from February 20, 2014 personal update

April 1 I will officially leave Pioneers and begin my new role with The Navigators as part their Church Discipleship Ministry. I will serve local church leaders in the south central U.S. (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas). You will be hearing more about The Navigators (www.navigators.org) and my role with them in the months ahead.

After months of searching for an organization and role where my God-given gifts and passions could better be utilized, I have found my landing place. Thanks so much for your prayers during this time of transition. I looked into more than 100 different opportunities. Since October I have given serious and prayerful consideration to three great opportunities. My first choice among those three options was with the Navs. Their application and vetting process has been slow and thorough, but it is now completed.

The Navigators was started by Dawson Trotman in 1933. Today more than 4000 staff serve in 107 countries. Our U.S. and international headquarters is at Glen Eyrie in Colorado Springs. Our organizational motto is “to know Christ and to make Him known”. Our mission statement reads: “To advance the Gospel of Jesus and His Kingdom into the nations through spiritual generations of laborers living and discipling among the lost.”

Christ drew me to Himself more than 41 years ago as a freshman at The University of Texas at Austin. A few months after my conversion I got involved with the Nav work at UT. They laid the foundation for my spiritual journey and service with Christ. From 1973 to 1980 as an undergraduate student, a graduate student, and then as a recent graduate, I was actively involved with the Nav work at UT. I served as interim campus director (lay volunteer) for the UT Nav work during the 1996-1997 school year, and I served as associate staff (lay volunteer) with CDM (Church Discipleship Ministry) from 1995-2000.

God has used many different people and organizations as part of the process of helping me become more like Jesus and more effectively join with Him in His mission in the world. At the top of that list of people and organizations is The Navigators.

We are thrilled to remain in Austin, my home of 41 years. This will provide important continuity for our two children as they finish out their high school years. And I am thrilled to continue to serve local church leaders in their Great Commission efforts. For the past 13 years my vocational focus has been consulting and coaching local church leaders in the area of local and global cross-cultural outreach, with a special emphasis on church planting among least reached peoples. First as a regional director with Advancing Churches in Missions Commitment and then through Pioneers Church Partnerships Team. That passion remains unchanged. I am delighted to now be able to extend the scope of my consulting and coaching work with local church leaders into the six areas where CDM concentrates their efforts: leadership, life-to-life, mission, outreach, small groups, and spiritual maturity.

For those of you who of you who currently give to our work, we pray that you will make the transition with us to The Navigators. We will continue to depend on a team of faithful financial and prayer partners to make our work with local church leaders possible. Please continue to give through March 31 using our account with Pioneers. In April Pioneers will transfer all remaining funds in our account to our new account with The Navigators. Please begin giving through our new account with The Navigators on April 1. I will soon provide you with information about giving through The Navigators -- where to send checks, how to set up an electronic funds transfer, and other convenient giving options.

Thanks so much for your faithful partnership with us! We thank God for you. Please continue to pray for us as we make this transition. And please do contact me with any questions or concerns you may have about any of this. May God receive great glory as we move forward into this next stage of life and kingdom service.