Jon and Margaret have been on CCC staff for 47 years, the last 37 in cross-cultural situations. Their three sons initially grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa where they initiated the campus ministry and assisted in national leadership 1975 to 85.

From 1987 to 2003 they ministered to urban youth in Denver, Colorado, working in partnership with Colorado UpLIFT, a human service organization providing a character development curriculum and mentoring program in the Denver Public Schools. Jon and Margaret focused on developing the middle school Middle LIFT curriculum and establishing a Bible study & youth group for the two schools in which they worked. During that time, the UpLIFT organization grew from 6 to 35 staff, and Jon and Margaret were part of a sector team of 7 staff. The seven all attended Emmanuel Church, a bilingual urban church, where about 60 of the students they had reached were part of the youth group.

In 2003 they were asked to assist in a two-year field test of Youth at the CrossRoads strategy in Greater Kingston, Jamaica. CrossRoads is an Adult Leadership Strategy transforming communities in moral crises with the hope, life and truth of Jesus. They completed those two years in July 2005, and during that time, 127 Jamaican teachers/counselors were trained to teach the Life at the CrossRoads curriculum, 23 schools participated in the test pilot, 3,800 students were taught the curriculum; 2,388 students viewed the Story of Jesus for Children video and 338 indicated a first time commitment to Christ.

In October 2005, they moved to Durban, South Africa to assist with the CrossRoads strategy in KwaZulu/Natal, a province of 10 million people where over 35% of the adult population are HIV positive. KZN has the highest concentration of HIV infection in the world. In some areas it is to 60 to 70% of tested women. Fifty percent of the new infections are among youth aged 15 to 24. In 2009, 11 teachers are dying of AIDS weekly in SA. Previously, Jon and Margaret served with CCC in South Africa for 10 years, 1975 to 85, primarily in the Johannesburg area.

The 30-lesson LATC [Life at the CrossRoads] curriculum shows students how to build character, make wise decisions and avoid risky behaviors, especially in the context of HIV/AIDS prevention. It uses the Jesus Film as a foundation for teaching Jesus as a role model of character. After school Bible studies and church youth groups provide the further spiritual dimension. 150 South African teachers from over 30 upper primary schools had previously been trained. In strategy discussions soon after their arrival, it was decided to focus on the Life Orientation teachers at the high school level for potentially greater multiplication. Fifty 8th & 9th grade teachers from 15 high schools came for training in February 2006. There was a good response and an additional 60 teachers were trained in March 2007. Together, they are currently teaching over 100 classes with 7,000 students. Our Zulu team teaching teams assist in about 25% of the classes in the more rural areas. During 2006, 1400 students in the LATC classes were exposed to the Gospel with 463 indicating decisions for Christ.

During 2006 an additional CrossRoads strategy called Better Choices was adapted for use in the high schools. It is a 6-hour seminar on decision making, HIV prevention and evangelism and qualifies to provide a certificate for 10th grade learners. Since May 2006, it has been used to train an additional 2,500 learners with over 1,000 indicating first time decisions for Christ. Many other schools are requesting it for their 10th grade learners. In November 2008, Jon and Margaret edited it and revised it for use in Southern Africa, calling it Smart Choices. In addition to training South Africans to use it, they hope to train church short-term mission teams going to areas with high HIV infection rates to use it as an outreach in schools and to church youth groups.

In 2007, Jon and Margaret along with four Zulu South Africans, were initially certified as International Trainers with Life at the CrossRoads for Durban. They taught the 30-hour Teacher Training courses in Durban in March and November 2007. In addition they participated in the CrossRoads curriculum revision project and US CCC staff conference in July 2007 in Colorado. Each year they train an additional 40 to 50 teachers for the Department of Education in February and in November they train volunteers from churches and agencies to assist in school/community partnerships. Twenty-two new volunteers were trained in November 2008 from 8 churches. They trained an additional 60 DoE teachers in February 2009 from 13 new and 12 previous high schools needing additional trained teachers. During the six years, 2006 to 2011, they trained over 250 high school teachers for the Department of Education from over 50 high schools. They have also trained volunteer teams from 15 churches and NGOs that are teaching LATC primarily in township schools.

In June 2011, they returned to Denver, CO to be nearer their grandchildren and to initiate CrossRoads in the Denver area. They now serve on the CrossRoads Global Team with responsibilities as Regional Strategy Coordinators in both the Western US and Southern Africa. They will normally split their time with July through March based out of Denver and April through June from Durban South Africa. They can always be reached through 303 586 1322. While in Denver, they are training and assisting teams teaching CrossRoads in Denver area schools.

The Jacobsons previous international experience in Jamaica, South Africa, and Latin America [1968-70], along with their 15 years working with urban youth in a character development program in Denver makes them uniquely qualified for this opportunity. Pray for their needed $250 in new monthly support and $4,500 in annual travel expenses. Pray for their safety, effective leadership, and financial provision.