Upcoming Events!

The next few months hold important events and meetings! Please pray with us through them!

September 17-18 - Recruiting Open House at the GRC. Jeff Schofield and Richard Phillips have invested many hours this summer visiting our Summer Beach Projects to share with students about the needs and opportunities to serve the Lord through Resourcing Gifts. The weekend will be dedicated to helping interested students better understand the needs of the Global Campus Outreach Movement and how their specific gifts can help move God's Kingdom forward. Pray for the Lord to raise up men and Women He desires to use to help take CO to the next level!

September 22-23 - Site visit for Global Staff Conference in Orlando, FL. Pray for us as we visit and negotiate with three properties for our upcoming Global Staff Conference site location. We obviously need an appropriate site, but we need to secure it at the best possible price as well!

September 30 - Monthly review of our quarterly planning and objectives. Pray God would grant us wisdom and understanding as we seek His will in each area of responsibility.

October 13-22 - Resource Group Meetings and Regional Directors Meetings in Atlanta, GA. Our offices will help facilitate these meetings and resource the Directors as they prepare and deploy their plans. Pray that God would lead and direct these men as they seek God's direction for the Campus Outreach ministry over the next year and beyond.

November 6-12 - Resource Directors Meeting and Conference in San Jose, CA. This will be a strategic time for all of our Resource Directors to meet as we evaluate the implementation of our Strategy and develop plans for the next year. Pray God would lead this time and continue to develop these key leaders who serve and lead the execution of the Regional Ministries!

December 28 - January 1 - National New Years Conference in Chattanooga, TN. This year all the stateside regional ministries will host their annual New Years Conference together for the first time since 2001. We expect some 5,000 students to participate including many who will come from our overseas ministries to participate. There are plans to run a parallel Alumni Conference at the same time with Alumni oriented seminars. God has brought together an awesome group of men to challenge and teach the students and staff: J.D. Greear, Chandler, Harry Reeder, and John Piper. There will also be a great show from Sho Baraka and Trip Lee. Pray God would change men and women's lives through His gospel. Pray men and women would dedicate their lives to living for Jesus and growing as His disciple!

Kicking Off the Fall!

Whew! Lots of things going on! It has been a world wind but we are thankful for the opportunities!

Support development this summer has been encouraging although slow. We entered the summer in a precarious position financially. We were in deficit and growing monthly. God has moved through many of you to help us on our way, however we still lack $1,000 of new monthly support needed to meet our responsibilities. Please continue to pray and trust with us that God would raise up 10 additional families who would partner through giving +/- $100 per month. Many current supporters have increased to help as well! I can't tell you how encouraging that has been! What a privilege laboring with you!


The kids are off to a great start in school this fall for the first time since we moved back from Brazil. The transition has been a challenge for them. Not only has it been different from one country to another, but changing schools three years in a row has taken its toll on them. This is the first year in four years that they will be returning to the same schools with pretty much the same friends! That creates some stability and known factors for them. They know what to expect and what's expected of them! Thank you Jesus for this new phase for them! Will you pray with us for God's protection and calling in their lives. Would they grow in the knowledge of His love and grace!

Most of you think of football when you think of the fall, but in our family soccer is king. We have three troopers playing soccer with Briarwood Soccer Club. Levi is playing U-13, John U-11, and Emmi U-10. I am even coaching Emmi's team for the first time. They are all doing well and growing as athletes and sportsmen. One note, Levi was invited to try out for the Soccer ODP (Olympic Development Program) and he made the team! Congratulations Levi!!!

Luke is kicking off the year with a new venture into Show Choir. It will be fun to see this develop and I know he will do a great job! He does enjoy being the center of attention at times!

Thank you so much for being involved in our ministry and our lives! We are truly grateful for you as we know that none of this would be possible without the Lord working through you in our lives!

Our Recent Trip to Brazil

We enjoyed a very fruitful and encouraging trip to Brazil August 12-17. We had the privilege to visit with many of our friends in Brazil as we visited Belo Horizonte. We visited the church we helped plant, Communidade Horizonte. We met with most of the Campus Outreach Staff to encourage and update them. We visited several Bible studies that started back before we left Brazil and to see the growth and development was so wonderful! God is indeed Faithful!

We also renewed our Resident Visas that allow us to come and go from Brazil as often and for as long as needed! That was an exciting process full of God's provision just like the rest of our trip, but I don't have time to share all that right now. Post here if you're interested in hearing the details!

Graduates Francival & Kelly living and working in Rio de Janeiro!

Adult investigative Bible study that meets at Wellington's house!

Mari, Mirrela, Me, Wendy, Lorena, & Carol

Wendy with Eduardo & Jaqueline

Wendy w/ young professionals Dilene &Andreza

Us with the Frahia and Cesar families.

Russell visiting with Ze Flavio & Luis

Wendy & Cluadia

Serving the World

We have the privilege of hosting, supporting, and training staff from around the world. Pictured below is a cookout we hosted for the Repolles family from Brazil and the Firpo and Hunt families who just arrived from Thailand for a six month US Ministry Assignment. Please pray with us for the these and many other families as they travel back to the USA to meet with supporters, study, renew, transition children to college, and build up their support and prayer teams.

Wendy Enjoys New Business

Wendy has joined a new business called Willow House with her dear friend Melinda Saxton. It is a home design and decorating company formerly known as Southern Living at Home. Wendy is a Design Consultant and she is loving it! Those of you who know her know how much she loves hosting people in her home and making it a warm and inviting environment! Now she gets to help others do the same thing for their homes!

Pictured below is Wendy with her team at a recent National Convention in Atlanta, GA for Willow House. We are thankful that God is helping pay for soccer and ballet through this business! Yeah!

 

If you would like to see more about her new venture take a look at this site: wendylong.willowhouse.com. You can even shop online if you want to. Wendy says check out the close out deals!

New Addition to the Family

No, not another child! But a beautiful bouncing brown eyed girl all the same! We are so pleased how she has fit into our family. It has been so fun to see how it has affected the kids and Wendy and me for the good! Blessings come in all shapes and sizes!

Riley Long

GRC Staff Planning

This is my staff team at our quarterly planning and evaluation time at Lake Martin in Alabama. (L-R: Kent Bailey, Phillip Avery, Jeff Schofield, David Breed, Russell Long, Janet Pursell, and Chris Blazer).

We serve together in the Campus Outreach GRC (Global Resource Center). It is our privilege to serve the global movement of Campus Outreach as it seeks to Build Laborers on the Campus for the Lost World.

Thank you for your prayers and partnership in this ministry!

Support Update

As many of you know, we have been working hard to build a healthy prayer and support team over the past several months. Each month for almost last year we have had less support come in than our costs. If not for the faithful giving of so many we would not have been able to continue in ministry this year. However, we are responsible before the Lord and the Campus Outreach Board to make sure we raise all funds need for our salary, benefits, taxes, and ministry expenses. Thus far this year we have acrued a $5,000 deficit. We currently need $2,400 in new monthly support to meet our responsibilities in the future and $5,000 on 1x funds to meet our deficit from the past.

We have entered an emergency support situation, where the ministry is requiring us to devote full attention to support and begin to work from an emergency budget. In an effort to not accrew any additional deficet balance we will only receive support that comes in each month minus a payment of $643 toward the deficit and all costs, benefits, and taxes. We are committed to being financially responsible and prayerfully request your assistance.

As I have been talking with some of you there seems to be the desire to pray and ask God to raise up 20 families that would pledge $100 per month on average which would significantly resolve this situation. I know that not everyone could do that much, but some might be blessed to do more. Would you join with us in praying that God would raise up these twenty families and others who would partner with us not just in this opportunity, but in the development of leaders and laborers for God's Kingdom!

Peering Through the Storms

As many of you have heard we had a series of devestating tornados in Alabama over the past week. Praise God that we all made it through safely. Our house was not so lucky as you can see here!

We are not complaining though, many, many friends and loved ones lost family members, homes, businesses, and etc.... Please be in prayer with us for all of Alabama during this difficult time!

Latest News

Even though we had hoped to reach our budget by now we are continuing to meet with individuals and churches who God may lead to partner with us in the strategic mission of mobilizing labors for the lost world. We need faithful partners who will pray and give financially to help us complete the work God has given us. Currently we have received $300 in new monthly support commitments. Our remaining support needed is $2,700 per month.

Would you prayerfully consider if God would have you partner with us in this opportunity.

We love you and appreciate you so much! Thank you for your prayers!

Mobilization Summit

Last week Campus Outreach Directors from across the country met in Augusta, GA for a Mobilization Summit.  The goal of this time was to discuss how we might more effectively help our graduates succeed in life and ministry beyond the college campus. It was so encouraging to see all that God was doing in this area already, bu the task at hand is so great! There are are so many that we want to help. Pray with us as we continue to understand all that God would have us do to mobilize more laborers more effectively!

Current Prayer Requests

• Pray God would continue to multiply the lives of the Longs into others raising up laborers/leaders.
• Pray God would grant the Longs wisdom in raising and leading their four children.
• Pray God would help the Longs continue to help staff and students discover their divine design and align themselves with it.
• Pray God would help the Longs as they seek to develop a community group for growth, equipping, and fellowship from within their Sunday School class.
• Pray God would continue to develop a consistent support and prayer team.

Serving as Senders by Chris Blazer (HR Development Director)

February and March are the months that many Churches give particular focus to Global Missions. Though this may only be a weekly focus for individuals and churches, this is the air we breathe here in the Global Resource Center. Paul says in Romans 10:14-15 ¹⁴How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵ And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

It is not uncommon to get the question “so what do you do”—mostly from donors and potential donors. The answer for our team really comes from this passage. We are called and equipped to wash the beautiful feet of those who bring good news. Though not always done to the degree we would like, it certainly represents the desire of our heart. We will all be reading a book together by Neal Pirolo called Serving as Senders—how to care for your missionaries while they are preparing to go, while they are on the field and when they return to the US. We always feel like our tiny office located on Valleydale Road in Birmingham, Alabama has a revolving door—either people coming, going or passing through.  Since December we have deployed Brian and Abbey Harper to Brazil, Bobby and Katie Hamlett & Bob and Courtney McGreggor to Thailand. In addition, we also deployed Brian & Jennifer Phillips to Australia.  Janet Pursell has recently arrived in our office from Texas and is making a significant contribution at an operational level with our office. David Breed and Phillip Avery are currently raising support to join the Global Resource Center and we are in the process of deploying Melanie Rogers and Lee Cunningham to Brazil and Laura Watkins to Thailand in the early summer (God willing). Finally, we are also shepherding and coaching Anselmo and Michelle Repolles so they can return to Brazil this summer after a prolonged season of support raising and personal development.

When you cut a CO staff person we bleed Luke 9:36-38. I wish we were sending more and caring for more because the harvest is certainly plentiful but the workers are few. Just as that is true on the field it is also true in our GRC office. As we seek to grow deeper in our existing services and care for our staff we are seeking to develop new services and add others to our team so that we can sustain the doubling of our ministry efforts and staff over the next ten years. As we pray for you, please pray that God would send envisioned, motivated and talented individuals who will Serve as Senders with us.

Resource Staff Conference

In January we hosted a conference for all of CO’s Resource Staff, from around the country, in Birmingham, AL. The goal of this time was to encourage and equip Resource Staff to meet the ever-increasing needs of Campus Outreach globally. We are seeking to develop staff, services, and systems that will propel the movement strategically and sustainably into the next decade.

Thank you for your prayers! It was clear that God led this time and we were all encouraged and stimulated to greater service and sacrifice.

Questions of a Ten Year Old

My ten year old asks some of the best questions. Many of them are really difficult to answer or we will have to ask Jesus when we see Him face to face. So I thought I would share a few of them with you!

"Papa, how old will we be when we get to heaven? Will we be kids or old? Will we be old or babies like when we die?"

"Papa, why did God make people who won't ever believe in Him since He will have to send them to hell?"

"Papa, why did Adam and Eve sin and mess it us for all of us?"

"Papa, why did God allow sin into the world in the first place?"

In case you were wondering my kids call me Papa.

What interesting questions have you come across lately?