Jody Hanford
Ministry Focus
Campus Crusade for Christ - Evangelism training, evangelism strategy development for university campus ministers and students nationally.
Personal Journey - Call to Christ
Can someone find the Lord in a fraternity house? I did. In college I had been searching for 4 years for answers to life. I looked happy on the outside but was very sad on the inside. My fraternity dorm had a room open so we put it up for rent. Two students saw that as a ministry opportunity and moved in just to try to reach us with the gospel! That meant less sleep and study time for them. I was the only one who came to their Bible study more than once and I began to feel hope in my heart that this was what I had been looking for. After six months, I trusted Christ as my Savior, just before I graduated!
That has given me a heart for college students. I know that they are searching, and I know that reaching college students with the gospel is a huge key to our nation’s future.
Call to Missions Service
As a businessman in Jacksonville, I kept feeling that regarding my work, I belonged in another role. It was like I was not doing what I was created for. While at CFC and hearing a lot of great teaching and seeing such missions emphasis, I heard my call. I became involved with a Campus Crusade for Christ ministry to businessmen called Here’s Life Jacksonville. I saw in the Campus Crusade guys’ lives what I wanted, to be a part of a ministry that would take the gospel to people, wherever they might be.
Fruits of Our Labor
Jody serves as a campus minister with Campus Crusade for Christ in Los Angeles. He develops personal evangelism techniques and strategies helping students and staff to better understand how to present Jesus Christ to others in a relevant and Biblical way. Three-minute slices of his training can be heard via webcasts at the website http://OverflowToday.com. Jody trains students and staff on university campuses, at large conferences, and in church settings. His evangelism training has just been chosen by Campus Crusade’s HQ web team to be featured permanently on its top national ministry website.For his first 5 years in California, his focus was to plant college campus ministries on campuses that currently have none. He has led evangelism and discipleship efforts on 7 area campuses. In that role he helped students start and lead ministries and strategically plan how to give every student a chance to say yes or no to Jesus Christ.
International - Jody has made 14 missions trips to Russia and Ukraine, one to Japan, and one to East Asia. In Russia his main mission has been to train Russian public school teachers in how to teach a Bible-based curriculum in their public schools, and helping teachers who have further spiritual interest learn how to have a personal faith in Jesus Christ.
Prayer Requests
- February through April Jody is releasing one evangelism training session per week for 12 straight weeks. That many students would go through the training and that much gospel telling would happen as a result. Our goal is for believers to feel freed up and empowered to offer Jesus Christ to others
- For intimacy in my walk with Christ
- For more fellowship. My circle of good friends has shrunk a little due to friends moving away, etc.
Support Needs
Presently at 100% support thanks to wonderful donors, some of whom give monthly, some annually, and some sporadically. My support address is:
Campus Crusade for Christ
Contributions Dept.
100 Lake Hart Dr.
Orlando, FL 3 2 8 3 2
Acct. # 0 4 0 9 4 2 4