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Real People
Real Stories
Real Impact
Letter From the Global Directors
“And he said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest’”
Luke 10:2
Daryl & Martha Jones, Global Directors, Military Ministry
As some of the longest serving senior leaders of Military Ministry, we find ourselves in a unique position and equally unique perspective as we conclude this past year’s Diamond Jubilee celebration. It was mentioned at our summer Cru’25 U.S. staff conference that if we didn’t share our thoughts on this momentous milestone, that would be a great disservice. And we wouldn’t want that to be our 60th anniversary legacy now, would we?
Our Executive Director is never shy in sharing two ongoing ministry priorities to be kept in our prayers and uppermost in our thoughts, action plans, and ministry efforts—our desire for more laborers and more resources to advance the Great Commission to the worldwide military community. These two pillars are what support our focus as we expectantly look to our next 60 years of even more fruitful ministry.
We pursue our focus on people as a central tenant of an ever expanding global influence of Christ among those who wear their nation’s uniforms.
For example, our work with senior Latin America military leaders is to impart a vision for “win-build-send,” and that it would become an essential expression of their service as Christ-followers while in uniform. As a result, this would no doubt reap spiritual dividends in the months and years ahead!
Next, our focus on people has led to hundreds of cadets and officers coming to Christ and finding their place in a discipleship journey with us.
Equally illustrative of this focus on people was revealed by a non-Christian military commander in Cameroon seeing such value to his troops receiving training provided by our pastor volunteers, that he not only re-approved their access to his recruits, but he insisted they expand their Christian work into all the barracks! The commander appreciated our French-translated Spiritually Fit — Ready to Serve (SFRS) booklets, but what really captured his heart was the unmistakable reality that it was our people who made the difference in these sailors’ lives. To continue seeing lives changed by Christ, we intend to focus on praying for, supporting, and training our people so God might use us as His multiplying disciples!
Our second focus is on resources for the ministry. Because our Lord “...owns the cattle on a thousand hills,” the finances to advance the gospel globally exist in abundance. The first step to acquiring the resources to equip and train our laborers to advance the Great Commission is to engage the heart of our generous Lord.
We have seen the most fruit by adhering to a principle Jesus Himself employed—personal advocacy. Jesus shared in the Gospel of John: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Jesus engaged all of heaven’s resources, not through His plans or strategies, but through His relationship with His heavenly Father. It is in a “relational approach” that we see heaven’s floodgates open. That as we engage an ever-increasing group of global advocates who share our heart for the Great Commission, they in turn, advocate on our behalf for the necessary resources to make our global mission a blessed reality.
In just the past two years, those advocating for us have been the instruments the Lord has used to bring time, money and resources to our ministry! Our hope and prayer is that the Holy Spirit will continue to breathe support for His great work among our great global military servicemen and women throughout our next 60 years.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20).
We have boots on the ground in a new ministry location!
New ministries have started and flourished when just one person seeks the Lord and asks for help in reaching others for Christ. Such is the case with one member of the Royal Canadian Navy who felt the need to reach every man and woman in the Canadian military community.
Sheldon Tibbo has been serving with the Canadian military since 2022. While serving, he wanted to start a ministry within the military community.
“I learned how to share Jesus during my student ministry days with Power to Change Ministries™ (the name of Cru® in Canada),” Sheldon said. “Then I wanted to join the military to bring Jesus to that community. And for the past four years, I’ve been doing ministry, learning the Canadian Armed Forces culture, and seeing that they need Jesus.”
Sheldon felt the need right away as he got to know men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces. “I saw that the divorce rate in the military was very high,” Sheldon said. “Though you can’t track that statistic officially, I felt like it was close to a 50 percent divorce rate. I was hearing about all the divorces—and then I was hearing about all the mental health challenges. I thought of Matthew 9:36: ‘When he [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.’ I just thought ‘Oh, they need to know Jesus!’”
Sheldon got a copy of the Spiritually Fit—Ready to Serve booklet. “I used that with a bunch of officers, with great success!” Sheldon said. “I had also done some marriage mentoring as well, but I knew I could not do it all alone. So instead of just me doing ministry, I wanted to see many more people mobilized.”
Sheldon contacted Cru to see if there could be a ministry focused on the military. They told him about Cru Military® based in the United States.
Sheldon was invited to the Cru conference in Milwaukee in July to meet the Cru Military team. At the conference he received invaluable training and brainstormed ideas to get a military ministry going in Canada. It was clear he was the right man for the job, and so he was named the National Director for Cru Military in Canada. He was given the goal of creating the framework and recruiting other team members for this new ministry to the Canadian military.
“I am working on recruiting a core leadership team for the ministry,” Sheldon said. “I would like a team of three to five people to start praying together regularly and start reaching out to others. Then we will need a network of churches to adopt military units across Canada. We want every base, every military member to be prayerfully covered with the Word of God. And that will lead to a ministry of mobilizing Christians and churches—and the military—for the kingdom of God.”
While Sheldon was motivated by Matthew 9:36, the next step was found in verses 37-38: “Then [Jesus] said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’”
Please pray for the new Canadian ministry to the military—that God would provide sufficient laborers and churches across the nation to serve those who serve.
Trusting God
A Faith Story From Guatemala
Dr. Arnaldo Espinel could be doing a hundred and one other things, but he chose Cru Military® to invest his time and knowledge.
Dr. Espinel has many responsibilities as a leader at his church as well as a profession that could easily take him away from missions. However he felt the urge to say, ‘yes,’ right away when General Rodolfo Interiano, the Latin America Area of Operations director for Cru Military, asked if he would go on a mission trip to Latin America.
“I said, ‘yes of course.’ After we finished talking, I said to myself; ‘Why did I say yes? I’m not even sure I know what he’s talking about.’ But I think it was God who put the ‘yes’ in my heart, and before I knew it, I was already on the plane,” shared Dr. Espinel.
Feeling out of his depth, Dr. Espinel relied completely on God’s guidance. As he was landing in Honduras, he knew that God would provide, and prayed, ‘I’m going for you, God, I’m going to work for you, you take me in your hand.’
“That trust in God really surprised me,” Dr. Espinel shared. “It was challenging because it was something that I had never done before, ministering to high-level military officials and leaders—but I did not feel fear or insecurity. I feel very sure that it is God who is doing the work, and not me, and I am happy to continue working on this project.”
Since that trip to Honduras, Dr. Espinel has been a part of other mission trips, including a repeat trip to Honduras, to complete phase two of their two-part initiative in various countries in Latin America, part of their Transformational Leadership project.
“He’s our theologian, “ explained General Rodolfo Interiano. “The people in Latin America know him, because they see him giving us monthly Bible studies online.”
In 2024, they completed phase one in Guatemala. This included connecting with top military leaders in Latin American countries to teach them how to become multiplying disciples. During this first phase General Rodolfo and Dr. Espinel also shared the gospel with 100 officers and cadets, and 80 accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.
In 2025, phase two was completed at the military installations and 160 participants put their trust in Jesus! They hosted one group of 86 senior officers, a group of 64 officers, and a group of 75 cadets. They worked with each group and brought in five international speakers and one Guatemalan Cru® staff member.
They began each morning with speakers sharing lessons they learned about leadership, principles and values, family, and faith. In the afternoon sessions, participants enjoyed time in small groups studying Scripture and praying together. “They were eager to participate and ask questions about applying the new truths to their personal lives. We are thankful for the ways the Holy Spirit touched their hearts throughout the seminar,” Rodolfo shared.
Follow-up efforts at the Academy are continuing, and they are still engaging with officers in the capital city of Guatemala.
Have you felt God calling you to say ‘yes” to missions? Let Dr. Espinel’s story encourage you to consider how you can be a part of winning, building, and sending military members around the world.
We Have Boots on the Ground
Even in War
Ukraine Update
Recently, one of our Military Ministry team members, was released from active military duty in Ukraine. After faithfully serving since the first days of the war and being wounded several times, he was reunited with his family for rest and recovery. Then he traveled to the United States to update ministry leaders on Ukraine, the war, how the gospel is still being shared person-to-person through the land, and what we can do to make sure every person in Ukraine hears the gospel message.
Here is his message to all the faithful ministry partners who have helped ministry continue and even grow in Ukraine:
Hello dear friends! I am thankful and honored to be here with you today. For me, this is not only a privilege, but also a gift from God.
I know Ukraine is not the most important place in the world. God is working in many countries, through many ministries. But I want to share just a small part of what He is doing in Ukraine—because in the middle of war, it is a miracle.
The war has broken many lives, but has also opened many hearts. People search for hope. Our staff and volunteers bring food, medicine, even rebuild houses—and with these gifts, they also bring the gospel.
Last year, 20 new missionaries joined Cru in Ukraine. That is a miracle!
But at the same time, we lost one of our young staff members. He was wounded and died at the frontline. He was kind, bright, and full of love for God. His death was a deep wound for us and for his mother. This is the reality of ministry in war—tears and hope together.
I returned to the Ukrainian Army on the first day of the war, before the full invasion started. The night before February 24, I left home to reach my military base. In the morning, my wife and children had to escape from Kyiv under shelling.
I began my service as a Lieutenant in the Infantry. Later, my last position was Chief of Staff of a mechanized battalion, with the rank of Major. Almost all of my time—about 90%—I was in the battle zone. Only short breaks were for vacation, training, or recovery after wounds. Most of the time, I was with the soldiers, living with them in the same hard conditions.
I am proud of the men I served with. My desire was to show them God’s love. I knew I cannot be a good Christian if I am a bad soldier or bad officer. My testimony was to try to live the right way and to show Christ through my life and actions.
I want to show you two examples of how God is working through this ministry you support:
A volunteer missionary gave a soldier a small bracelet and shared the Gospel with him. Later he came to Christ and also became a Hero of Ukraine for his bravery. Today he shares in churches how God protected him. It is such a great blessing to see how the Lord touches people’s lives through his word and the work of the Holy Spirit.
When I returned to the army, during the first month and a half on the frontline, I served together with another soldier, named Ivan. He was very gifted and a really good man. We often talked about life, and I shared the Bible and the Gospel with him. After some time, our mission changed suddenly. While defending one town, about a week later, I was wounded.
I had the chance to be at his funeral. Now, every few months when I pass near his grave, I also spend time with his mother. We stay in contact and share the pain together. She told me many times: “Yes, we lost Ivan, but we received a new family through his friends.” It is a very deep loss, but his mother has hope. For me, it is a blessing to see how the Lord comforts her and gives her strength.
Friends, ministry in Ukraine today is not easy. But we see the Gospel of hope rebuilding lives and even rebuilding our country.
For our family, these years were a very hard time. We went through trials, uncertainty, and many things we did not understand. Sometimes, with tears, I even joke that my wife served like a widow for three years, and my children were like orphans.
When I left for the war, our youngest son was only 11 months old, and our older daughter was just 2 years and 7 months. It was a very difficult period. But God kept us. He showed His mercy, and our family was preserved. I am very thankful to God for my family.
And I thank you. Because of Military Ministry and people like you, I came to know Jesus. And now, through your prayers and giving, thousands of Ukrainians can also hear the same Gospel of Hope.
Thank you, dear friends, for your love and care. Your support is an investment in God’s work.
God is one. He is merciful and faithful, especially in the times when we are weak or unfaithful. His love never changes, no matter the situation, the circumstances, or the politics.
So I am very glad to be here with you today and to speak about God’s mercy.
These small bracelets the Ukranian soldier received are known as “The Four” as it has four simple icons on it. This Gospel bracelet originated in Europe as a way to share The Four Spiritual Laws, a booklet written in 1965 by the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, Bill Bright. With the icons, anyone can share the Gospel. And each bracelet also has thefour.com on the other side—a website that can answer questions about God and get seekers connected with a Christian community for deeper conversations and spiritual growth.
We are a caring community passionate about connecting the military community to Jesus Christ.
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(See appendix for photo attribution.)
The appearance of U.S. Department of War (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.