Our Ministry Leaders

Josh Newell has served with Jesus Film Project for 26 years. He first joined the organization in 1998, and one year later began traveling the world as part of the JESUS film short-term recording team producing new language versions of the 1979 film. This work took him to 35 countries. 

In 2013, after receiving his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, Josh served as director of the Marketing and Communications team, a position he held for five years. He recruited a team that launched a fresh brand strategy, positioning the organization as a media ministry for the 21st century. In 2017, Josh added co-leadership of the U.S. Strategy team to his responsibilities, working with the team to explore the use of new film content in social media. In 2018 he became the organization’s executive director.

Josh is passionate about changing the world through building partnership, casting vision, and developing strategies that work in diverse contexts. He combines his passion and skills in an effort to help amplify the message of Christ’s love across the globe.

Josh is a writer, keynote speaker, a husband and father.

Deborah is a graduate of the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics. She joined staff mid-career after spending 20 years in corporate America in the employee benefits insurance industry. Deborah has a desire to see people everywhere receive the message of Christ in a way they understand. She served as a trip leader with Jesus Film Project Mission Trips® for six years before stepping into her role as chief of staff.

When Deborah is not traveling internationally to share her faith, you will find her with family and friends on Florida’s northeast coast enjoying the Spanish colonial architecture of Saint Augustine.

Tom joined Jesus Film Project in 1997. Previously, he worked as a civilian engineer and project manager for the United States Department of the Navy. With Jesus Film Project, Tom served as the partnership coordinator and leader of the Language Production department prior to taking the role of COO in 2010. He graduated from Michigan State University, class of ’82, with a degree in materials science engineering. He considers it a privilege to serve with Jesus Film Project and to play a small part in reaching everyone, everywhere.

He and his wife, Julie, have three grown children and six grandchildren.

Theresa Steen met Christ as a sophomore at Penn State University, thanks to a student sharing the Four Spiritual Laws with her and the faithful outreach of both Cru and The Navigator ministries on campus. After earning her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Penn State, Theresa began her career at Deloitte in New York City. Five years later, God unexpectedly led her to leave the corporate world to join The Navigators ministry as a Collegiate field staff member. Over the next 16 years, she served faithfully in various full and part-time roles with The Navigators, helping guide college students and adults in their spiritual growth. Alongside her ministry career, she also continued her finance career, serving in various accounting and financial roles with non-profit and for-profit organizations.

Theresa brought her expertise in finance to Cru in 2019, joining as a divisional CFO for two other Cru ministries. In January 2024, she stepped into her current role as CFO for Jesus Film Project, bringing both her professional background and deep commitment to ministry. 

She is also a CPA licensed in four states and serves on the board of directors for The Navigators. Theresa and her husband, Matt, live in Orlando, where they enjoy serving together in their local community and going on adventures with their greyhound, Nellie.

Matt surrendered his life to Jesus Christ after God spoke to him at a Grateful Dead concert in 1993. Since then, his heart has been for all people to have a chance to experience the gospel of God’s grace, which has so radically transformed his life.

After graduating from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 2000, Matt joined Cru as a staff member. He worked in the campus ministry, first serving in Colorado Springs, then leading a team at the University of Missouri, and eventually providing leadership to a seven-state region. In 2014 he answered the call to serve as the director of Development for Jesus Film Project, where he works to help men and women cultivate hearts of biblical generosity and leads efforts to fund the vision God has given Jesus Film Project.

Matt and his wife, Liz, live in Orlando, Florida, with their children, Levi and Lexi.

In 1998, at her first Cru Winter Conference, Kari stood to her feet as Bill Bright laid out a challenge inviting students to fully surrender their lives to Christ. Though she had no idea what that meant at the time, it launched her toward a life of connecting others to Jesus.

Kari spent 15 years with Cru’s campus ministry, leading teams in Texas and Oklahoma, but it was her time in Ethiopia that shaped her heart for the world. Gripped by a desire to reach the unreached, she spent five years as a Global Missions Director before joining Jesus Film Project in 2017.

Kari’s love for connecting the body of Christ to kingdom resources along with her experience serving in Global Partnerships, Global Expansion, and Digital Strategies naturally led to her current role as Director of Global Expansion. She brings two decades of experience to her role and a passion for seeing the Great Commission fulfilled.

When she isn’t on a plane, she enjoys hosting others in her Atlanta home. You might stop by for a bowl of jambalaya but you’ll stay for a life-giving dose of southern hospitality.

Chelsea has been a staff member with Cru since 2010, beginning her journey in the campus ministry in Omaha, Nebraska. There, she focused on discipling young women, engaging in evangelism, and co-leading two summer missions.

In 2017, Chelsea transitioned to Jesus Film Project, where she played a key role in developing a robust recruiting framework for the ministry. Over the years, her leadership responsibilities have expanded to encompass team leadership, change management, staff and leadership development and collaboration with human resource partners. In 2022, she earned her master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Townsend Institute in Irvine, CA.

Chelsea is deeply passionate about holistic staff health and ensuring that leaders remain engaged in the Great Commission for the long term. Outside of her professional life, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Lee, and their three sons, along with their dog, Shiloh. In her free time, Chelsea also loves connecting with friends and family, reading, exercising and enjoying the beach.

Miheret has served as the senior digital strategist for the Global Alliance for Church Multiplication (GACX), focusing on pioneering evangelism and church planting in the metaverse. Prior to that, he was part of Cru’s Global Digital Strategies team. He also served with Cru in Ethiopia for eight years, leading Southern and Eastern African countries in digital strategies. Leveraging his degree in computer science, a master’s degree in transformational leadership, and a master’s degree in business administration, Miheret seeks to use innovative strategies to make Jesus known.

Miheret and his wife, Stephanie, have one son, Yoseph. They live in Florida.

Gabe has a passion for seeing how the intersection of faith, technology and media can open new doors for people to learn of Jesus’ love for them. Before joining Jesus Film Project, Gabe earned his degree in computer science and worked for several years in the marketplace with various technologies. Since then, he has helped modernize the ministry’s digital technology offerings and continues to look for opportunities where technology can help accelerate the completion of the Great Commission.

Gabe lives in Orlando with his wife, Emily, and their three children.

Eric and his wife, Allison, joined Jesus Film in 2002. He leads the Global Mobilization department, responsible for global equipment distribution, training partners and Cru staff on how to strategically utilize Jesus Film resources, leading mission trips, and mobilizing prayer for Jesus Film.

Prior to his current role, Eric led the production of several of our resources such as Rivka, Walking with Jesus, and Following Jesus.

He and Allison live in Orlando and have two sons Joshua, 15 and Gabriel, 14.

Chris came to Christ through Cru his freshman year at Virginia Tech. But it was during grad school that he felt a tug on his heart to reach the nations––specifically those who have never heard the gospel. After learning about the JESUS film at a Christmas conference, Chris decided to use his computer mapping degree to map out the trajectory of the gospel in unreached places for Jesus Film Project and other ministries, like Finishing the Task and StoryRunners®. Chris has been on staff with Jesus Film Project since 1994, but he’s worked directly with the Script Translation Strategies team since 2013. Prior to directing the Language Strategies team, Chris also led the Translation team.

Today Chris continues to be thrilled by Jesus Film Project’s vision. He’s committed to helping provide ministry leaders with JESUS and other gospel-centered tools that are contextually relatable and in their heart languages.

Chris is married to Kristin and they live in Orlando, Florida. They have three children.

Richard began his tenure with Cru in campus ministry, serving first in Poland and later in the U.S. at Marshall University as its campus director. He also served on the WSN regional and national team for 20 years. WSN, or Worldwide Student Network is the strategic international sending arm of Cru. It’s known today as Global. 

Richard transitioned from Cru to Christian Leadership Concepts where he served as the Atlanta city director for seven years. He then served as Global Outreach Pastor and on the Executive Team at North Metro Church in Marietta, Georgia, for six years. 

Richard returned to Cru in 2020, and currently serves as Jesus Film Project’s North America/Oceania (NAO) Regional Strategy Leader. His responsibilities include spearheading strategy with the NAO Core Team and contributing to both the executive team and the NAO Global Roundtable as he passionately pursues engagement with partners reaching diaspora populations in NAO. 

Richard resides with his wife, Victoria, in Marietta, Georgia. Together, they are grandparents to two grandchildren through their two adult daughters.

John left his hometown of Belfast to join Campus Crusade for Christ in Dublin, Ireland, in 1987. But he has spent the greater part of his ministry career in Africa, helping launch Campus Crusade in Namibia for a decade and adventuring in Malawi during a five-year stint as a high school teacher with Agapè Movement. When Europe called, John returned with his family to launch Campus Crusade in Copenhagen. Over the course of several years, he also took the helm as director to Western Europe’s Digital Strategies team and Student-Led Movements (SLM). He also served as national campus director for Campus Crusade in the U.K. John joined Jesus Film Project in 2021, sensing God’s fingerprints all over his role. He believes Jesus Film Project’s resources provide the best platform for Europeans to share the gospel in the region.

Today John lives in Birmingham, England, with his wife, Ruth. They have four grown daughters and five grandchildren. On the weekends you can find him taking a morning run, enjoying a leisurely afternoon brunch with his wife and spending time with his grandchildren.

Michael first learned about Campus Crusade for Christ in 1998, during his first year of university. He joined its staff in 2004, serving with Student-Led Movements (SLM). Five years later, Michael married his wife, Sarah, and a year later, in 2010, they began with Global Church Movements (GCM) in Cairo. Michael also served on the national Egyptian GCM team until 2021. He credits his decision to come on board as a Jesus Film Project regional leader in 2021 to the ministry’s call to help everyone see Jesus. It’s a vision and mission near and dear to his heart.

Michael enjoys shaping young pastors, coaching them to become effective leaders. Michael and Sarah have two children, Pearly and Kareem.

*This staff member serves in sensitive contexts. His last name is omitted for security purposes.

Pedro is originally from Peru, but his time away at college in Argentina proved the most influential of his life. That’s where he met Christ in 1991 and got involved with Campus Crusade for Christ. From that moment on he’s never stopped serving with Campus Crusade, participating in multiple mission trips around the world and leading students at youth camps. Pedro met and married his wife at a youth camp. The year they married, 2001, Pedro came on staff with Cru Argentina (as Campus Crusade is known there). The pair became missionaries to the country, coordinating missional projects to Argentina’s northern region and along its coastline. They also led ministry teams with Student-Led Movements (SLM) until 2014. Pedro has since served as a leader for ministry strategies in Argentina and the Latin American region with Global Church Movements (GCM).

Pedro is thrilled to take part in Jesus Film Project’s mission to reach every nation with the gospel in their heart language and communicate this powerful message in a relevant way across urban, rural and digital contexts. He’s passionate about taking the story of Jesus to “missional gaps,” where the message of the gospel has yet to go.

Pedro lives with his wife and two sons in Santa Fe, Argentina.

David hails from Mbale, Uganda. Having just completed college in 1990, he learned through his local church that LIFE Ministry Uganda—as Campus Crusade for Christ is known in the country—was recruiting Jesus Film Project team members. He joined the team and served with them until 1996. That year, shortly after their wedding, David and his wife, Sarah, joined full-time missionary work with LIFE Ministry Uganda.

Throughout his ministry career David has worked as coordinator and director of Operations for LIFE Ministry Uganda’s Finance and Administration department and internal auditor and Jesus Film Project representative for the ministry in the Southern and Eastern Africa region. In the past he’s held the role of Student-Led Movements (SLM) team leader and today leads LIFE Ministry Uganda as its national director.

David’s favorite ministry memory is from 1998, when he led a mission team of 50 people into Northern Uganda with Jesus Film Project equipment sets at the peak of the country’s civil war. For two weeks the team lived in squalid conditions, but their hearts were excited to share their faith in Christ. The project went on for over two years under David’s leadership. David loves that the JESUS film gives an African the opportunity to hear Jesus’ message in their heart language.

Today David calls Kampala, Uganda, home. He regularly partners in ministry with his wife, Sarah, with whom he shares three adult children. He likes farming, solitude, reading and spending time with young people as he believes that through them the Lord will give us great leaders for tomorrow. David and Sarah are passionate about strategy, mobilizing, equipping and resourcing the body of Christ for evangelism, discipleship and church planting.

Kyungsoo has led the Digital Strategies team in Korea Campus Crusade for Christ since 2011. But he’s also served abroad in the United States. He thinks fondly of his one-year stint at Campus Crusade World Headquarters in Orlando, Florida—especially the life-long friendships he forged with his trainers and co-laborers in Christ. A graduate of New York Film Academy, Kyungsoo values the ability to create contextualized short films through Jesus Film Project. He counts it a blessing to apply new strategies locally using Jesus Film Project resources.

Kyungsoo lives in Seoul, Korea, with his wife, Kyungwon.

Anupam was introduced to Cru at the age of 13 while accompanying his parents to EXPLO 85, a Cru conference. But he came to know Jesus personally in 1992 through Cru’s on-campus ministry. After completing his bachelor’s degree in 1994, Anupam became a staff member with India Campus Crusade for Christ. In his first year with the ministry, he worked as an intern at Jesus Film Project, helping write and gather stories and reports about JESUS film showings in eastern India. His diverse ministry experiences include working with students on college campuses and with professionals in the marketplace.

In 2008, Anupam took on the role of campus director for Eastern India under Campus Crusade, a role he held for three years. In 2011 he was asked to give leadership to East India ministries as an associate national director. He also gave leadership to Eastern India’s Leader Strategy from 2017 to 2021, at which point he took on his current role as regional leader for Jesus Film Project.

Anupam is married to Pramila, who serves alongside him as they raise their two children in Kolkata, India. She is a women and prayer strategy leader for their Jesus Film Project region. Anupam holds a master’s degree in biblical studies from the International Graduate School of Leadership in the Philippines. He loves listening to music, traveling, and watching inspirational movies based on true events. On weekends he enjoys spending time with his family, playing games and watching movies.