A Generation In Need

The Experiential Newsletter

Joe & Annie Shea December 2019

This newsletter is intended to be read while holding a cup containing your favorite hot beverage. It could be coffee, tea, hot chocolate, a latte, an espresso… it’s your pick. If you can’t do that right now, your imagination will do just fine.  So as I describe your interactive newsletter experience, I’m assuming you are holding your cup with both hands, you feel the heat comfortably transfer nicely to your cool fingers. There is a small silent whiff of steam curling upwards and disappearing a few inches above the cup. You pause… raise the cup close to your lips as the steam brushes against your face and the aroma awakens your senses. You shape your lips into an almost whistling-like position as you gently blow across the cup.  For a moment the steam is instantly cleared from the surface and those tiny smooth ripples appear. Your eyes focus on the following paragraph as you take your first sip. And begin to read…  

Here is a striking thought… Who will be the next wave of missionaries to go out into the world to proclaim the good news? And will it be a wave or just a ripple… 

As I type these words my mind is taken back to over twenty years ago when I first began to raise the financial support to fund this ministry. At that time I was almost forty years old. We had a modest mortgage and four small kids, so the amount of financial support we needed to raise was higher than many other missionaries. 

I remember awkwardly making so many phone calls. I worked like crazy to gain opportunities to speak in churches and youth groups. I worked my way into bible studies and the homes of so many individuals. There were emails, letters and cards being sent out every day. And on weekends if I wasn’t attending a campus event or retreat, I was on the road seeking support somewhere… 

As uncomfortable as it was to ask for donations, my motivation was always rooted in a deep brokenness over the lost-ness and hurt I was seeing on the college campus. I would do anything to bring the gospel to them! I even kept support newsletters in my glovebox, so if I happened to talk with a Christian in a grocery store line or Home Depot I could race out to the car and get a newsletter for them to consider supporting the critical need for Jesus to be on campus. Today, I’m still broken over the lost-ness and hurt, and yes I still keep a copy of our newsletter in the glovebox. Thinking back though, It took me over ten years to raise enough support to receive a full paycheck… Now twenty years later the thought of new missionaries raising their support like I did is so troubling to me… because I believe it is so much harder today, especially for younger missionaries. 

Just think about how many solicitations we are bombarded with every day. How often our phone rings with someone seeking a donation? Sometimes there’s not even a real person on the other end of the line and I have to tell you, I find it hard to believe the enthusiastic prerecorded robot voice asking for a donation is actually “glad to finally reach me!” I don’t know about you but It’s gotten to the point where I just let every unknown caller go straight to voicemail. We can’t even trust caller ID anymore because so many solicitors and scammers manipulate what’s displayed. And there are more and more variations of fundraising campaigns. There are walks and runs for serious illnesses, disaster reliefs, school projects, and various individual needs. Every day when I walk back from our mailbox I find myself sifting through numerous solicitations and I have to wonder how many of our own newsletters actually get opened… We get so many requests for donations through phone calls, text messages, social media, Facebook birthday challenges, kickstarter programs, Gofundme campaigns and Hospital caring pages… And while many are real legitimate needs and worthy of consideration, each one in a sense dilutes the others in the swelling sea of requests making it so much more difficult for new missionaries. And again I find myself with this striking thought… Who will be the next wave of missionaries to go out into the world to proclaim the good news? And will it be a wave or just a ripple… 

As the number of overall requests for donations have drastically increased, I am also seeing the alarming trend of many church missions budgets decreasing. Fewer churches seem to have the ability to offer their existing missionaries an increase or have the ability to take on new missionaries. There are less missions conferences being held, and when I’m able to be part of one, I continue to see the attendance shrinking. I remember attending weekend long conferences where halls and restaurant function rooms were filled, now more often all the attenders can fit in someone’s living room. When I visit church websites and click on missionaries being supported, I mostly see older missionaries like myself who perhaps have raised their support decades ago and the relationships formed over many years is the glue that keeps their support flowing. For churches who are able to support new missionaries my experience is that it takes an average of two to three years from the first initial contact to actually being voted onto their missions budget. Sadly this is also about the same time new missionaries hit a wall, and feeling overwhelmed and greatly discouraged they move on to seek other employment paths. I have literally seen dozens of great new and young staff give up on being a campus missionary and resign because the funds could not be raised. And to add to this systemic problem, the little support they were able to raise is then lost and rarely transferred over to help jumpstart another young missionary who is beginning the process.  And again I find myself troubled with this striking thought… Who will be the next wave of missionaries to go out into the world to proclaim the good news? And will it be a wave or just a ripple… 

For over twenty years I have used stories in our newsletters to help connect you the reader to this ministry and the urgency of reaching students. Many of you have been with me as I have shared the Gospel with students and faculty. You have been with me in the planting of new ministries, the recruiting, mentoring and training of new staff. You have been with me as I began to teach on campus and engage more intensely with faculty. You have read about Annie, our kids, and how their stories have even crossed paths with ministry and students. You have been with me as I transitioned to less time on campus after taking up the role of pastoring a local church. And most recently you have been with me as I have left Missions Door and Campus Ambassadors to be part of forming a brand new campus ministry called “Campus One80.” 

While the campuses and staff I formerly supervised continue to reach students with the gospel, “Campus One80” is off to an incredible start with twenty-seven people on staff and more in the application process. In our first year we have planted four new campus ministries! Two of them have already received club status only a few weeks into the fall semester. Obtaining club status is a critical step to establishing an official ministry and most often takes years to obtain. So it’s truly amazing to see this happen in the first semester. Locally here in MA one of those new plants with club status is Quinsigamond Community College (QCC). Already there are weekly prayer meetings, bible studies, and one on one meetings with students. Connections have been made with a local church to help address hunger issues on campus. And the overall turnout has been great. I continue to minister and teach at Nichols College, however this year I have help, as the same team we have at QCC have been assisting me. So more ministry is happening at more locations than I could do as an individual. My dream, as I have explained in previous newsletters, is to use the support I have raised over so many years to jumpstart and fund more ministry and staff, who would in turn reach more students with the gospel. And it’s happening! Let me explain… Jaylyn, Brittany and Noah, three young staff from upstate NY were all struggling to raise enough financial support and were heading toward that all too familiar wall of discouragement that leads to resignations. However, in September, they relocated to MA to join our area team. This was possible because of the funds I am receiving over and above my part-time needs are being redirected to each of them to help underwrite and sponsor their ministry as they continue to raise their own individual support. This is the new vision that I am focusing on and believe is so desperately needed. The model of young individual missionaries raising huge support packages on their own is not working! There needs to be a credible organization close enough to the ministry to respond quickly and in real time to both ministry and missionary needs. And when someone does hit that wall of discouragement and chooses to resign, there needs to be a trusted organization in place to retain the existing support and strategically reinvest those funds back into the mission and other missionaries. And now I find myself encouraged with an answer to that striking question… Who will be the next wave of missionaries to go out into the world to proclaim the good news? And will it be a wave or just a ripple… Can you see it? Can you see what I am seeing?…  Jaylyn, Brittany and Noah are part of the next wave of missionaries to go out into the world to proclaim the good news. And there are more young staff just like them who are and will be caught up in the systemic problem of having to raise support in what could be described as a post-missionary worldview. 

So take another sip, and blow over the surface… look at the ripples for a moment… Did you know that when enough wind blows over water those small ripples become waves? And when the wind continues to blow… those waves take on a character of their own called swells. These swells will then march out across the water independent of the wind and even store the wind’s energy, making even larger waves that eventually reach the shore crashing onto the beach! Now take another sip… and blow lightly across the small hot pond in your hands and imagine others receiving this newsletter doing the same. Imagine if everyone receiving this newsletter decided to make a ripple, collectively there would be an unleashing of a sizable wind that turns small ripples into waves that become swells that crash onto beaches all across our campus mission fields in the Northeast…  Now you’re seeing what I see… as I continue to redirect support to critical ministry needs and underfunded struggling staff…  Will you continue to help? Will you begin to help? Together let’s make WAVES! 

=== Joe ===

Like our page on Facebook “Campus One80”
Please check out ourwebsite to read more about Noah, Brittany, and Jaylyn as well as CampusOne80. www.CampusOne80.com

If this newsletter leaves you with any questions or a need for clarification, please don’t hesitate to email me joe@agenerationinneed.com 

Things have changed – Important update.

Sometimes things change

 and yet stay the same…

I recently turned fifty-eight years old. In many ways I’m still the same, but in other ways everything is different. In high school I was thin enough to walk between the rain and not get wet… now forty years later I need an umbrella for sure, but at the same time, I’m still me! Sometimes things change and yet at the same time they stay the same. 

This February will mark twenty years since being appointed as a missionary with Campus Ambassadors, a ministry of Missions Door. At that time, I began using my own tagline, “A Generation in Need.” I probably don’t need to tell you, that to me, this tagline is so much more than just four words strung together. It has been my sincere motivation and passion from day one to serve, love and reach this generation in need with the Gospel. The tagline and the need has not changed.

I’ve always believed that every missionary should have some form of a support and accountability system to offload the administrative burden of managing a non-profit. Keeping up with tax codes, labor law, benefits, payroll, donor questions, and…  the list could go on and would certainly take valuable time away from ministry. This system of support and accountability is often referred to as a “missionary sending organization” because they enable missionaries, like me, to be more invested in the ministry and less consumed by the necessary administrative aspects. This belief has not changed.

Last January after nearly a year and a half of seeking God’s direction while simultaneously providing pulpit supply to one of our supporting churches, Annie and I  answered what we saw as a clear call for me to pastor the First Congregational Church of North Brookfield, MA (CCCC associated). While experiencing this call to the pastorate, we did not sense God’s call away from campus. So I reduced my hours to part-time and have also continued to teach one unique course per semester. This helps me connect regularly with more students.This has not changed.

Beginning in February of 2018 an internal difference within the Missions Door executive leadership team became visible to all of us on staff. These differences were serious.  At that time as an Area Director I became very involved in the process of seeking a resolution. However in the end it was determined the best response was a “Paul & Barnabas” type of agreement to separate and continue doing ministry just not within the same organization. Val Nordbye who was the National Director of Campus Ambassadors, myself, and three other Area Directors with a combined 101 years of campus ministry experience and 16 other staff from the Northeast chose to leave Missions Door. This has changed.

A new non-profit organization called “Campus One80” has been formed with the full blessing of Missions Door. I’m both excited and encouraged with the opportunity to keep the best things in the box and to rethink outside of the box how to best reach this generation in need. When you have a chance, please take some time to review our website www.campusOne80.com. This has changed.

My last day with Missions Door will be on December 31st, 2018. All donations received in the 2018 calendar year remaining in my account will be transferred over by Missions Door and will continue to be used to fund ministry, increase staff and develop new student leaders who will, in turn, take the gospel into their classrooms and residence halls. Some will discover a call to continue serving with us on campuses, while others after graduation will take the gospel into their professional fields and their local churches. My commitment to creatively develop a relevant apologetic that is true to the scriptures and compelling to the lost has not changed. My desire to see students and faculty come to truly know Jesus has not changed. Teaming up with other staff with the same passion and vision has not changed. The need to have a sending organization for accountability and assistance with administrative tasks has not changed. And most importantly the need to be reaching “A Generation in Need” has NOT changed. The only change to take note of is the sending organization is now Campus One80.

Annie and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  

=== JOE ===

Details to our supporters.

Missions Door has fully endorsed our transfer over to Campus One80. When I announced to Missions Door my intention to move to Campus One80, I received an email from Rick Miller, the president of Missions Door, explaining the process for the transfer. Leaving out the details of this process, I thought it good to share his beginning and closing comments…

“I thank God for you and the almost 20 years you have invested in campus ministry through Campus Ambassadors.  God has blessed your ministry and you have been a blessing to CA and Missions Door.  Thank you for all you have done for Christ and His Kingdom!”

“Thanks again, Joe, for your good service and partnership in ministry.  Here’s praying that our Lord will continue to bless the work of your hands as you serve your congregation and students in Jesus Name! Blessings in Christ, Rick.

Donations received in 2018 and remaining balances in our account will be transferred to us by Missions Door to continue being used for ministry, evangelism, training, planting and recruiting the same as it has always been.

Additional information about CampusOne80

Rewinding Christmas from a Rapid Heart…

On Christmas day I concluded a three part sermon series at one of our supporting churches. The series was called “Rewinding Christmas.”

Most often at Christmas there are sermons about and around events  that lead up to our Savior’s birth. So, always looking at things differently… rather than moving on a trajectory forward… I took a different path, by going past His birth and looked at a trajectory leading back to the incarnation.

Christmas can often be a challenging time for many of us. While we all have our own individual challenges and fears, many experience increased levels of stress connected to family, work, school, budgets, and gift buying. For others depression and anxiety seem to be more overpowering.  Some of us may have lost loved ones and dealing with the devastation and loss over Christmas is especially hard. Those of us struggling with health related issues find it more difficult to cope. Add if you add to all that an election year more dividing than any other election I can remember… and you have the makings of a relationship with God that could be listed on a Facebook status as, “It’s complicated.”

In the first sermon of this series I talked about the wisemen following a bright star that pointed to Jesus, perhaps we could use our own Bethlehem star in the sky pointing us to the Christ-child?

Many of you know I struggled with a heart condition that began in my late-teens. In 2003 I had a procedure called an ablation that resolved most of my issues. The condition was related to the electrical system in my heart and would cause a race condition as fast as 250 beats per minute. Sometimes it would happen in my sleep and I would wakeup to a vibration in my chest and the need to get to the hospital. Well in 1989 we were blessed with our first son (we have 4) and Jeremiah was only a few months old. Once again I woke up suddenly with a racing heart! Now you may think of me as a man of faith but there are times when my faith is eclipsed by fear and faith seems to get thrown out the window, and this was one of those times! This time I was really panicking because not only did we have to get to the hospital but we had to bundle Jeremiah up and take him with us. I was frustrated, full of fear and anxiety… In my panic, I likely mouthed or at least thought the the words, “Why now God!  Why now!!!”

Annie saw my panic and calmly went into Jeremiah’s room. Without waking him she carefully picked him up, cradling our newborn child in her arms. She quietly carried him into our room. I was sitting on the side of the bed feeling weak from the lack of blood being allowed into my heart between beats and I was freaking out!

Annie lowered Jeremiah down to me and motioned for me to take him. I looked at her with confusion, and said, “What are you doing I can’t hold him right now!” She paid no attention and placed him in my fumbling arms and gently whispered in my ear, “Hold your son.”

As my eyes focused on his closed sleeping eye lids. As I watched the rhythm of his tiny chest expanding and compressing. As I took in the dense beauty and peaceful-calm that only a sleeping child can accurately covey, I was mesmerized!

Overwhelmed with such a deep deep love, my faith came back through the same window I had just thrown it out of. Like a switch my heart rate converted to a normal rhythm, and my strength returned… perfect love had cast out all fear (1st John 1:18).

Without Jeremiah ever waking up, Annie carefully took him from my arms and set him back in his crib. We both prayed a prayer of thanksgiving and immediately we fell back to sleep!

As we face this Christmas season and New Year, in the midst of all that is going on around us, would you consider rewinding Christmas with me? Allow yourself and others around you to be brought back, all the way back to the manger. Envision yourself holding Emanuel, “God with us” (Matt 1:23). Imagine gazing upon him and hearing your heavenly Father whisper in your ear, “This is my son…”  see the rhythm of His Spirit breathing upon you, and allow His perfect love to cast out all fear!

I leave you with simple and profound words of Jesus to ponder, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” (John 14:1)

December is an important month for us from a support raising perspective. When looking at our support needs from a committed perspective (individuals and churches who support us on an ongoing basis) we are receiving approximately 75% of what is needed. The remaining 25% comes from intermittent and one-time donations. Raising support is hard work and time consuming but so valuable to the ministry we do! It’s through our support raising efforts that a solid prayer base is established. It’s through support raising that unchurched students begin to grasp that there are individuals, churches, and businesses who actually value and care about them. It’s through support raising that some individuals are challenged and receive the call to campus ministry (happened to me!). And lastly it’s through support raising that our supporters are blessed to see this “generation in need” being reached and transformed by the Gospel. Support raising is indeed ministry too!

So would you please join us financially and prayerfully, either with an ongoing commitment or an end of the year (tax deductible) donation?

If you’re already supporting us thank you!!!

Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!!!

=== JOE ===

Be part of it:

To join us in financial support just fill out the envelope enclosed with this newsletter including a check made out to Missions Door. If you don’t have an envelope please include a separate note that you would like to support Joe and Annie Shea and how often in faith you plan to donate and mail to the address at the bottom of this page or simply go online to our website.