Reaching Future World Leaders with the Gospel

By Phil Tatum

It seems fitting that a mission ministry born on a college campus 65 years ago is now a leader in the field of international campus work, with ambitious plans for the future.

Globalscope, a division of CMF International in Indianapolis, Indiana, began as a dream in the late 1990s when it was noticed that some of the best, brightest, and hardest-working REACH summer interns were coming from the Georgia Tech Christian Campus Fellowship (GTCCF). Naomi Kouns, a longtime CMF director, had the foresight to grasp the potential in this ministry, located in midtown Atlanta and headed by “a dreamer of big dreams,” campus minister Rick Harper.

Multiple partnership ideas were tossed around, but the concept of an international campus ministry plant alongside a church planting team in Mexico City is what got the wheels turning and the ball rolling. GTCCF would supply the personnel—recent Georgia Tech graduates who were interested in serving two to four years and launching new campus ministries—and CMF would supply the missions expertise and experience.

In the fall of 2000, CMF and a team of five Georgia Tech alumni launched El Oasis, the first Globalscope campus ministry, to reach out to students at three universities in Mexico City. Twelve exchange students went along for a semester to help with the launch. The exchange students were to take classes, live with Mexican families, meet students, and invite them to El Oasis. Soon the ministry exploded!

There was incredible numerical and spiritual growth, with students becoming curious about faith and seeking Jesus. The ministry reached students who had no interest in religion. The mission from the beginning was to be a bridge back to church for college students who were far from God. This success started CMF workers thinking about where else we could plant ministries.

Aggressive Expansion

In the next four years, four more ministries were started in Bangkok, Thailand; Santiago, Chile; Puebla, Mexico; and Salamanca, Spain. Regretfully, we learned that expansion was a bit too aggressive. Some of the new launches took priority and people away from Globalscope’s initial project in Mexico City.

We soon realized not every Globalscoper was in it for life. Many, if not most, served for one to two years, and then returned home to pursue a career or stateside ministry. So we learned some tough lessons, and unfortunately had to close the Mexico City ministry, which was a wake-up call for us.

Were we OK with planting several new ministries at the expense of existing ones? Our answer was (and still is) “no.”

So from 2006 to the present we opted for slower growth. We planted campus ministries in Birmingham, England, in 2007; Tübingen, Germany, in 2008; and Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2013. We have seen consistent growth in our fields and have remained faithful to our mission, and God has blessed that.

We are now entering an exciting time in the life of Globalscope. What started as a partnership between one campus ministry and one mission agency has grown far beyond that. We still have a significant number of Georgia Tech alumni serving with us, but right now, 54 percent of all staff members are not from that university. In addition, 18 percent of our staff are non-North Americans–mostly students discipled in our ministries who have chosen to intern, join the staff, or even to serve on other Globalscope teams. We had no idea back in the late 1990s just how international our international campus ministries would grow to be!

Bringing Young People to Christ

In the midst of this success, we are most thankful the Globalscope model is actually bringing young people to Christ. We are reaching Thai Buddhists, atheists in western Europe, and apathetic college students from all over the world with the gospel. One of my favorite stories describing our ministries is from Germany. At a citywide gathering of all the Evangelical ministers, Globalscope Germany, known as Unterwegs, had the opportunity to present to the entire group.

One of our staff members overheard a conversation before the event started; one minister asked another, “What is Unterwegs?”

The reply? “Oh, they are the Christian group on campus for non-Christians.” Amen to that! Globalscope exists to bring good news to college students who live in a dark world and who desperately need to hear the redemptive message of Jesus.

To support that mission, CMF plans to plant seven new international campus ministries in the next five years, doubling our number of ministries and the number of campus ministers serving with Globalscope overseas. We have countries and cities attached to these seven locations, and more importantly, we have new teams forming and plans for existing ministries to start new ministries in nearby cities. Several will be staffed by nationals, including Chileans, Mexicans, Spaniards, Filipinos, Germans, and Britons. Globalscope is poised for unprecedented growth in a field that is in great need of workers in the harvest: the university campuses of the world.

Our mission is to create Christ-centered communities among college students that transform not only the students’ lives, but also their campuses, cities, and the world. We believe the university is the crossroads of culture, business, politics, and education; it is the place where future world leaders in most fields will be trained. We want to have a voice and speak for the church to say that the Bible, faith, and Jesus are relevant to your life.

But we also believe we must earn the right to say those things. We believe when you start with relationship and acceptance, you are able to gain trust. Over time, we don’t have to seek out spiritual conversations with students who are involved in our ministries; conversations happen organically and with more frequency as the ministry grows and matures.

As we move into another phase of growth, we are partnering with campus ministries in Nebraska, New England, Illinois, and Missouri, in addition to the longtime partnerships we’ve had with GTCCF, Auburn Christian Fellowship, Georgia Southern CCF, and Point University. We are also looking for churches to partner with us to reach college students around the world. We wouldn’t be where we are today without churches like Southwest Christian Church, East Point, Georgia, which was a partner in planting both GTCCF and Globalscope, and Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, which is a partner with our ministry in Chile.

These are God-sized dreams. Where will Globalscope be in another five years? Stay tuned for an exhilarating journey!

Phil Tatum serves as director of Globalscope at CMF International, Indianapolis, Indiana.

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How We Do International Ministry

Campus ministries at international universities are much rarer than similar ministries in the United States, but CMF International is not the only group that uses them to reach out to young people. The Globalscope Steering Committee recently defined the unique qualities that have contributed to its success:

Team approach—We believe a team is more than the sum of its parts. When every member of a team “buys in” to the vision of the ministry, and everyone is laser-focused on those long-term goals, we see our efforts multiplied.

Hospitality—We believe creating a welcoming environment for college students and a safe space where they are immediately accepted, loved, and invited in is part of what makes Globalscope distinct. These qualities can be found in each of our current ministries.

Grace-driven ministry—We believe exemplifying grace first is the way to get to openness and vulnerability. We then offer truth, followed by transformation through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Discipleship through leadership—We believe very strongly in the Celtic Way of Evangelism, which says, “You have to belong before you believe.” We lower the bar on what it means to be a part of the community, but raise the bar on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

—P.T