staff and students trust God to change the lives of young people.

December 2004 to Present
theLAB, Orlando, Florida

As Jeff continued to grow in his Web skills, he was asked to join theLAB,
the media and technology solutions team for the Campus Ministry.

Jeff enjoys being part of a creative team who are using their gifts to help reach students for Christ, build them in their faith, and challenge and equip them to reach other students, both on their campus and around the world.

Currently, theLAB is working on a promotional package for 2009 Campus Crusade Summer Projects. The package includes several videos, a print brochure, Web site, and a motion design project that will allow students to add their faces to a video. It is an exciting opportunity for our team to create an integrated product that communicates through 3 different design mediums.

Summer 2005, Spring 2006, Spring 2007
Short-term Missions to Hungary

In the summer of 2005, we returned to Hungary with Katy and Ryan. It was fun to see Katy thrive in the environment of our English camp outreach to Hungarian high school and college students. Both the Hungarian students and the American Christian students loved having her around. Katy would like for us to go back for another summer.

Jeff returned for his sixth visit with a group of 10 teenagers from Orlando in March 2006. They spent a week speaking in Hungarian high schools and helping with a Battle of the Bands outreach. Jeff led a smaller team in 2007.

Read more about our ministry in Hungary

This past week, I returned to Budapest, Hungary for a week of ministry in Hungarian high schools. Here are some of the highlights of the week:

Monday – I had the chance to share a little bit of my testimony in a classroom with a small group. After school, I went with 2 teammates to do some random evangelism. We had an opportunity to talk with a group of 7 students that we had met earlier in the day while speaking in their English class.

Tuesday – My teammate Jillian got to share the gospel with a girl, Nori, that I had met on Monday in a Hungarian school. Jillian spent 4 years living in Budapest with her family. They are with Campus Crusade. Jillian shared the gospel in Hungarian and then I had an opportunity to share my testimony as we were answering some questions that Nori had.

At the student leadership meeting, I had the joy of seeing George. He was a student in Debrecen and was involved in the ministry while Anne and I lived there in 1998. I had not seen George in almost 10 years. He and his wife are on staff with the Campus ministry in Budapest. It is exciting to see enduring fruit from the ministry that we were involved with in Debrecen. He also caught me up on several others who had been student leaders in our ministry there.

Wednesday – I got to go back to a Catholic boy’s school that I had been in a year ago (pictured above). I saw Balint, a boy that I had talked with last year but did not get into spiritual things. I found out that he is a Christian and has been involved in the high school ministry here in Budapest. He has gone out with several of the staff when they have shared their faith. It was exciting to hear what God is doing in Balint’s life. (There is a picture of Balint on our February newsletter.)

Thursday – We tried to pass out flyers for the Battle of the Bands outreach. This day was a national holiday. We did not find a lot of students but did get to witness a couple of political rallies in the city. Hungarians are unhappy with their present government and there were threats of large demonstrations and even some violence. There was a small element of right wingers who caused some minor problems. We were never in any danger because the problems happened at night and we stayed away from the areas we knew would be a target.

Friday – Hundreds of students attended the Battle of the Bands outreach. I do not yet know the numbers or how many showed spiritual interest.

Earlier in the day, I witnessed some university students playing softball in a park. This was an unusual thing in Hungary. I approached them to ask about it and next thing I know, I got to play with them for a couple of hours. It was a very fun memory of my time here.