Karl & Liesl Kranich

Greetings from Indiana, where spring has finally sprung and there’s lot’s going on with Keynote and Cru to keep us busy! Last week was Cru’s semi-annual Day of Prayer. Keynote is blessed to have the facilities to host all the Cru staff in the Indy area who wish to attend with us and it was a great time to honor God with our focused attention and remember that He is the one who really does the work, we just get the privilege of tagging along ☺.

Keynote completed not one, but two Comm Labs earlier this month (Karl put in some very full days running tech one of the weeks, but it’s worth it). I personally think this training is one of our best contributions to our staff and other believers who attend, because it gives them the tools they need to craft and communicate their stories in ways that will reach people more effectively. If you are ever interested in taking part (or know of someone who would be) please let us know. We’re happy to get you connected.

Thanks for all the prayers for Cru switching Email services. I think we’ve all had our share of frustrations at trying to figure out how to use the new system, but overall, the tech guys (like Karl) across the country worked hard and made the transition as smooth as possible. I, in one of my crankier moments, asked Karl what benefits we got from the change. He was able to tell me about an impromptu video conference he and several other staff preparing for our conference time in Colorado were able to have. That never would have been possible with the old system and it saved time and made communication so much easier.

That leads me into our big focus for the present and near future. Karl will be leading the tech team again this year for our CSU Conference Team. As you probably remember, every other year we go to Colorado State University to host several different trainings (New staff, Biblical studies, International preparation, leadership training, etc) and we culminate the summer with our All US staff conference. As you can imagine, this requires a LOT of planning and work to make happen, and all those people working want their computers to work, and their wireless connection to function and so on. That’s what Karl’s team does.

Please pray for Karl and the rest of the Conference team to have wisdom and ability to prepare for this summer (we’ve got a lot of changes, from housing shortages for families to different facilities on campus to work with). Karl will head out toward the end of May and Anja and I will follow as soon as school ends in June.

Thank you so much for being part of our team! You bless us greatly.

“God. People. Music. Design.”
Karen knew she loved these four things. In fact, God had been softening her heart towards the idea of using her passions to further His kingdom. She was excited about this possibility, but still did not have a place to fully utilize her passions.
Approaching her senior year at Iowa State University, Karen “had this desire in (her) heart, but didn’t know where to look.” Still, she continued to search the Internet for that perfect fit. With anticipation and encouragement from her mentor, she approached the Keynote booth at a Cru winter conference thinking: “this place could be my fit.”
Although Karen had no prior involvement with Keynote, she decided it was the right place for her after discovering it was possible to use her degree in graphic design to serve Christ in ministry. Shortly after, Karen was on her way to Indianapolis for an interview.
“At the interview, it felt like they were really trying to get to know me, not just see what I could do for them,” she explained. The relational aspect of potentially working with Keynote impressed her. While in town, Karen had the opportunity to build relationships with her future co-workers and see one of the Keynote bands perform. The weekend helped Karen catch the vision for what Keynote does – help start spiritual conversations about Jesus.
A year later, Karen reported to Keynote as full-time staff member. Since then, she has had a vital role in using her passions to increase the professionalism and visibility of Keynote so that more people can hear the gospel. Last summer, she drove the design process to provide promotional materials for our Summer Project bands. She also recently gave a fresh look to our two biggest fundraising events: An Evening with Keynote and the Keynote Golf Challenge.

Karen loves working for a ministry where the motivation for her work isn’t found in product or profit but in seeing lives changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. She firmly believes that “God gives us our passions to illuminate His will.” As a resource ministry, we need people like Karen who want to use their skills and passions to serve Christ.

This is why Karl and I are so happy to serve “behind the scenes” as well. We love being able to use the skills God has given us to serve Him and see lives changed. Thank you for making our ministry at reality!

First, a quick prayer request from Karl:

Please pray that I would get over the last bits of the flu that has kept me home Monday – Thursday.  I need to lead three Google training times at Keynote next Tuesday, and then six more in Minneapolis next Thursday and Friday.  I’d really appreciate your prayers for energy, a strong voice, preparation, and the ability to encourage our staff in this email transition.  Thanks!

“Who is the real God – Allah or the God of the Bible?”

Matthew, a college student in Portland, asked this question. His dad is Muslim, and his mom is Catholic. While in Jordan last summer with his dad’s family, he read the Quran resulting in more questions about Islam and Christianity.

This situation is not surprising to John, Cru campus staff member in Portland. He believes that the rough spiritual soil in Portland brings unique challenges. As a result, more time is needed to cultivate relationships so spiritual conversations about Jesus can happen.

MissionHub frees up that time for John by eliminating piles of administrative work, giving him more time to care for the people who need him most. The result is more effective ministry. “I joined staff to reach people, especially one on one,” explained John. “Instead of doing admin, I can actually use my time to meet with students!”

John’s ministry team also realized that when they met non-believers on campus for the first time, follow-up sometimes fell through the cracks. John credits MissionHub with organizing his contacts and preventing him from losing touch with students – students like Matthew.

John and Matthew have been meeting for a few months to talk about Islam and Christianity. Matthew is still exploring and continues to trust John to help him navigate through the Bible. Now, Matthew is asking, “What will happen if I become a Christian and disappoint my Muslim relatives?”

Thank you for helping us create digital resources that help people like John have spiritual conversations about Jesus with students like Matthew. Please pray with me that Matthew begins a relationship with Jesus this semester and is motivated to share his journey with others.

———-

We hope you are as encouraged as we are. We love knowing that our work behind the scenes makes relationships like John and Matthew’s possible. And your ministry to us, through prayers and finances and encouragement makes our work possible! God is so good the way He connects us all to His purposes. That way we get the blessings working together and being a part of His plans. Thank you for serving with us.

Please pray with us for health. Pray also for the email transition for all of Cru’s staff. The change promises to be good, but transitions are always a bit messy. One praise is for our recent trip to Florida. It was full of all kinds of stuff, but it all fit together and we were glad to see a few of you while at the CUMC missions conference.

The Global Prayer Movement helps to organize prayer for God’s work through Cru.  They just published their latest prayer journal focused on Keynote!  Check it out and pray for what’s going on through our ministry:

Happy New Year! I know that’s a little late, but we do hope and pray that God blesses you and your family this year.

Here at Keynote, we’re trusting God for some exciting things. Everything is centered on helping people start spiritual conversations about Jesus. True life change only happens when the gospel enters people’s lives through the power of the Spirit.

We’ve been asked to send a band to a cosmopolitan Middle Eastern city where the gospel is rarely shared out in the open. This is an amazing opportunity to help break up the rocky spiritual soil so that the seed of the gospel can be sown effectively and take root. Please pray that this would result in spiritual movements (growing, multiplying groups of believers) starting in this country.

In our communications training, we’re asking God to allow us to grow from two Communication Labs per year to four this year. We’d like to provide 250 people with greater effectiveness in ministry through better communication skills.

Our digital strategies team is working with the campus ministry to provide tools and strategies to help them reach the most students with the gospel. Our main emphasis is improving MissionHub, which helps the field staff keep track of and communicate with the people they need to reach.

Please pray that God would grant us wisdom and favor in all of these efforts! Thank you for all of the ways that you support us in this ministry. God is at work!

We’re coming to Venice, Florida on February 9 and 10!

If you want to stop by and say “hi”, we’ll be at the Panera Bread at the Venice Village Shoppe at Jacaranda and US 41 from 2pm to 4pm on Saturday (4179 S Tamiami Trail).

We’ll also be at Christ United Methodist church on Sunday morning.

Please come see us if you can!