Thank you for taking some time to learn more about us and our work with Cru. We indeed are blessed to be serving with this ministry.
Ed serves with “Jesus Film Project” in the Leadership Development/Human Resources department as a Mid-Career Recruiting Specialist. He helps people who have been working in careers outside of Cru discern if God might be leading them to use their gifts to serve with Jesus Film Project and help them navigate the transition. It is the desire of Jesus Film Project for everyone everywhere to encounter the story of Jesus. They believe that film is the most dynamic way to hear and see the greatest story ever lived- so they are driven to bring Christ-centered film to the ends of the Earth through a diverse multimedia approch and by partnering with like minded orginazations.
Debbie is raising our preschool daughter, Hannah, and serves part-time with Cru U.S. Leadership Development/Human Resources – Staff Care. She oversees HR related maters to ensure staff assigned to ministries based at the Cru headquaters are well cared for and their HR needs are taking care of. She also, serves as the Volunteer Coordinator for Athletes in Action’s (a Cru ministry) SuperBowl Breakfast event. This is an evangelistic event held every year during SuperBowl weekend in the city where the SuperBowl takes place.
You can learn more about Jesus Film Project by clicking on the Jesus Film Project tab, then clicking on the Jesus Film Project logo.
Debbie’s Story
When I was growing up, my parents took me to church regularly. Through lessons at church, I learned that God loved me very much and wanted to have a personal relationship with me. But, I was sinful. Because of my sin, I was separated from God’s love. However, God sent His Son, Jesus to die on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin. I learned that if I would place my faith in Jesus Christ, then I could be forgiven of all my sins and be restored into a personal relationship with God. I made this decision when I was eight years old.
My spiritual growth really took off during my junior year in high school. That year, I was impacted by a message I heard at a friend’s funeral, which caused me to see my need to allow Christ to be Lord of my life. I realized I needed to serve Him with a glad heart rather than just “going through the motions” of the Christian life. It was also around this time when God began developing within me a heart for missions. By traveling with my parents on medical mission trips to Mexico, I began to see how God could use my gifts and abilities if only I make myself available to Him. So, I made a commitment to the Lord that whatever I ended up doing in life, I wanted to serve Him with all that He has created me to be.
After graduating from Oklahoma Baptist University in May 1990, I spent the following summer in Europe on an Athletes in Action (AIA) softball project. Upon returning to the States, I sought the Lord about my future. With the realization of society’s love of sports, along with my burden to minister to athletes and desire to be involved in full-time ministry, I sensed God’s call for me to pursue a full-time position with AIA.
I joined AIA staff in January 1991 and have continued in this ministry since that time. I have served in various part of AIA.
Ed’s Story
I was born in Chicago during the summer of 1961 to a single mother. I grew up in the Catholic Church, but religion was nothing serious in our home; we mostly went to church on Easter and at Christmas. When I was seventeen, I dropped out of high school and joined the U.S. Marines. After ten years, I was honorably discharged due to medical reasons. I then went to truck driving school in Northlake, IL and spent the next 23 years in the trucking industry; the last eight years as an Owner-Operator for FedEx Ground.
Shortly after my discharge from the Marines I was married and had a son who died in October of 1990; he was only three months old. His death sent me into a downward spiral; I did not care about anything or anyone, including myself. During this time, I destroyed my marriage and ended up in a relationship that was in a constant state despair. With nowhere else left to turn, I went to a church looking for help. I ended up in a small group Bible Study that met on Sunday evenings. Through this small group’s love and compassion for me, I finally understood what it meant to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Within a few months, God’s Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin and my need to acknowledge Christ as my Lord and Savior.
Since that day, I have never wavered in my commitment to serve Christ. I have always felt that God was calling me to do something more with my life. However, like Moses there needed to be a time of purging of the old ways and the renewing of my mind by the Holy Spirit before I would be ready to serve Him. After many years of hardship and God’s continued unwavering love for me, I met Debbie in October of 2008. During our dating process, I began to see how the story of my life had been molded and shaped by God so I could be used by Him. It was at this time that I realized like Abraham that God was calling me to follow Him, only I did not know where He was calling me. I just knew that the time had come for me to take a step of faith and sell my business to join my then fiance in full-time ministry.
Our Story
In October in 2008, we were matched on E-harmony. After two weeks of communicating on-line, we met for our first date. This began a series of dates which led to us falling in love and a few months later in July 2009, Ed came out to meet Debbie at the Campus Crusade for Christ U.S. Staff conference in Fort Collins, Colorado for a vision trip. During his time in Colorado, Ed proposed and Debbie accepted. We were married in October 2009.
During our dating and early marriage, it became clear that the Lord was asking Ed to take a step of faith and join Debbie on staff with AIA. We began to trust God for and work towards the right timing for Ed to sell his trucking business and join Debbie in full-time missions work. That time finally arrived in June 2011, Ed sold his business and attended the Campus Crusade New Staff Training Conference in Colorado that summer. By December of 2011, God completed our initial team of ministry partners and we were able to report to our roles in January 2012. Where we served with AIA until Aug of 2018.
At the beginning of 2018 we felt the our time at AIA was coming to a close but did not know what might be next. This lead to our applying for Cru’s Lake Hart STINT (LHS) program, we where accepted and in Aug of 2018 we moved to Orlando, FL to take part in this program to begin a transition from Athletes in Action to another Cru ministry. After 27 years (Debbie) and 7 years (Ed) of serving with Athletes in Action it became clear during our time at LHS the Lord was leading us onto a different ministry path. This program was completed in June of 2019. Toward the end of our time at LHS We were offered the jobs we now serve in and believed this was were the Lord was calling us so we made a permanent move to Orlando in Aug 2019.
In February 2015, God provided a beautiful baby girl for us to adopt from the Dayton area. She came home with us when she was two days old. Hannah became a permanent member of our family in October that same year. We are so delighted that God has blessed us with a delightful sweet girl.
