We’ve been thinking a lot about marriages lately. We’ve watched several people we know get engaged this summer, and seen them seek to build strong, healthy relationships from the start. We’ve also seen other marriages that have hit bumps in the road or have even fallen apart.

No one is immune to troubles, and as Christians we need to regularly and repeatedly seek God in growing our marriages, not tearing them down.

One tool Campus Crusade offers to all of us is the FamilyLife Marriage Conferences. The Weekend to Remember emphasizes a commitment to God’s timeless blueprints for marriage, communi-cation and commitment, romance and resolving conflict. Projects help couples focus on each other and resources are available to take home with you to continue the process.

If you are looking for a weekend getaway for you and your spouse, or find yourself living a life of isolation in your marriage…if you want to point a hurting couple toward help…if you would like to be catalysts for family or friends or church members in equipping homes to be all that God intends… go to www.familylife.com. You will find dates and locations and lots of other info there.

Consider:

Statistics show one in every two marriages fail. Divorce touches us all.

Is God bringing to mind a couple or family in need of help?

Might you be that couple? Does your marriage seem headed down the wrong track?

Are you financially able to scholarship a couple in distress who cannot afford the cost of the conference?

Can you be that person in your church or business that organizes a group to attend a local conference?

Are you blessed with a terrific marriage? Thank the Lord now for your spouse!!

Our Family

has had a lot to be thankful for. Anja just started 3rd grade this month and turned 9 yesterday! We love this blessing of a young lady God has entrusted to us and are praying for wisdom as we seek to teach her how to connect with God personally and grow to love Him, not just His blessings (something we keep working on ourselves). We are thankful for 12 years of marriage as well and for the privilege of serving God with Keynote these last couple of years. And so we are grateful for your partnership with us! God bless you all!

Students and staff shared what God has taught them this summer:

• Our talents and even our voices are not our own – they are tools to bring glory to God
• Everything we have is a gift from God
• He doesn’t need us, but He chooses to use us
• Everything we do, even how we set up and tear down before and after concerts, can show people that God is in us
• Learning to tell our God stories for tour is preparation for being ready to tell our God stories for the rest of our lives
• God doesn’t want us to fix our lives before we come to Him – we come broken to the One who fixes lives

Thank you for praying for the Summer Project, and thank you for your partnership in ministry with us!

Summer Project Concerts

Among other resources, they offer DVDs that contain the JESUS Film in many languages.  For example, the “All Nations ‘JESUS’ DVD: Middle Eastern Languages” contains the film in 16 languages: Arabic, Bengali, Bosnian, English, Farsi, French, Hausa, Indonesian, Kurdish (Behdini), Kurdish (Sorani), Punjabi, Russian (Central Asian), Somali, Turkish, Urdu, and Uyghur.

Check out this wonderful ministry at www.reachingthenationsamongus.org.

Keynote’s New Media Labs (which includes Karl) has developed an official Campus Crusade for Christ iPhone app. God Tools puts classic resources like Knowing God Personally, Satisfied? and the Four Spiritual Laws booklet directly onto your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. The app also includes a searchable library of questions from EveryStudent.com, and, for a limited time, a mobile version of Soularium, A Dialogue in Images. It’s available for free in the iTunes store. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, give it a try!

We’re already trying to figure out how to improve it and create similar tools for more kinds of mobile devices. Please join us in praying for this effort!

Summer Project Students Preparing to Tour

The Keynote Summer Project students, who have been here since June 7, are in their final week of rehearsals before going on tour. The four Keynote bands, along with the Impact Movement’s Level 3:16, will take the gospel to prisons, military bases, and other Campus Crusade for Christ summer project locations.

You can watch the dress rehearsals live online at www.keynotesummerproject.org/live on July 4, 5, and 6 at 7pm Eastern (the time is approximate — doors open at 6:30 with bands performing around 7)

Please pray that the bands would be ready and that God would use them to change lives for His glory!

From: Marilyn
Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 11:50 AM
To: Chris, Karl, Jonathan
Subject: RE: Site is up….almost.

I LOVE WORKING WITH ALL OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All the redirects seem to be working.
The Live Chat is working.
The AR signups all look good.
I am sooooooooooo impressed.
Geographic sites are working as they were. That’s fine.
I’ll get the descriptions to you soon. (I’ll work on them now.)
YOU GUYS ARE INCREDIBLE. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Marilyn
p.s. I don’t speak in superlatives often.

This was the email Karl and the guys received after helping upgrade one of the Christian growth websites,  www.startingwithgod.com.  This site is open for everyone and is a great tool for all of us if we are helping a new believer learn about their relationship with God.  We’d love to have you check it out.  Let us know what you think!

Besides the tech work Karl does, Keynote has had a couple of other major things happening this month.  First, the 2010 Keynote Golf Challenges have come and gone. 67 individuals raised sponsorship to play, caddie or volunteer for the two events and raised more than $118,000! We are so grateful to all those who contributed their time, effort, prayers and finances to make these days a success.

Secondly, Summer Project students will be showing up in a week! Already, most of our staff have switched hats from their regular jobs to prepare to organize and lead the summer bands, train and disciple the students, and send them out on tours across the country.  Last years’ summer project saw over 800 decisions for Christ, and that doesn’t even measure the personal growth the students experience as they step out in faith and see God use them.  Please pray for the 25 students showing up in June and for the people they will come into contact with on tour in July.

And since Friday was the last day of school, our family is transitioning to summer mode as well.  Pray that we would make good use of the time as a family (summer project time can be a great time to get our staff kids involved, but it also means I don’t  have kid free time to do ministry in the office.  It’s different, but good).  Thanks y’all, and we pray you have a wonderful summer ahead as well.

While there, Mark, still a seeker, heard about the Keynote Golf Challenge and Karen encouraged him to sign up. Mark ended up being paired for the day with Craig Parker, the pastor at BridgeWay. Even though their golfing skills were worlds apart, they ended up having a great time and Craig asked Mark a lot of questions about his spiritual journey.

As Mark was packing up things at the end of the day and walking to his car, the prize he received (a ceramic plate with the words, “You Are Loved” and “We Thank Our God Through Jesus Christ for You” – Romans 1:8 painted on it) fell out of the box. Mark watched as the plate hit the pavement and bounced but didn’t break. It was a reminder to him that God did love him and had given His only Son to die for him.

Not long after, Mark gave his life to Christ, got involved at the church and has played in the Keynote Golf Challenge every year since, raising more than $30,000!

Over the last 14 years, more than $1,500,000 has been raised through the Keynote Golf Challenge crazy events! As a result, Keynote has continued to offer innovative tools for outreach and training in communication around the globe!

The Keynote Golf Challenge is more than just raising money and playing a lot of golf! As you can see from Mark’s story, even the golfers can have a life-changing experience!

The Golf Challenges in May (California on May 10 and Indiana on May 24) have been one of the biggest ways God provides Keynote with the resources we need to serve as a ministry. This enables us to do concerts for free, turn the lights on at the office, buy needed equipment, etc. As you see, God has provided through many people using their talents (or even lack of talent – there’s a prize for the worst golfer, too) and their willingness to find sponsors to make Keynote’s ministry possible.

If you find yourself interested in ministering in a fun and crazy way, check out www.keynote.org/golf and see what it’s like. And we would love for all of you to pray for those involved in the challenge, the organizers, volunteers, and sponsors. The recent recession has affected so many of our generous supporters that it’s more important than ever for us to see God provide the resources needed.

On a personal note, we had a great time over spring break being involved in our dear friend’s wedding. Anja was a great flower girl, too. Since we’ve gotten back, it’s been non-stop doctors’ appointments for me (they multiply!). I would love for the doctors to have wisdom in sorting out what’s up with me and success in treating it. Karl, as ever, is wonderful and I’m blessed to celebrate 12 years with him as my husband this month! God is good! Thank you all for your care for us and your part in our ministry!

Karl’s had a lot going on this month.  He and a couple of the guys went to a tech conference in Texas to get exposure to the “latest and greatest” in technology and social media.  Since social media changes practically at the speed of light, it’s good to see where things are going so that our ministry can spend time and resources on the best options for connecting with people now and in the future.  He also has been training not only Ryan, but a son of one of our staff, who volunteers after school   And, last but not least, his birthday is tomorrow!  Happy Birthday, Karl!

I have been working with some of our new staff over the last few months as they develop their Ministry Partner Teams and raise the support they need to serve full time with us.  Some have had God lead them away from serving with us, at least temporarily, as God has given them great opportunities to meet needs where they are.  Others are continuing to work hard and I would love if you would pray for all of our new staff to be able to grow spiritually and emotionally as God prepares them for ministry with us during this time.  And we thought you’d enjoy hearing about just one of the exciting things God is doing through our staff at Keynote.

When God uses dummies…

David Pendleton, Keynote’s comedy ventriloquist, spent time on various college campuses in South Dakota and Iowa recently.  Six shows were planned over the course of four days in conjunction with Campus Crusade for Christ ministries (Cru) on various campuses. Most of these ministries are “student-led” and coached by one or two staff members who serve all of the campuses in the area.

More than 600 students heard the gospel through one of David’s shows and 109 indicated a first-time decision to begin a relationship with God!  Many others indicated a desire to connect with a Bible study or meet with someone to talk more about God.

Student leaders have already begun contacting those who turned in cards, to talk more about their decision or their questions.  In fact, a couple of weeks ago we heard that 11 new students came to a Bible study as a result of David’s show!

Thank you for your part in reaching students for Christ as you serve us!  God bless you!

You’ll be able to watch at www.keynote.org/blueskynine/live

blue sky nine (bsn) played in Ellsworth Correctional Facility (a medium security prison), in Ellsworth, KS in April 2009. While there, Laura (bsn’s lead singer) got in a conversation with one of the inmates, Tom (name changed). He kept talking about how he was 28 and hadn’t done anything with his life. She could sense that he really wanted to turn things around. Laura encouraged him to press into God and ask him to help to stay away from the friends that steered him towards the life he didn’t want to lead anymore. Then she and other band members prayed with him and encouraged him to take steps towards God. After they returned home, God led Laura to pray for Tom every day.

This past fall, bsn returned to Ellsworth. Tom was still there, and he was surprised when Laura remembered him and their conversation in April. Before the band left, Tom handed Laura a poem he had written about his relationship with God.

Fastforward to Christmas: Laura received a card in the mail from Tom telling her about how things have been getting better for him. He’d been able to mend some of the bridges he burnt with his family — they even came to see him on Thanksgiving. He said he wanted to write and let her know how much blue sky nine and our conversations helped him.

David Pendleton & Co. (David uses ventriloquism and comedy to share with people)

David Pendleton performed at an Indianapolis prison as an outreach for the Indy Christmas Conference. After his performance, the students spent time sharing one-on-one with the inmates. Here is a story from a student at Miami University (Ohio):

I have shared my testimony several times, but I have never really told someone how they can accept Christ. Before Christmas conference I didn’t really know the words to say. I had the amazing opportunity to witness someone being led to Christ first hand. I went on a prison outreach during conference. I was extremely afraid and was highly doubting my ability to share the gospel to an inmate…. I ended up with an 18 year old kid … I was completely overwhelmed….I tried reading the cards they gave us but it wasn’t going anywhere. Then a staff guy named David Pendleton sat down with us. He saw that I was struggling and ended up sharing the gospel with the kid. It was absolutely amazing to see the Spirit speak through him….David made a great illustration. He told the inmate, “It’s as if I were to walk into the prison and change clothes with you. You would walk out and I would stay here and serve your sentence for you.” It was at that moment that I saw in Robert’s eyes that he truly understood.

I love how David not only led the prisoner to Jesus in a way he could understand, but also opened the student’s eyes to how he could learn to share his faith better. God is so good! Praying we’ll all see the opportunities to reach out to others around us. God bless you!

Do you desire to have an online ministry?? LifeWidget.com, a new online ministry tool, is a dynamic library of life-giving resources for your online world. LifeWidget.com is a resource developed to help you share Christ with the people in your life, specifically your online community. Like art on your wall at home, widgets (mini websites contained in a small box) add color and interest to your website or blog. Whether videos, podcasts, other blogs, or a daily picture, they are great spiritual conversation starters and a fun way to offer hope and help to your readers. LifeWidget.com offers widgets that help your friends know God, grow in their relationship with Him, and develop their life skills. Many of the widgets keep up with the fast paced world we live in by updating their own content so that you don�t have to!

The widgets are easy to install; it takes less than two minutes. Watch this video to see how easy it is.

Whether you already have a website or not, help by�

• Spreading the word � LifeWidget.com is a great resource for your friends, churches, and other ministries; let your blogging friends know about it.
• Sharing your favorite websites with us � Do you frequent blogs that encourage your walk, or know of other tools that would be helpful to others? Let us know, and we transfer them into widgets for everyone to share. Send your ideas to lifewidget@gmail.com.
• Praying� Our desire is to see LifeWidget become a valuable resource for the entire online Christian world. Join us in prayer as we ask God to use LifeWidget to build up His Kingdom.

We�re always adding new widgets to LifeWidget so check back often.? You can also follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/lifewidget or sign up for the newsletter at www.lifewidget.com to be the first to hear about the newest widgets.

Be sure to also check out www.MediaForMinistry.org, a new blog filled with tips and tutorials devoted to helping you maximize your online presence through social media and other online tools.

Karl and Ryan

I�m excited to let you know that the Information Technology team is now a team of two! Ryan Menzer was the percussionist for blue sky nine and was ready for a change. Everyone agreed that he would be a great fit in IT, and it�s working out well. He�s already finished some projects that I hadn�t been able to focus on.

Even with Ryan, though, we know that there are more computer needs at Keynote than the two of us can handle. Our plan is to train a person in each Keynote team or department to be the �level 1 tech� for that team. Please pray that we can communicate clearly and encourage people throughout this process. Please also pray that I lead and teach Ryan well.

In addition to being Keynote�s IT Director, I�m also part of a new team called �Keynote New Media Labs�. Our purpose is to help other Campus Crusade for Christ ministries use the Internet more creatively and effectively. We are starting to build a library of resources at www.mediaforministry.org. We�ve also helped the ministry at the University of Iowa create a new web site so that students, leaders, and even alumni and parents can stay more connected:

One of the staff from Iowa wrote this to Sam on our team: �to say thank you doesn’t even begin to express how thankful I am to what you have done for us. The site looks amazing and you’ve given us the tools to maintain it as well. Sam you have been so giving and helpful to us! Thanks for setting us up for a huge win on our campus in reaching students more effectively online at iowa!�

Please pray that God would lead us to the best tools and strategies, and that we would be able to connect people in the wide world of Campus Crusade for Christ who are also developing new ideas.

Personally, Liesl has had a hard time as the allergy doctor has made major changes to her diet. No more dairy, sugar, vinegar, or a bunch of other things. We�re hoping for health benefits eventually, but for now it�s been very difficult with no apparent benefits. We appreciate your prayers!

Watch an introduction video below, and find out more at www.opendoorsusa.org.

Click here to view the embedded video.

First and foremost, we are thankful for our Lord.? Every earthly and spiritual blessing we all experience comes from Him.? Every comfort in trials, every hope for the future, and we want to honor Him by acknowledging that He is truly worthy of our loyalty and respect.

Next most dear to our hearts is our family.? I am so thankful to have a husband who has chosen to love the sometimes very unlovable me as Christ has loved the church.? I am so thankful to have the privilege of mothering our little girl and see God grow her into the young lady He is developing her to be.

Dr. Kim

And we are so thankful to have been given the privilege of serving God with Campus Crusade for Christ for all these years.? We recently learned that Dr. Joon Gon Kim, our national director for Korea for over 40 years, had passed away.? This man barely lived through two wars and suffered greatly, yet he grew with God to become one of the most outstanding Christian leaders Korea (and the world) has ever seen.

The effects of his faith and leadership and God�s Spirit resulted in 100,000 people committing to being involved in missions at the World Evangelism Crusade in 1980.? In 2001, a survey was done and discovered that 80 percent of all people working in missions departments of Korean churches had been involved in Korea Campus Crusade for Christ.? God chooses to show His power when His people act in faith and Dr. Kim has left a great legacy of faith for all of us to follow.

The last thing I�ll share is how thankful we are for you!? God uses you to provide for our family and enable us to serve with Campus Crusade for Christ.? We can�t say often enough how grateful we are for your generosity to provide for our financial needs, for all of your prayer cover and the encouragement we receive every time we think of you.? We pray God would bless you with every spiritual blessing as He has promised and that you, too, will see God work a legacy of faith in your lives.

In light of that, we wanted to offer a gift of sorts to those of you who are married.? In the past we�ve sent out brochures for our FamilyLife Conferences (Weekend to Remember).? The reality is that marriage can be a lot of work sometimes, and we are concerned for how many Christians are throwing in the towel.? Whether yours is doing great or on the rocks or anywhere in between, this kind of conference can be a great time for you to really connect with each other and see God work in your lives. FamilyLife is allowing us to offer to our supporters the opportunity to attend these conferences at a discount and so we couldn�t pass up sharing it with you! You can attend for only $69/person — almost half off the regular rate. There are over 100 conferences across the U.S.? Contact us if you’re interested in the promotional code.? Your marriage is worth it!

Once you hit the play button the video begins automatically. If you would like to skip around during the video, you�ll need to wait until the entire video loads (you can see a progress bar below the video).? Otherwise you should be able to view everything normally.

Enjoy learning about what God is doing in and through Keynote!

Vision Dinner online

Keynote’s Vision Dinner is going to be an awesome time to hear about what God is doing around the world and what is going on at Keynote.

You can watch it online for free on Saturday at 7:30pm at Keynote Connection.? I”ll be producing the webcast, and I’d love to have you see it!

Thank you to everyone who prayed for my trip to Turkey for MinistryNet last week � it was great!

It was inspiring to gather with 166 people from 37 countries on 5 continents to talk about how the Internet can be used to spread the gospel.? I enjoyed conversations with new friends from India, Singapore, Poland, Germany, the UK, Norway, France, and more.

Roman ruins at Perge (photo by Mick Haupt)

I especially appreciated the emphasis on integrating Internet-based tools with traditional ministry.? It�s not about the new replacing the old.? One leader said that our focus needs to be on �reaching real people in the real world who have real needs using virtual, online methods�.

Our CTO Keith Seabourn says, �This conference was a special time for me.? God reminded me that when I was asked to step into the Chief Technology Officer role in 2001, I asked God what he would have me work towards.? I wrote down 4 things.? One was �Identifying emerging leaders with a pioneering/ entrepreneurial spirit who are willing to claim a part of the Internet world for Christ.�? This conference was part of God�s gift to me to see it happening.�

Next comes Keynote�s annual Vision Dinner on Saturday, November 7.? We wish you all could be here!? Last year�s was amazing.? Please consider watching it online beginning at 7:30pm at www.keynoteconnection.org (click on �Vision Dinner 2009�).? It will be an exciting time of hearing about what God is doing through Keynote!

Armageddon Experience record

A few weeks ago one of our staff members got to hear how God used one of our bands from back in the 70�s, Armageddon, to change her life. We thought you’d be encouraged to read her story in her own words!

It was July 7, 1970 at Downey High School (in California) and a couple of friends had invited me to hear a heavy rock band. (I don’t remember the name of the [Campus Crusade] band, it might have been “Armageddon”.? All I remember is that I liked them or I wouldn’t have stayed around.)? The music was good, but really loud so I went outside to sit on a table in the quad. Even out there I could hear the music and speaker, but at least I was alone and could think.? Crowds were too much for me at the time. I’d done quite a bit of drugs and was a little paranoid.

While I was sitting there a guy with long hair came up to me and said, “You want love don’t you?”? I wasn’t a virgin, and he was really good looking.? I thought he was trying to pick me up, so I said “YES!”? He asked me, “Did you know Jesus loves you?”? I remember my heart came alive, and I started to cry. I said, “Yes, I know Jesus loves me, but I’m too far gone, too dirty.”? He just spoke what I had heard at church for years, but this time it went so deep and all the hurt and self disgust came pouring out.? He gave me a tract with an address on the back, told me there was a Bible study the next night, and asked me to come.

I left and went home after that, but when I did, I sat on my bed and told God that if He was real, I needed Him and asked Him to make me clean. I asked Jesus to love me and let me feel love, promising Him everything, because I had done such a lousy job with my life so far. I was 14 at the time and although I was extremely intelligent, my brain and body had been abused and used since I was five. Then I said, “If you’re not real, I need to paint my walls.? Amen.”

I got up went into my mother’s room, where she and my older sister were talking and told them I had just accepted Jesus into my heart. They started to cry and told me my sister had done the same thing a couple hours earlier in a different location. My older brother came in a short time later and said he had just done the same thing. God rescued all three of us on the same day!! �-Bev

Isn�t that a beautiful story?? As you partner with us to serve Keynote, we trust that God continues to allow us reach out to even more people like Bev every day. We may not always know the “rest of the story” but we know God is at work. Thanks for being a part of Keynote’s ministry around the world.

Speaking of ministering around the world, we have a lot going on overseas in October!? One team will be going to Panama to do communication and team training.? Blue Sky Nine will be heading to South Korea and Mongolia for 3 weeks to serve the ministries there.? And last but not least, Karl, Chris Zaugg (Director of Keynote), and a coworker are heading to Turkey for an Internet ministry conference from October 18-23! So there�s plenty going on to pray for, from health and safe travels to God directing every word and every note of these times and making them into �more than we can imagine�.? Thanks for praying!

Many people (even friends of mine) think that social networking is a waste of time.? The bottom line for me is that people are connecting and sharing what is important with them.? There are more than 250 million active facebook users!? If we can figure out how to use these tools to connect people with Jesus, we will be �making the most of every opportunity.� (Col. 4:5)

That�s why it�s so exciting that God brought us to Keynote at this time.? Campus Crusade�s leadership has asked Keynote to help coordinate the use of social networking in ministry.? We�re still trying to figure out how to do that, but it�s an exciting time to be here!? People are calling the Internet the �8^th continent�, and we want to find ways to reach the people that spend so much of their time there.

This doesn�t mean that Keynote will stop ministering via music.? We are organizing ourselves into three outreach efforts:? bands and artists, creative communications and training, and virtual (Internet) ministry.

If you want a better explanation of social networking, check out Social Networking in Plain English.

p.s.? ? We have a great opportunity for you!? Every November Keynote invites anyone who is part of our ministry or interested in it to join us for our Vision Dinner, a time of sharing what God has done through Keynote.? We have found this type of event, just like our Christmas Conferences for students and our Staff Conference in Colorado, to be an amazing time for encouraging us and increasing our vision for how God is moving.? If you can possibly be in Westfield, Indiana on November 7, please let us know, because we don�t want you to miss it!? This year�s theme is Igniting Life Change v2.0: Reaching the 8th Continent.

The summer started out with the Keynote Summer Project.? Forty-two students participated.? God’s classroom for each of them involved faith risk to stand before their peers and tell their story as part of their communication training.? Some of those stories became part of the concerts and helped set the stage for the gospel message.

Not only did our students take life-altering steps of faith, but more than 8,000 people heard the gospel through the four Keynote bands and two Impact bands during their outreach tours.? 812 people responded to the gospel and gave their lives to Christ!? We were especially excited to hear that some of the staff and students led a door-to-door salesman to Christ in our house this summer while we were away in Colorado!

At Campus Crusade�s US Staff Conference in Colorado, the theme was �Connect�.? The main messages focused on connecting with God, connecting ourselves and others with the Gospel, and connecting with partners to fulfill the Great Commission.

The picture to the left shows Moby Gym on the campus of Colorado State University in the midst of being transformed into our meeting place.? Screens will cover the scoreboards, a stage will be built, more screens will be hung over the stage, and dozens of lights will be hung.

And here it is, full of Campus Crusade staff worshiping God.? My favorite part of the conference was getting to hear from Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.? His first message reminded us of the wonder of the Gospel � we haven�t just been forgiven of our sins; justification means that we have the righteousness of Christ!

Pastor Keller also spoke about what it means to be a messenger of the Gospel, and about ministering to the poor.? There was enough in those messages to keep me busy thinking for a long time, and that was only a small part of the conference.

Thank you so much for the part you play in our ministry.? You had a hand this summer in encouraging most of the US staff of Campus Crusade for Christ.? Many of them will serve more effectively and enthusiastically because of the training they received this summer.