“As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” ~ Jesus in John 20:21

Cru recently held our biennial conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. More than 4,500 U.S. missionaries heard from various speakers, attended seminars, and re-connected with friends. The U.S. National Conference is always a good time for equipping and encouraging our fellow staff. As I’ve done in previous years, I had the privilege of organizing a writers’ meetup. About sixty attended, but not me!

Five days before our flight, I came home from an unplanned trip to the hospital. In June and July, my heart rhythm medicine was no longer controlling my A-Fib. I had to stay in the hospital twice while my cardiologist switched my medication. We decided the timing of this trip, and the potential stresses of going, would not be good. (I was able to “run my event” remotely, though.) We’ve scheduled an ablation for my heart for September 14^th. We’ll keep you posted.

The conference is also a chance to connect with God, asking Him to direct our ministry. We attended streaming sessions and are still listening to recorded content that will help us take the Gospel to the world, in partnership with the Body of Christ.

We enjoyed hearing from Dr. Heather Holleman (a friend of mine through my connections with Cru’s writers.) She spoke about John 20:21 and has authored a book, Sent: Living a Life That Invites Others to Jesus. She encouraged us to tap into what God is doing and to join him in sharing Christ with others. I actually saw this happening in amazing ways during my hospital stay. (Listen to Heather’s talk).

Thank you for partnering with us as we encourage our staff to be more effective in telling stories to the glory of God. I will be writing my “hospital stories” and will share them with you through MikeandSus.org.

Thank you for joining with us, both prayerfully and financially, in taking the Gospel to a needy world.

NOTES:

• Listen to many of the Cru22 sessions here. We recommend Session 4, an interview of our Ukrainian director, and Session 6 by Beth Guckenberger, a member of Cru’s Board of Directors.
• See photos from the Writers’ Meetup I organized.