Miah’s Dominican Republic Mission Trip

Meeting the people of the Dominican Republic was the best part of the trip for me (Miah). The people there have next to nothing, but they have this amazing joy and sense of community. Every house we went to, people welcomed us in. 

On a day of outreach, we met Juliette, her nephew, and his three friends. After a conversation with her, we found out that she attended church, but had never accepted Jesus into her heart. I asked her if she ever felt scared about where she would go after she died. She nodded her head. In her eyes, I could see this immense burden that she was carrying. My team and I explained the gospel to her and then asked if she wanted to accept Jesus into her heart. She said yes! I don’t think I’ll ever forget the moment after she prayed. I looked into her eyes and saw that a burden had been lifted from her soul. She had peace now, the peace that comes with knowing Jesus. We asked the four boys if they wanted to pray as well and they said yes. Please keep the five of them in your prayers, that God would continue to grow the seeds that were planted.

Miah’s DR Team and new DR Friends

Bridges Summer Missions

A record number of 98 international students went on Summer Missions this year! Here is a story of just one of the students, Jane, a visiting scholar from East Asia:

“Before this trip, I was honestly nervous about sharing my faith in English…But throughout the week, God reminded me that He is not looking for perfect words. He is looking for willing hearts…In the dining hall, I met a Chinese family, and what began as a casual conversation gradually turned into a conversation about faith…The parents told me that their daughter who is a sophomore was eager to learn more about Jesus and invited me to meet with her again. At that moment, I was deeply reminded that God is always at work before we arrive…I was simply invited to join in what God was doing.”

Bridges Back on Campus

Although fall weather is getting a late start here in Texas, Bridges campus staff have felt the busyness of the start of school year. They have been busy with welcome events that range from city tours to paddle boarding to welcome parties (pictured in the header, right) to hikes. This is the time of year when fatigue sets in. Please join us in praying that the Lord would provide times of rest, refreshment, and encouragement for all our staff. Pray that God would continue to provide divine appointments, leading staff to students whose hearts are open to the gospel.

3 Reel Questions

This summer, my (Zack’s) media team launched a YouTube channel to help people see connections between popular movies and biblical truth. We’ve published about 60 videos that have a combined total of 30,000 views.

One person said, “I’ve never thought about movies this way and don’t really believe in Jesus but I respect what you’re doing.” And then they subscribed. Another person requested a specific movie for us to discuss and promised to do “any 30 day Bible reading plan of your choosing.” Please pray the gospel seeds we are planting would be watered and grow.

Visit our channel at youtube.com/@3ReelQuestions

UPCOMING

• Zack will be in Orlando from October 26-29 to work with his team on more content for 3 Reel Questions

PRAISE REPORTS

• The DR trip challenged Miah to share her faith in ways she had never done before
• Miah got to see Juliette and 4 teen boys accept the Lord! And their team saw several others come to Christ.
• Bridges students, like Jane, grew closer to the Lord through the Summer Mission

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Rest, refreshment, and encouragement for our Bridges Campus staff
• The Lord would draw Zack and Naomi closer to Himself
• 3 Reel Questions subscribers to hunger for the gospel

A Divine Appointment in the Air

“What are the red letters for?” Kapu asked me and Annalei. He had only recently downloaded the Bible app to his phone.

On our flight back to the mainland, Kapu and I started chatting. The Lord allowed me to direct the conversation to Him, and Kapu told us that he had surrendered his life to Christ just one week before he got on our flight! We talked for over three hours about the basics of salvation, how to read the Bible, and prayer. It was such an encouraging conversation for all three of us. It was especially a gift from the Lord because I was able to model this type of ministry to Annalei. She has felt called to do more initiative evangelism.

Bridges on Mission

Bridges Summer Missions are underway! Twenty seven international students and eleven staff members participated in the New York CoMission in late May (pictured in the header).

“I praise God for the amazing gospel conversations we had throughout our time in New York City…It was incredibly refreshing to watch the students we trained boldly witness to people. Spending time praying with them, discipling them, and then seeing them step out in faith deeply encouraged my soul.” – Sam, Bridges Intern

Currently, Summer Missions are happening in Sydney (ending June 20), Paris (ending June 21), Orlando: Cru Headquarters (ending July 18), San Francisco (June 21-27), and Philadelphia (June 30-July 5). Please join us in praying that these missions, and Miah’s mission to the Dominican Republic would be powerful in the lives of all participants.

3 Reel Questions

Can a movie change your worldview? On my (Zack’s) Jesus Film team, our answer is “Yes!” My team recently launched “3 Reel Questions”, a YouTube channel that helps people look past the screen to explore the deeper spiritual themes hiding in plain sight. We are taking the biggest stories in pop culture and breaking them down through the lens of faith.

Whether someone is a skeptic or seeker, we talk about the stories that move us and how they connect to the ultimate Story of the Bible. Each video essay has three questions for the listener to consider and/or discuss with others. My teammate, Michael, is the host. Each of us on our team has helped with scriptwriting, recording, and video editing.

We launched the channel just a few months ago and are seeing over a thousand people watch each new video that often begins with, “Can I find Jesus in [this movie]?”

A recent video script I helped write was for the A24 indie film Backrooms, which is about a parallel dimension formed from the memories of someone’s life. In many ways it is an inversion of Heaven. We talked about how Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms,” and how he’s preparing a place for believers. Backrooms is a reflection of how Gen Z feels trapped, so we are pointing to the hope Jesus offers.

Visit our channel here.

UPCOMING

• Zack and Miah will attend Realm Makers, a Christian writers conference, from June 24-27.
• Miah will be on the DR mission trip from July 18-25.

PRAISE REPORTS

• God allow us to encourage our new Brother in Christ, Kapu.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• All Bridges missions participants to be bold in evangelism and grow closer to the Lord through the experience.
• For unity and spiritual protection for Summer Missions teams
• For the viewers of 3 Reel Questions to consider the claims and promises of Christ and take the next step.

Steps of Faith

“No, I don’t have my own Bible,” Tammy* said to our oldest daughter, Annalei. “I just borrowed one from a hotel.”

Tammy comes from a Hindu family and is one of Annalei’s classmates for their Bible class in college. Annalei invited Tammy to coffee to discuss their faith backgrounds. She then clearly shared the gospel with Tammy and bought a Bible for her.

On the dedication page, Annalei wrote out John 8:12––“Jesus spoke to them again: ‘I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.’” Please pray Tammy would read the Bible on her own to discover who Jesus is.

Our middle daughter, Miah, will go on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic this summer with our church. She’s experienced the mission field through many Bridges events we’ve attended as a family. But this will be her first opportunity to be a missionary all on her own. Their team will minister to both young and old and give everyone an opportunity to learn how to know God through Jesus Christ.

Experiencing Jesus Through Animation

Priya is anxious. As a young Hindu woman in Northern India, she is struggling to find a job. But a late-night visit from her Dadi (pictured in the header) helps her see the gospel account of Christ healing the Demoniac in a new light (pictured below).

This is the pilot episode of the animated series Anubhav from Jesus Film. My (Zack’s) Global Media team is hard at work on this project. It’s designed for Hindus from the Forward Caste––the world’s largest unreached people group. It will help students like Annalei reach students like Tammy.

Through each episode of Anubhav, spiritually-curious Priya learns Bible stories from her Hindu-background Christian grandmother, Dadi. As Priya pictures each story, we step into her imagination and see the biblical events as though they were happening in Northern India. It is a creative way to present the gospel in a visual heart language, to help Hindus make sense of the gospel accounts while staying true to God’s Word.

Anubhav is a massive undertaking involving cultural and animation experts working alongside Jesus Film. Eighteen episodes are planned for this series. You can watch the pilot episode here:

UPCOMING

• Naomi and Annalei will be visiting our ministry partners in Hawaii and speaking to church groups from May 17-27.
• Miah will be on the DR mission trip from July 18-25.

PRAISE REPORTS

• Annalei and Miah took big steps of faith in evangelism.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• For Tammy to meditate on John 8:12 and know who Jesus is.
• For the Anubhav leadership team as they provide direction and feedback to our Global Media team.
• Additional animators to join the team.

Children of Cyrus

The eyes of the world are on Iran. Your newsfeed is likely full of images and videos about the conflict happening there. You might have also heard about rallies happening in many American cities. I (Zack) attended a rally that some Iranian friends invited me to (pictured in the header). This gathering was a time of great hope and great pain. They held a moment of silence for the thousands of protesters killed by Iranian regime forces. There is a long road of healing ahead for them.

A Jesus Film national field leader based in the region shared this update: “Our staff are all outside Iran, but our key disciples and volunteers are in the country. We are trying to get in touch with them. Please keep lifting us up in your prayers so that God would open the doors for the gospel and bring peace to the Iran nation.”

Amidst the upheaval, many believe we are in a historical time of spiritual openness for these descendants of King Cyrus. An Iranian pastor told Naomi that when he came to Christ 25 years ago, there were only 10,000 known believers from his country. But today? He said there are six million!

The Emerald Flame

I (Zack) am working on a few Jesus Film projects to portray the gospel to people from the Middle East, especially those in the diaspora. One is an evangelistic media tool I wrote called The Emerald Flame. It’s a Persian-style allegory of how Jesus rescues us from darkness (mockup image below).

In this story, a princess must lead a group of exiles to find a place of refuge after a dark sorcerer conquers their home. They carry a magical green fire, but throughout their wanderings their lanterns grow dim. Only a legendary Mountain Prince can restore their homeland and the healing power of the flames. And to their astonishment, he does so by sacrificing his life.

The Emerald Flame is currently a 6,000 word (20-page) short story. I’ve submitted it to my Global Media team and we are evaluating next steps. Most likely I will make it into a shorter, simpler allegory, or I will expand and deepen it. 

Dream Master

Previously I mentioned a modern-day mystery story I’m creating called Dream Master. It’s about Middle Eastern employees of a tech company who are testing a headset that can control dreams. But a White Robed Man keeps appearing to people at night, overriding their technology and challenging their beliefs. One character, Tariq (mockup image below), must decide whether to trust this mysterious man who says true refuge from evil is found in his blood.

Dream Master is based on true stories of people visited by Jesus in their dreams. I’ve written the first six episodes and have two more to draft. We have also begun experiments with different animation technologies like Unreal Engine.

PRAISE REPORTS

• The Lord has provided amazing teammates and partnerships for our different media projects in Jesus Film.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• March 20 is “Nowruz,” Persian New Year, for many Middle Eastern people around the world. Please pray for Jesus Film outreaches happening during this holiday, that hearts would be more receptive to Jesus than ever before.
• The Lord’s guidance for all the media tools we’re developing.

Vision 2025

Annalei, Linda (my mom), and I (Naomi) were blessed to join about 1,000 people in Denver for this year’s Vision Conference (header, left). My mom joined the prayer team, which supported every track and aspect of the conference.

In answer to prayer, hundreds of Seekers heard a clear gospel presentation, and at least 24 students indicated a decision to place their faith in Christ! Hundreds of Christian students were trained in how to share their faith, and 73 indicated interested in interning or joining Bridges staff!

Annalei participated in Vision as a college student this year. She was encouraged to wholeheartedly follow Jesus in all aspects of her life. And she showcased her musical theater talent during the NYE talent show (header, right).

Children of Abraham

For the fourth year in a row, I was the Prayer Coordinator for the Children of Abraham Track (for Middle Eastern Students). It was incredible to watch God answer so many specific prayers for our COA track. “Tom” accepted Christ on the first night! After Vision, several staff hosted a retreat for Middle Eastern Believers. At that retreat Tom, alongside a Bridges staff couple, led his wife “Jennifer” to Christ! She was weeping as she prayed and said, “Now I know I will never be alone again.”

God allowed me to join a Q&A panel (pictured above). I was very unsettled going into it, but prayed and surrendered it to the Lord. As soon as I got on stage, I felt His peace. It went so well, as God gave us all wisdom to answer tough questions. COA students discussed our responses in their family groups. The panel’s answers really helped “Allison” to fully understood the gospel. Later that night, she accepted Christ!

While returning from sightseeing, a COA student “Mason” sat next to a new friend “Mike.” Mike is a Hindu Background Believer from Mason’s country who came to Christ at Vision last year.  Mike shared the gospel clearly and Mason prayed to receive Christ with him on the bus!

Our Friend, Reed

Last year at Vision Conference, our family connected with “Reed”. Zack and I have become close friends with him this year. Paxton has continued to faithfully pray for him.

My mom, Annalei, and I went out to lunch with him and gave him a present Paxton made for him (pictured above). It was a powerful time as my mom got to share her testimony with Reed. She told Reed about how there was an emptiness inside of her that only Jesus could fill. Reed said that he could relate to that feeling of emptiness. He said he is ready to jump in and become a Christian but is asking God for a sign. Another COA student “Karl” said almost the exact same thing.

UPCOMING

• Zack will travel to Orlando during the second week of February, to meet with his full Global Media team in Jesus Film. Please pray for safe and comfortable travels (Zack still has months to go to heal from his PCL injury).

PRAISE REPORTS

• 24 students came to Christ, including 4 from the COA track.
• A Hindu Background student led a COA student to Christ.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Spiritual growth for Tom, Jennifer, Allison, and Mason
• God would give a sign (dream or vision) to Reed, Karl, and other COA students. Pray they would accept Christ soon.
• Many of our COA students are very stressed because of the conflict in the Middle East. Pray that they would look to Jesus, come to know Him, and receive His peace.

Students of the world are reaching students of the world.

Chibuike is an international student from Nigeria involved with Bridges. He attends the University of Texas here in Austin and has gotten to know our family (pictured above, right). This summer, he went on a Bridges mission trip to the World Expo in Japan. He and his team (middle left picture) met people from the world over and shared the gospel with them.

Chibuike had a long conversation with Hitoshi one day (middle right picture). Hitoshi had just finished college and starting in the business world. Like most people in Japan, Hitoshi had never heard the gospel or even met a Christian. Chibuike patiently explained the entire gospel while Hitoshi listened attentively. Perhaps it was Hitoshi’s new stage of life, perhaps the natural curiosity stirred by attending the World Expo, but he absorbed every word Chibuike said. The two men exchanged contact info and have kept in touch ever since. Please pray for Hitoshi to continue engaging with Chibuike and come to faith in Christ!

Jesus propelled Chibuike from Nigeria to the U.S. to Japan. International students come here for an education, but God sovereignly transforms them into missionaries to the nations. In our own ministry roles, we help students like Chibuike minister to students like Hitoshi. Naomi develops prayer support networks. Zack creates evangelistic media resources for students to utilize. Your consistent prayers and support help make all this happen. Thank you!

We were blessed to involve our children in ministry conferences and retreats this year. Annalei (19), Miah (16), Cassia (11), and Paxton (9) have fellowshipped with believers from around the globe, caught a vision for missions, and shared Christ with students.

As 2025 ends, we are trusting God for new endeavors in 2026, like developing new ministry tools for Japan, India, and the Arab world. We look forward to telling you about all that God does in the coming year. Merry Christmas!

Hill Country Fall Retreat

Imagine 310 students from 39 countries packing out a room in rural Texas. That was the scene at our ministry’s Hill Country Fall Retreat. We had the highest number of students ever attend. This was largely due to a huge influx of students from South Asia––the majority of which were seekers.

(Pictured below: Students attending the evening main session where they clearly heard the gospel.)

We also had a greater amount of spiritual warfare than ever before. As I (Naomi) led the prayer team for HCFR, it was clear there is a spiritual battle for the souls of these students.

Family Effort

We are so thankful to have our kids involved in ministering to internationals. Cassia and Paxton enjoyed playing games and interacting with the students, and the students loved talking with them (righthand header picture). Students who I never got to meet said hello to Paxton.

Annalei joined the retreat as a student and brought her friend, Aida, with her. Aida had never experienced anything like a Bridges event and was so excited to meet students from all over the world. Both girls spoke truth into their discussion group, which was a mix of seekers and believers. Aida shared the gospel with a South Asian student, “Susie,” in the craft room (picture below, right). It was Aida’s first time to share the gospel cross-culturally.

Miah joined a discussion group led by a student from UT, who said, “It’s my great pleasure to know Miah, and she made great contributions to the table.” The final talk was on the topic of Jesus’ divinity. During discussion time, Miah shared the gospel with her group! One South Asian student, “Judy,” thought very deeply about what Miah shared. On the whole, our family made great connections with students from UT.

The Lord opened a door for me (Naomi) to have a spiritual conversation with a South Asian, “Debbie,” in the craft room (lefthand header picture, center). She is very open and said she was exploring Christianity. I also met her best friend, “Mary,” who is a new believer. The staff from her campus said “She’s on fire! She invites [South Asians] all the time to Bridges and loves praying for people.”

Knee Injury

Unfortunately, Zack couldn’t make it to the retreat. A week prior, he tore his PCL while coaching Paxton’s baseball team. We are praising God that his knee does not require surgery, but this injury has been painful and has limited his ability to drive and walk. Please pray for quick healing for Zack.

Praise Reports

• 148 Seekers and 162 Believers were engaged in spiritual discussions at the HCFR.
• The gospel was proclaimed clearly to the seekers by Bridges staff and Christian students like Aida and Miah.
• Mary is a new believer, and her friend Debbie is very open.

Prayer Requests

• God would bring South Asians like Susie, Judy, and Debbie into His kingdom
• We could build relationships with the UT students we met.
• Quick healing of Zack’s torn PCL, and an extra measure of strength for Naomi in this season.

Milwaukee Cru25 Conference

Naomi and I (Zack) took the kids to Milwaukee this summer to join thousands of other Cru staff. It was a time of worship (header, left), fellowship, and refueling for the mission God has given us. I got to meet all of my new coworkers in the Digital Strategies department of Jesus Film (header, right), Cru’s online media ministry. I’m so honored to work alongside these amazing missionaries! We were very encouraged by the emphasis on Cru’s historic calling…to help the body of Christ fulfill the Great Commission by winning people to Christ, building them in their faith, and sending them to the nations.

Pictured below: Cassia and Paxton try on VR headsets. One of my recent projects was to help launch Jesus Film’s ministry to VR worlds. We are sending missionaries to people who you would probably never even meet in person, because they live the majority of their lives online. The kids got to see a short video I wrote that explains how this digital ministry works.

I (Naomi) was especially encouraged by the Campus Ministry’s emphasis on prayer. We heard prayer testimonies, and surrendered ourselves and our ministry to Christ. It was powerful. The Campus Executive team decided to initiate a 40 day, 24-hour prayer chain. I have been participating daily, as well as joining with my Bridges Prayer Team to pray. Prayer always precedes revival.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence we are seeing an unprecedented spiritual openness among young people right now in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. I pray that Cru would make the most of every opportunity to proclaim the gospel in this season. We have watched so many testimonies of Gen Z’ers who went to church for the first time recently.

Dreams and Visions of Jesus

For three years I (Zack) have been quietly working on a media project for Cru, and it just crossed a major threshold. The big idea is to portray the true stories of people who came to Christ after having a supernatural dream about him. It’s set in a fictional story world where dreams, technology, and the spiritual world collide. We’re calling it Dream Master.

My leadership within Jesus Film just approved the next phase of development, so we’re moving fast now. I will be spending this week with an expert on Middle Eastern culture to work on the scripts. Originally planned as an audio drama, we will be developing this story into an animated series.

UPCOMING

Our family with join Bridges staff and hundreds of international students for the Hill Country Fall Retreat (HCFR) from October 10-12.

PRAISE REPORTS

• Cru25 was an incredibly encouraging conference.
• Zack received approval to move forward with Dream Master.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Incredible fruit on campus from the 40 days of prayer.
• God would bring revival to campuses across America.
• Spiritual protection over the Dream Master project.
• God’s blessing over Zack’s focused week of script writing.
• Every Seeker who attends HCFR would leave with a clear understanding of the gospel, and many would come to Christ.
• Every Believer at HCFR would share their faith.