Karl & Liesl Kranich

This summer was stretching in so many ways; it’s taken a few posts to cover it all.

For me (Karl), this was the first time leading the Tech Team. We were a team of 7 staff and students who served the rest of the Conference Team and the people who were attending training courses and conferences.

We struggled with some frustrating problems that had never plagued us before: strange Internet slowness and printer problems were at the top of the list. It was stretching for me to delegate tasks to people when I was tempted to try to do the work myself. I still have a lot to learn about being a team leader!

I’m so thankful for my team: Suzanne, Chris, Jeff, Mike, Chris (also called Peter) and Terin. They were a joy to serve with, and we heard that it was a very friendly and helpful tech team (Suzanne probably deserves much of the credit for that).

Thank you so much for praying for our team – we needed it! It is easy to get buried in the tasks and forget that this is a ministry: we are serving so that God’s people are prepared and refreshed to go and serve more effectively.

One of the highlights of our time in Colorado was the incredible speakers that ministered to us during the US Staff Conference. God was definitely at work through the planning team and the speakers.

The first two mornings we got to hear from Francis Chan, who warned us not to listen to people so much. We need to listen to God and His Word. Are we concerned about our reputations with man, or with God? If someone asked my coworkers and friends about my character, and then was able to ask God about my character, would the two line up? Am I going through the motions without really loving God and His Word more than anything else?

Dr. David Platt brought the closing message from Isaiah 6: 1-8. Even though this is a very familiar passage, Dr. Platt’s message was challenging. We have an incomprehensibly great God who has the nations in his hand. We are a sinfully depraved people. We have a scandalously merciful Savior. And that leads us to an indescribably urgent mission – we need to trust Him with everything and not hold back! It was a great way to close the conference and send us back home with renewed purpose.

Thank you for being a part of the team that keeps us going!

We had such a full summer!  It’s going to take at least two letters to summarize all that we’ve experienced and learned.

Liesl’s update on her classes:  This summer I had the chance to spend four weeks learning more about how to accurately interpret the Bible and how to effectively communicate those truths in relevant terms that people can apply to their lives today.  It was a daunting subject on the one hand, but a great learning experience for all of us.  We had small groups to dialogue and learn with as we each tackled one of 4 scripture passages (mine was 2 Samuel 9, where we learn about God’s promise-keeping and welcome to us by seeing David welcome Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth).

As usual, I feel like the Bible classes we get to take are a spiritual refreshment time where I get to dig deeper into some aspect of God or another and leave more aware of God and how valuable my relationship with Him is.  I know that my experience is that of most of our staff as we gain wisdom and insight that we can take with us in our regular ministries.  In the photo we have several of our Athlete’s in Action staff, a couple of our Campus Team Leaders, one Canadian staff, and two of us Keynoters.

Keynote Summer Project review:  (Keynote and Impact Music combined)

• 5 Outreach teams
• 38 students
• 13,700 miles traveled
• 52 events
• 5,033 evangelistic exposures
• 311 people indicated a decision to trust Christ

At the final event many students shared about the impact the project had on their lives. For some it was a time to overcome the fear of telling others about Jesus; others wrestled with apprehension about performing in prisons; still others needed to see God move in amazing ways to deepen their understanding of His purpose. As always, God was faithful to do a work, not only the lives of our students, but also in the lives of hundreds who heard about the hope that can be found in a personal relationship with God. He offers forgiveness and a chance to begin a new life.

We look forward to seeing how God will use these students in the months and years to come!

Next month, we’ll tell you about the great speakers that were at the staff conference and Karl’s experience with the tech team.  Thanks so much for your prayers – the crazy technical problems mostly got solved!

It’s been an exciting summer for us and our staff out here in Colorado this year. We’ll save a lot of the details for our next letter because we want to take the time now to give you the inside perspective on the biggest piece of news.

You may have heard that Campus Crusade for Christ will be changing our name to ‘Cru’ next year. We are excited about this change, and we like the new name. In the two days since our leadership made the announcement, media coverage (Fox News, Huffington Post, CNN, USA Today, etc.) has shifted from noting the change to implying that we caved in to social pressure to remove “Christ” from our name.

Nothing could be further from the truth! We remain as committed as ever to the cause of Jesus Christ, and we want to be known as a caring group of people who follow Jesus and invite others into a relationship with him. It was actually the other two words, “Campus” and “Crusade” that were removed because of the confusion they create about our ministry. Cru has been a nickname of our campus groups for years, and it seemed suitable (after lots of research) as a name for the entire U.S. ministry.

We had lots of questions, so we figure you may as well. Below is an ‘official’ letter on the matter from Campus Crusade for Christ, and you can read more here (www.ccci.org/cru).

One question we’ve already been personally asked is how will this affect you, our ministry partners. The answer is, very little. How you contribute financially will remain the same (and checks made out to either Campus Crusade for Christ or Cru will continue to be accepted). Mostly, we just want you to know it’s happening and to understand that it’s to further the cause of Christ, not to hinder it. Please feel free to contact us with any of your questions or concerns! God bless you!

Here is the letter from our leadership.

A lot has been happening this summer! Here’s a brief glimpse…

From Keynote in Indiana, several bands formed by the summer project students are finishing up their 3-week concert tours. Here are some comments from some prison concerts:

“I’m really glad they came. Those songs started opening the brick wall I had between me and God, and now thanks to the band that wall that was up is no longer there!”

“You were a positive influence on inmates such as myself. I never would have considered giving my life to God without the help from you.”

“I started praying when I got arrested 2 months ago. But for the first time in years I don’t feel dead inside and I’m happy – I started a relationship with God.”

“I feel very good to know that there are others that care about me, and who want to help me change my life.”

From the Staff Conference Team in Colorado, things have been going well. Karl is leading a wonderful team of technical people: Jeff from the Jesus Film Project, Mike from the Office of the President, Suzanne and Chris from the IT Group (Karl’s previous office), and Chris and Terin, our summer project students. We have a great mix of perspectives, knowledge, and experience.

We’ve been setting up offices, fixing computers, linking people to information, and generally serving wherever we can. Please pray that we would be granted wisdom from God – we have been struggling with some strange network problems.

Liesl has just finished the first of two classes that she’s taking this summer. Reading ahead made it less stressful than we expected. Please pray that the Biblical Communication class goes as well for the next few weeks.

Thank you for supporting us with your prayers and finances! We are looking forward to the big US Staff conference in July. It’s going to be filled with fun, friends, and new technical challenges for Karl’s team.

Greetings from Keynote!  Liesl and I love the “Keynote Connection” emails that Keynote sends out each month (we get some of our stories from them).  We thought we’d share this one with all of you and suggest that you subscribe – just go to www.keynote.org and fill in your email address at the top right corner of the page.

This edition features an outreach trip to Australia, Keynote’s Summer Project, and the new Keynote.org web site.

To see the newsletter, click this link.