CRU CHURCH MOVEMENTS STAFF
NATIONAL LEADERSHIP TEAM
DAVID M. ROBINSON
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dave is the Executive Director of Church Movements (Cru). He is ordained with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) and serves as a Teaching Elder at New Life CityChurch in Kansas City, MO (newlifecity.church). His passion is to collaborate with leaders to advance the mission of Jesus by making disciples and multiplying churches. He is a mobilizer, teaching pastor and communicator.
Dave is the former Area Campus Director for Eastern Europe and Russia for Campus Crusade for Christ International. He served in that part of the world from 1989-2007 with Campus Crusade in various roles: National Director for Hungary and Yugoslavia, Regional Director of EE/Balkans, and as a church-planting partner with the Evangelical Free Church in Budapest, Hungary. He is the Co-Founder of “Youth at the Threshold of Life” (YTL) – an educational movement that began in Hungary and went to 62 nations. YTL helps spread the gospel and multiply the church through community engagement.
Dave has co-authored two books – The Outrageous Promise – a story of God’s love for those who suffered under communism and how leaders collaborate to make a difference and Youth at the Threshold of Life (Timoteus Tarsasag and Corvinus Press, Hungary).
He earned his pastoral ordination with the EPC (MDIV required) with the ministerial guidance with the Mid-America Presbytery and after theological studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the International School of Theology and the Institute of Biblical and Theological Studies (Budapest, HU). He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma
GÁBOR GRÉSZ
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Gabor grew up in the communist Hungary, not hearing and knowing anything about Jesus. He became a believer at age 13.
Gabor was one of the first student who got involved in the underground ministry of Cru during communism in 1983/84. Later after getting married in 1991 he and his wife, Edina joined Cru and served in various ministry responsibilities.
Gabor is the co-founder and co-author of the Bible-based educational program called “Youth at the Threshold of Life” (YTL). YTL is used in 62 countries where thousands of educators had been trained and had been exposed to the gospel through YTL symposiums. Gabor also is the co-author with Dave Robinson “The Outrageous Promise”book.
Gabor served as the National Director for Cru Hungary between 2004-2017. Currently he has moved with his family to Kansas City to serve on Cru City team to help develop new evangelistic strategies and expand YTL globally influencing the education domain of the society.
Gabor received a ThM degree from the Karoli Gaspar University of Budapest and is an ordained presbyterian minister. Gabor also the co-founder and church planter of Rosegarden Baptist Church of Budapest.
Gabor and Edina are the parents of 3 children, Rahel, Renato and Gergo.
JOSEPH BUTLIG
PARTNERING CHURCH PLANTER
Joseph was born in the Philippines and moved to the United States at 8 years of age. He grew up in Bakersfield, CA and the continued on to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where he earned a degree in Electrical Engineering. While in college, Joseph began a personal relationship with Jesus. Upon graduation, he worked some time in the engineering field and led the college ministry at his church before the Lord led him to full time ministry with Cru.
Joseph met his wife, Michelle, in the summer of 1998 during new staff training for Cru in Orlando, Florida. They were married soon after and now have 4 children, Luke, Daniel, Jessica and Aleeya. They adopted Aleeya, from India, in April 2016.
After serving in the Campus Ministry of Cru for 17 years, they decided to reach beyond campus and into the communities of Los Angeles County. Their hearts were burdened to see communities in Los Angeles reached with the love of Jesus through: planting multiplying church planting movements, starting foster care and adoptive ministries with churches, and helping to fight sex trafficking. They have been on staff with Cru for 20 years and live in Glendora, Ca.
LARRY CHRISTENSEN
CITY LEADERSHIP NETWORKS
BONNIE DAVIS
DIRECTOR OF STAFF DEVELOPMENT
Bonnie has been on staff with Cru since 1984. She and her husband Neale, were involved in evangelism and discipleship with students on the campuses of Auburn University and Appalachian State. Since then, most of her leadership experience has been serving staff both nationally and on the regional level in the areas of Human Resources and Leadership Development with both the Campus Ministry and City Ministry of Cru. She is excited to leverage her past experiences and her heart for developing leaders in her current role as the Director for Staff Development with Church Movements.
TOM FRITZ
PARTNERING CHURCH CATALYST
DAN HARDAWAY
PARTNERING CHURCH CATALYST
Dan grew up in North Carolina and became a Christian in High School with the influence of his sister. Encouraged by Young Life and his church in high school, he launched to Appalachian State University to pursue a degree in Communications. Upon graduation he joined Campus Crusade for Christ and ministered at Emporia State University and Clemson before working in the International Summer Projects team sending thousands of students overseas. He joined the Cru’s Catalytic ministry in 1992 and developed a number of projects including the Freshman Survival Kit and the DaVinci Code Outreach.
In 2012 Dan was challenged to join the Global Church Movements team working for one of the Vice President’s of Cru, Bekele Shanko. Dan coached Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia in how to teach churches to multiply. Dan was also responsible for building the Global Alliance for Church Multiplication (www.gacx.io) which is a network of 85 ministries and denominations cooperating working together around the world. Since 2010, these ministries have planted 1.62 million simple churches
Dan and Lorraine married in 1985 and raised 4 kids in Central Florida where they each lead a marathon training group. They have each run 25 marathons. Three of their kids are married and they are anticipating their third grandchild in 2020. Lorraine works on projects to keep missionaries on the mission with Cru.
TODD JOHNSON
PARTNERING CHURCH CATALYST
Todd came into a personal relationship with Jesus his freshman year in college through Cru. The following year he met his wife Angela and soon after graduating from college they were married. They have been happily married for 30 years and have three children.
Todd earned his Masters Degree in Pastoral Studies at ISOT (International School of
Theology) in 1999. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education with endorsements in Speech/Theatre and Psychology from the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 1990.
He has been on staff with Cru for 30 years and is the former Omaha Metro Director. He served the campuses of Omaha from 1999-2013. Preceding Omaha, he directed the campus ministry at Cal State San Bernardino from 1997-1999. He also served at Southwest Missouri State University from 1993-1997.
Todd is working on developing strategic partnerships to bring redemption to some of the biggest needs of the city. Some examples of this have been leading a Bible Study with inmates at the Douglas County Jail, and assisting with First Responders prayer times when homicides occur in Omaha. He has led and served on more than a dozen short term mission trips domestically and served internationally on five different continents.
His passion is to connect people to the heart of Jesus as they live out of their God designed part of helping fulfill the Great Commission through multiplying disciples and multiplying churches.
AMY KARST
DIRECTOR OF EVANGELISM
Amy Karst is a Partnering Church Catalyst and serves on the National Leadership Team with Cru Church Movements. She served with the Cru Campus Ministry in Debrecen, Hungary, and St Louis, MO, for 21 years. Her passion is to see gospel-transformation in global cities. She is excited about awakening and mobilizing believers to their calling as everyday missionaries.
Amy gave her life to Christ as a freshman at Kansas State University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Phi Beta Kappa: double major in English and Economics. She has always had more interests than time, enjoys processing information so that everyone is better equipped and inspired, and is constantly problem solving into the future to help the team make better decisions.
From time to time she is an author, poet, and avid consumer of all things wise & whimsical. She and her husband, Doug, have launched 4 young adults into the world to reflect the heart of Jesus where they live, work, learn, and play.
SCOTT NEEL
MISSION CAPACITY DIRECTOR
Scott first got involved with Cru as a student at Western Kentucky University. After joining staff in 1983 he was part of the Campus Ministry in the Midwest for 10 years. His involvement on summer projects to Eastern Europe as a campus staff member was instrumental in Scott developing a heart for the former Eastern-bloc countries. And in 1993 he moved overseas with his family to Budapest, Hungary. He was part of the Hungarian ministry for several years, serving in administrative roles on the National Director’s strategic resource team. And then transitioned over to the Eastern Europe/Russia Area office in Budapest where he served on the Area SLM team. After 28 years in Budapest, Scott and his wife, Patti, transitioned back to the States. They moved to Kansas City in 2020 to join the Church Movements team there. Scott is serving as the Mission Capacity Director for CM. Scott and Patti have three children, Hannah, Andrew and Jack.
ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
MARVIN DANIELS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The Hope Center, KC
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Marvin Daniels is married to Angie Daniels in which they have five adult children. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Marvin has served in Ministry for 34 years in a variety of roles in the cities of New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Branson, and now Kansas City.
Marvin serves as the Executive Director at The Hope Center KC, a community and youth development organization and the Associate Pastor of Mosaic Bible Fellowship. Mosaic Bible Fellowship is a diverse congregation of people ethnically and socio-economically.
The Hope Center serves over 200 families and youth on the Eastside of Kanas City’s urban core. The ministry contains a Medical Clinic; Charter School; Afterschool programs; Children and Youth Programs in Leadership and Character Development; Men’s Support Group; Community Outreach Programs; and Parents as Partners program. In the near future, The Hope Center will build an Affordable Housing community called Hope Village and convert a 100-year-old church into a Family Community Center. Marvin’s life verse is “Watch your life and doctrine closely, persevere in them, in doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers.” -1 Timothy 4:16
Marvin believes that Kingdom size dreams require Kingdom partnerships, and Kingdom minded people who will collaborate for the glory of God and community transformation.
RICK HALL
STRATEGIC CONSULTANT
Former VP, Corporate Strategy
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Rick is a strategic advisor and leadership coach for church and non-profit organizations. After retiring from a successful career as a strategic planning and business development executive for a global company, Rick transitioned into coaching to invest his experience in supporting ministries and their leaders. Specifically, he assists pastors, church staff, and ministry leaders in leadership coaching and team effectiveness and in developing strategic plans for their organization’s future success. His goal is to help these leaders effectively translate vision into life-changing, positive action for the well-being of the communities they serve.
In addition to his 34 years of business experience, Rick has served in local churches as an ordained deacon and elder, mentor, and lay leader on committees for stewardship, personnel, pastoral search, and long-range planning. He has also been active in small group formation and leadership, teaching, community outreach, evangelism, and missions.
Rick has received master’s degrees from Columbia University and Dallas Theological Seminary.
REBECCA WALLS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Unite DFW
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Rebecca is the Founding Executive Director of Unite which was born out of her passion for Church unity with a purpose. Unite’s mission is to inform, connect, and equip Christian leaders to care for their people and community, and now serves over 600 diverse local churches. Rebecca’s 10+ years in business, 6 years in local church missions, and a seat on the Unite! Atlanta Leadership Team gave her an understanding of church dynamics and a passion to see the Church work with others with the same vision for the city. She has had extensive informal training in collaboration and city transformation and is currently getting a Masters and Doctorate at Bakke Graduate University. Locally, she has served on many citywide coalitions and is the go-to for engaging the collective Church in DFW in citywide efforts. Until recently, she also served on the board of GoodCities and a global organization fighting human trafficking in Eastern Europe. Along with her husband of 29 years (Ryan) and two grown sons (Brandon & Jonathan), their main personal ministry outlet over the last 9 years has been international students studying at UT Dallas.
MICHAEL L. JONES
LEAD PASTOR
Harvest Community Church
Birmingham, AL
Rev. Michael L. Jones (Pastor Mike) is a graduate of Morehouse College and Birmingham Theological Seminary (BTS).
He is the pastor of Harvest Community Church in Birmingham, AL, which he and his wife, Kimberly, planted over 25 years ago.
He teaches New Testament at BTS, coaches High School Basketball, and serves as the Character Coach for the Birmingham Southern College Men’s Basketball program. He and his wife, Kimberly, have been married for 36 years and have four adult daughters: Candace, Temperance, Christina and Tiara.
DR. HENRY TAN
PRESIDENT
International Leadership Consortium
ILC
Mission statement: “Mobilizing and equipping leaders for transformational impact in their communities and beyond to help fulfill the Great Commission.”
Henry is married to Wilma and blessed with three grown children with nine grandchildren. Henry was born and raised in Malaysia while Wilma was born and raised in the Philippines.
A former National Director of Philippine Campus Crusade for Christ, President of the International School of Theology-Asia, Manila and Director of Cities + Beyond worldwide, Henry brings over 40 years of experience in executive leadership to the position of President of the International Leadership Consortium (ILC) – a group of seminaries and universities, started by and/or influenced by Campus Crusade for Christ International, located in Africa, Philippines, Singapore, Jordan, Latin America and the Caribbean with the expressed purpose of developing “Leaders for Transformational Impact” in the different segments of society.
Amazingly amid a global pandemic the Lord continues to create an interest amongst national leaders from Asia to Africa for the development of leaders through the theological educational track.
The need for equipped pastoral and lay leaders is ever increasing. Planting multiplying churches and desirous of home-grown pastors the need of churches is the training of their pastors in their context. We bring the school to them via Competency Based Theological Education (CBTE ) instead of just having the students come to us. We help them acquire proficiency in competencies integrating content (head), character (heart), and craft (hands) resulting in greater effectiveness in their vocational context.
Education:
Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Master of Business Administration, Asian Institute of Management, Makati, Philippines
Master of Divinity, International School of Theology, San Bernardino, CA, USA
Doctor of Education, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
DANIEL YANG
DIRECTOR
The Send Institute
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Daniel is the Director of the Send Institute, leading and overseeing all of its initiatives. Prior to directing the institute, he planted a church in Toronto where he also helped recruit, assess, and train church planters through the Send Network and the Release Initiative. Daniel has served on various church staffs including Northwood Church, led by Bob Roberts Jr., where he was trained as a church planter and involved in global and multi-faith engagement. Prior to church planting, Daniel was an engineer for eight years. He earned an M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Michigan, and is currently a Ph.D. Intercultural Studies student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is also the co-author of Inalienable: How Marginalized Kingdom Voices Can Help Save the American Church (InterVarsity, May 2022).