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October 2012 Update — It’s Out!

jay —  November 9, 2012  Leave a comment

We’re very excited to finally announce that the first main project that we’ve been talking about for a year-and-a-half is out!

At the beginning of this month we released the Jesus Film Media mobile apps — both in the iOS App Store (for iPhones, iPod Touches & iPads) and in the Google Play Store (for Android Devices). Then, just last week, we unveiled JesusFilmMedia.org!

All of these resources are specifically designed to help you share your faith with people you come in contact with — even with people with whom there is a significant language barrier; because it has over 1,100 languages in it.

You can watch the JESUS film, The Story of Jesus for Children, Magdalena, a number of evangelistic and discipleship series, and short films like My Last Day, an anime look at Jesus’ crucifixion through the eyes of the repentant thief.

It’s Working!

Less than a week after releasing it, we got the first report of someone leading another to faith in Christ using the app.

Kelsey (the daughter-in-law of our mentors from our time in DC) was at the University of Texas showing students how to use a short film called La Búsqueda (about an father and his estranged and distant daughter, and his attempts to reconcile with her) to share the Gospel.

An hour-and-a-half after ending the training two students came back to tell her about Nick who had grown up going to church without hearing about Jesus’ saving work. After

watching the film and short conversation he turned to Christ. Romans 6:23, had resonated with the film’s story, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” They began following up with him in discipleship the next day!

Only the Beginning

As of 2 days ago the app has been downloaded 6,212 times, from at least 65 countries —Uruguay, Lebanon, Kenya, Taiwan, Nigeria, Malaysia and some other countries that necessitate some discretion.

We don’t have data going all the way back to launching it, but in the past week alone 1,163 videos have been played, the JESUS film has been played 227 in Estonian alone!

There are always next steps in projects that are technology-dependent. New models of phones, tablets and constantly changing needs of the people using our apps. We’ve also launched a platform for other organizations to take our films and resources and make them a part of their outreach applications, websites and other resources of their own.

The Scriptures are clear, there will be someone from every tribe, tongue and nation around Christ’s eternal throne. It’s exciting to think that we are providing tools to add to the diversity of that chorus! Please pray for my team as we continue innovating and building!

Pray for:

  • Continue praying for Brad, Kay & daughter Sue. Brad and Kay have separated and Brad is still fighting some of the charges — he has a hearing as I write today. We’re sending some discipleship material for him. Pray that he’ll keep growing.
  • Our other neighbors (a wonderful family of six) are moving away tomorrow. We’ve become fast friends and are very sad about this. Pray that they’d travel safe and find a new good home as they land in North Philly.
  • Pray for good follow-up and growth for “Jennifer” – a freshman at UCF who professed Christ with one of Carrie’s students last week!

And, the new segment, we’ll call:

Whelpley Family Photos!

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September 2011 Update

jay —  September 20, 2011  Leave a comment

Fia and mommy playing together yesterday.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

It’s enamoring to watch our daughter Fia grow. We’ve even tried “Peekaboo,” but it will be a while until she gets object permanence. For now, she doesn’t cry when I leave because no face and no voice mean no Mommy. Similarly, a book I read recently challenged me on how easily I forget the plight (physical and spiritual) of those without Christ. From my middle-class-American bubble, it is embarrassingly easy to lose myself in social obligations, consumer pursuits, and what a friend aptly calls “first-world problems.” From this groggy place, the realities of pain and hell can feel pretend.

New Life, New Hope

In some places, reality is harder to forget. As Jayson starts with the JESUS Film Project, I’ve picked up The Touch of Jesus by Paul Eschleman (JFP’s first director). Chapter 1 tells of Marie and Willie Erasmus who pioneered the film in a South African refugee camp that sounds much like Somalia today–civil war, government atrocities, famine, disease, and treks across perilous terrain. Eschleman recounts the details:

They had no water and little food. One meal a day from the meager relief rations barely staved off [starvation]. The fetid, striking odor of human excrement gagged the senses. And always the blank, staring eyes—beyond feeling.  A dress here or a blouse given there yielded no comment. What good is a dress when your baby is dying of malnutrition or diarrhea, and your husband is gone?

As the team set up [the film], curiosity began to build…But something was wrong…the team heard witch doctors chanting and saw them throwing bones on the ground in satanic rituals…For three hours [the JFP team] implored God to send His blessings, bind the power of the evil one, and open the eyes of the spiritually blind…They asked God to tear down the spiritual walls as He had destroyed the walls of Jericho…The witch doctors stopped their dancing… more than a thousand people crowded into a small dusty clearing.

“During [the crucifixion]” Marie said, “we sensed something unusual happening. Everyone began to cry—the women and the men—a mournful wailing that gradually rose from the crowd in a relentless crescendo.”…[The people] beat their breasts and cried out, “Oh, God! Oh, God!”…Everywhere people were confessing their sins. The film was forgotten… [The film team] couldn’t speak…One by one, the team members themselves fell to their knees confessing their own sins.

Willie went to the interpreter. “We need to finish the film so they will know the good news of the resurrection.”…They saw the burial of Christ, and then—the resurrection. The interpreter explained, “Jesus died to make the payment for our sins. But death could not hold Him.”…The crowd exploded as if a dam had burst. Everyone began cheering and dancing… An invitation was given for all of those who wanted to receive Christ…The following Sunday, five hundred new believers showed up trying to get into the forty-person church.

Wow! Praise God for the way his Spirit moves when his people pray!

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July 2011 Update

jay —  July 29, 2011  Leave a comment
Fia has learned how to smile!

Fia has learned how to smile!

Changes, Changes Everywhere

In the past 8 weeks everything has changed – well, just about everything. Our jobs, our family, our location, our organization’s name. Everything except the God that has led us here and His calling on our lives.

And not a Wink to Sleep

The biggest change happened on June 9th. Our beautiful daughter Sofia (or “Fia”) was born at 2:20pm after 26 hours at the hospital. Since then it’s been a roller-coaster ride. Eight days later we had packed up our apartment in Orlando and left to drive to Carrie’s parents’ home in Pennsylvania with a stop-over at Jayson’s parents’ house in North Carolina. A piece of advice — avoid 1,000-mile road trips with a 1-week-old.

In the past 7 weeks we’ve struggled to get Fia to nurse and gain weight. This affected our summer plans – the biannual staff conference is going on as I type, but we were granted an exemption due to these unforeseen difficulties. There was good news at today’s appointment; she’s up to a sturdy 8 lbs and the 6th percentile!

All Tribes Both Great and Small

In our May letter, we mentioned that Jayson will be working with the Jesus Film Project at our headquarters in Orlando. The past few weeks have given much clarity to the picture of his new job.
In the past 30 years Campus Crusade for Christ has translated the Jesus Film into almost 1,200 languages. It has been (through the work of CCC and other organizations) viewed more than 6.3 billion times. It’s is the goal of Jayson’s team to enable the next 6.3 billion to happen in the next 10 years.

The primary focus of Jayson’s new team is the growing mass of people connected to the internet around the world. A 2008 study concluded that India had 81 million people on the internet; further studies estimate that number to increase to between 237 and 276 million by 2015. If you consider India along with China, Indonesia, Russia and Brazil (representing 45% of the world’s population) – the number grows to 1.2 billion people by 2015, more than three times the number of internet users in the US and Japan combined!

The demographics of the world are changing as well. Each week more than 11 million people around the world are moving into cities – that’s the equivalent of the entire New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago metro areas each month! In cities they’ll encounter media and film as well as new ideas, cultures and faiths. This is where we’re aiming.

As the number and quality of Jesus Film Project resources continues to increase, our goal is to engage the spiritual journey of billions of people immediately before and after their choice to follow Christ. In the coming months, I’ll try to feature some of them on our website Whelpley.org.

Our new logo and name.

Campus Crusade for Christ will be known as "Cru" in the US.

Rime and Reasons

The other big news is Campus Crusade for Christ’s name change. Beginning in 2012, Campus Crusade for Christ inside the United States will become known simply as “Cru”. (Internationally, very few of our ministries still go by our current name anyway, most have chosen Agape, Power to Change or something else.)

In the US, our name has become a liability. As our leaders did due diligence in considering a change, they found that 20% of people who say they are willing to have conversations about Jesus declined to do so when they heard our name. That’s 1 in 5 people who are willing to talk about our Savior who are turned off by what we call ourselves! This can not be.

We have changed our name because we want Jesus Christ to be glorified. Since the announcement, some commentators have accused us of being ashamed of the name of Christ – we are not. Every part of this choice is so that more people will be able to hear Jesus’ name in conversations built on trust and friendship. We’ve been told we need to “take a stand for Christ,” but mere stand-taking is for Pharisees, moving forward with the Gospel is what Jesus has called us to. Just having our Savior’s title in our name is setting the bar too low – it is in action that we desire to be faithful in bringing people to worship of Jesus Christ.

Please, rest assured – we (personally and corporately) are still completely sold out for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are pursuing all to bring glory and honor to His name! We have not changed who we are – merely our name. “A rose by any other name…”

Pray For

  • Sofia’s continued health and growth and for her feedings to get easier.
  • Our time raising support. We must be at 100% before moving back to Orlando.
  • The negative media coverage of our name, that it would somehow serve to glorify Jesus according to Paul’s prayer in Philippians 1:8.
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May 2011 Update – Where we’re going next.

jay —  May 26, 2011  Leave a comment

CCC's headquarters at Lake Hart, Orlando.

The Short Story

We’re going to be staying in Orlando.

The Full Story

Sometime in the next couple weeks, Carrie and I will be taking a(nother) scary step; while we’re going to be staying within Campus Crusade for Christ, we will be moving away from the Campus Ministry, at least for a season.

Over the past 4 months, since we found out that going back to DC was an option, we’ve been weighing a huge list of options where God might call us next. The options included positions somewhere on campus, off campus in a regional office, and on teams developing many of the cutting edge tools staff in the field will be using in the near future. Possible locations were as varied as Philly, Boston, the University of Virginia, Denver, Portland, and (of course) here in Orlando (among others). I’ve emailed and called about a dozen team-leaders, I visited Indianapolis & Portland, we spent hours in prayer, talked to friends and mentors for wisdom and advice… and still the decision came down to God impressing a calling just this past Monday.

As of Monday the options had been narrowed down to a position on the Metro Team in Portland, OR and one working with the Jesus Film Project here in Orlando. With three weeks until our daughter is born, five weeks until we have to move out of our apartment and eight weeks until we have to make our way to the national staff conference in Colorado – I was starting to get stressed that we weren’t landing on a decision. I had been waiting on the Lord’s leading and wondering if it was one of those times where He calls us to just make a decision and trust His goodness that we aren’t stepping out of his plan either way.

One of the awesome materinty photos that Melonie at Imago Photography did for us. Click the photo for her site.

I stole away from my desk for another 15-minutes to pray about our options, as I opened the journal that I use to keep myself focused while I pray I felt like I was finally hearing a solid answer from Him, “Here, you’re staying here.” Emotionally, my reaction was relief with an aftertaste of mourning – because that means not going back to campus, because that means not moving back to a more vibrant city, because I’m not sure it was the one that I would have ended up choosing on my own. As the reality has set in and we’re working through the red-tape of a ministry transfer, we’re settling into feeling grateful and hopeful for what lies ahead.

In the following months we’ll fill you all in on what the job will look like. For now, please pray for our transition into parenthood, and also that we would be able to prepare well for this next season of our lives & ministry.

Pray For

  • We have a significant amount of financial support to raise. In the past year we’ve lost nearly $800 of monthly support. We have to make that up and cover the additional expenses that go along with parenthood and living in Orlando.
  • Our daughter will be born sometime around June 3, we are supposed to move out of our apartment around June 17 and our bi-annual trip to Ft. Collins, CO will happen in mid-July. Pray for all of the details and stress that surround these transitions and travels.
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