2025 Campus Outreach Resource Connect in Chattanooga, TN
The first half of 2025 has been full of projects with Campus Outreach SERVE. Below, I have listed some of the highlights over the past 5 months. Together with our partners, we celebrate the impact on so many teams and campuses around the world. And the finale is our first trip to Brazil since we moved in 2023.
Resource Connect (photo above): In February, I participated in the 2025 CO Resource Connect in Chattanooga. This annual conference brings together operations, financial, communications and administrative staff from Campus Outreach regions domestically, and we always have international staff join us virtually or personally. Our time in Chattanooga was helpful to network, collaborate, discuss best practices and gear up for the 2026 Campus Outreach National Conference that will be held at the Chattanooga Convention Center in January of 2026.
2024 Annual Impact Report: Lots of hours were dedicated to the 2024 Annual Impact Report over the past 9 months. This was my first year to quarterback the Report. It is a much larger and broader print media piece than I have done in years, so collaboration and planning were key. We learned a lot, especially about printinglarge quantity products and mailing them out to individual donors. The digital version will be out soon, and everyone can take pleasure in knowing that YOU helped make that happen.
Website launch: Almost 2 years ago, a major revamp of the Campus Outreach and CO SERVE websites began. The culmination of years of work is currently launching, so stay tuned for the official re-launch. From conceptualization to implementation, it took a lot of work. I came in on the phase of building the content and populating the pages, and preparing video elements - so it is a project I am convinced will benefit so many staff, students, supporters and others for many years to come.
Season 3 of the CO podcast: Due to the previous two projects (Annual Impact Report and Websites), our podcast schedule for the staff-focused StaffCast was pushed back. Currently, we are publishing every few weeks and will conclude Season 3 this summer. Each recorded interview of approximately 1 hour of content takes about 12-15 hours of editing and preparation to complete and publish. These podcast episodes have been such a blessing to me as I hear over and over the wisdom and God-glorifying truth shared by our guests. Feedback from staff in the USA and overseas has been very positive, and we have accumulated over 10,000 downloads in just 2.5 years of production.
Pre-Deployment Training session
Pre-Deployment Training Session: I recently had the privilege of pulling from my 20 years of experience in Brazil, and particularly as a member and elder of our local church in Belo Horizonte, to lead a session in our Pre-Deployment Training for 5 staff members about to deploy to their field assignments on 4 different continents. The session was “Engaging the Local Church,” and I enjoyed helping these new staff prepare for their relationship with their partner church in a healthy and humble manner.
Brazil Trip: And to close out the first half of 2025, our entire family will be taking our first trip back to Brazil since we moved in June of 2023. We hoped, prayed and desired to be able to reconnect with our family, friends and culture in Belo Horizonte, but were unsure it would happen. The Lord worked out so many details, and we were able to use a lot of frequent flier miles to make it happen. We will spend almost a month in BH and I will get the opportunity to work while on the ground in several projects with the CO team and local church while there. This time, our 16-year-old cat stays home - no more international travel for her.