Meet Jeremy, Our First Associate Director!
I have not always been an Anglican, but my heartbeat has been connected to the Nations ever since I can remember. As a teenager, I made a faith pledge to God: Go anywhere, Do anything, Speak to anyone, Give anything I have to make Jesus known. God really took me up on that commitment, and my escapades for Jesus commenced.
I will start my story where most other missionaries begin theirs: in university. I was a student at East Tennessee State University. While I was formally studying History and English, I was really majoring in ministry. As a student, I was active in Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru). It was through Cru that I went on my first overseas mission. It was a cold, snowy day when we arrived in Russia that last day of May. Yes, you read that correctly, it was snowing in May, and for this southern boy, I was shocked! Yet still happy to be there. It was on that six-week mission trip that I met someone for the first time who had honestly never heard of Jesus. This broke my heart, and I came back to the USA with a new mission—take Jesus back and make Him known to everyone I could.
Once I graduated, I set off as a newly commissioned missionary with Campus Crusade to make Jesus known to the students of the world. I landed in Central Asia for my first assignment. I had wanted to go to a Russian-speaking people. Still, I had not considered living in a place with a majority population of one of the top 3 religions outside of Christianity (for the sake of security, I will let your imagination wander there for a brief minute). God used that season of my life to begin readying me for future work—continuing to call me to make Jesus known all around the world.
I was later transferred to Paris, France, then to Texas (when I met my wife, Meredith, a native Texan). While in Texas, we began to prepare our hearts and ask the Lord to send us back overseas to serve. During that time, we became parishioners at Christ Church of Austin, and it was from there, the Lord began to weave the Anglican Way into our journeys. Meredith and I moved to Lisbon, Portugal in 2015 to work with students. During the four years we lived in Portugal, we helped launch new initiatives with Cru and with our local parish (St. George’s of Lisbon).
While at St. George’s, my priest challenged me to consider Holy Orders, and after discerning this call, our family returned to the USA to finish my seminary degree. I have often wondered how the Lord would use my previous experiences throughout my discernment process, as He was literally changing my gears for ministry. In late 2020, I sensed the Lord calling me to again surrender to his call and say, do, give, go anywhere. To that end, I opened my hands and heart to God and said “yes.” A few months later, in July of 2021, I saw a job advert by New Wineskins Missionary Network asking for an Associate Director. Now here I am serving with New Wineskins, and it is a blessing to see how God has woven my missionary call to a ministry that has the mission to mobilize the church to cross-cultural ministry.
A couple of last things: I live and work out of Austin, Texas. My family consists of Meredith, my wife, our kids, Jeremiah Dieter (3) and Liesl Anne (19 months), and our dog, Otis Campbell. I am a foodie, and love trying to cook delicacies, as well as savoring them. I am an avid soccer/football fan.
I would love to connect with you, so feel free to send me an email.
Let’s Make Jesus Known Together,
Jeremy