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Jonathan and Carolyn Thomas
#1171538
Current roles:
We are passing the baton of ministry leadership in Carmel schools (USA) and undertaking training and making preparations to take up the invitation to join a team StudentLife team with Tandem Ministries (Cru in New Zealand). We plan to move to Auckland in September 2024!
Why New Zealand?
Although 50% of New Zealanders would identify as a Christian only 5% of any faith group attend a regular religious gathering. This indicates that most people are culturally religious and do not have a living relationship with Jesus.
As we consider the state of young people in many cultures globally we see the need for the presence and nearness of Jesus to cast away loneliness, the truth of the gospel to bring clarity in confusion and the peace of God to heal anxiety. We believe that we can help people encounter Jesus through authentic relationship and discipleship.
Thank you for considering partnering with us financially or prayerfully as we seek to
Win students to Jesus Christ, Build them in their faith and Send them into the world.
We could not follow this calling without your support!
Our story so far, briefly!
Carolyn was introduced to Cru as a middle school student in Cincinnati, OH, USA and after university studying marketing, business and youth work she joined Cru staff in 2006 and spent a year working at headquarters in Orlando, FL. USA.She then worked with high school teens in East Asia for 14 months before settling in Fishers and Carmel, Indiana (USA) until 2014.
Carolyn then spent 4 years in Sydney, Australia coaching and training school chaplains and working with students, helping establish a high school ministry with Power To Change (Cru in Australia).
After meeting Jonathan in Australia, we were married in December 2018 in the USA before spending 6 months in the UK. While Jonathan completed studies in architecture, Carolyn worked remotely for Cru headquarters again.
Carolyn returned to Carmel, Indiana (USA) to direct ministry in the Carmel schools - a high school and three middle schools - and after VISA processes Jonathan joined her in October 2019. He has worked in Architecture since and volunteered with Cru, helping train student leaders and joining boys in studying the bible together.
Eliza was born in November 2022!
After joining Carolyn on a short term mission trip (taking teens to Fiji and New Zealand in June and July 2023) Jonathan was encouraged and affirmed that God wants to use him and his story to share of His goodness, grace and healing in his life, walking alongside young people in a way that he needed when he was their age, with the hope they might avoid some of the pitfalls of his younger years when I lacked support, guidance or experience and get to know God as a gracious and compassionate God that comes alongside us in our mess and offers to rescue us. Jonathan started working for Cru full-time as of April 2024.
If you would like to know more about our work or to sign up to receive our monthly newsletters please email:
Jonathan.Thomas@cru.org or Carolyn.Thomas@cru.org
If you are giving from the UK please donate at this link: https://give.agape.org.uk/thomas-jonathan-carolyn/
Website: http://studentlife.org.nz
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