It can get lonely.

I have worked in an office with others for most of my life.  As a pastor, I always had other staff members in the office.  In Africa and Outreach Canada, I worked in an office with others.  Even when the pandemic hit, and we had to close the office, we still had a few people around to do essential jobs.  I worked with other people for thirty years, but I have been working from home alone for the last year and a half. 

I have a lovely office here with all I need to communicate with the world and stay on top of my various projects.  My faithful labradors are often found under my desk or my feet.  I have a window to the backyard and glass doors to a little balcony overlooking our living room.  Today, my walls are covered with Post-it posters and notes from last week’s North American Forum.  I like my office, and Heather has helped make it a comfortable workplace, but I have missed having a team.

Last year, one of my main objectives was forming a Collaboration Hub team.  I started with a few volunteers who helped with specific projects, but as I reached the end of 2024, I can gladly say I have a team now!  I now have four volunteers and two part-time team members helping make the Collaboration Hub an actual service hub for our Mobilization Centers around the world.  When we started this project, we knew it was too much work for one person, but now we can respond to more opportunities and create more value for our partners.

Allow me to introduce you to the team.

I am Craig Kraft, the Director for Global Collaboration and the leader of the Collaboration Hub Team.  I served the Lord as a pastor in Canada for 15 years before joining Outreach Canada and being sent as an international worker to our OC Africa team.  I spent three incredible years in Africa, helping develop leaders and resources for church health and revitalization.  In 2008, my wife Heather and I returned to Canada with our four boys, and I became the Executive Director of Outreach Canada, where I served until I took this assignment in 2023.

Russ Mitchel works part-time with the Collaboration Hub team and part-time as an adjunct professor at Taylor University in Indiana.  Russ is an ordained minister with over thirty years of ministry experience and twenty years of cross-cultural work.  He served as the leader of our ministry team in Romania and has worked for several years in leadership development for One Challenge USA.  Russ joined the Collaboration Hub team to serve as a collaboration strategist.  He brings a wealth of experience in research, leadership, and training.  He is working on the program for our Biennial Conference in Guatemala in May.

David Bulger is our other part-time team member who shares his time between us and One Challenge USA, where he is the former Vice President of Fields. David is a strategic thinker who has led ministries in the USA and Africa and is the Field Director for our American workers in Latin America. He is also a skilled facilitator, leading our strategic vision renewal process for our OC Global Alliance this year.

Paulo Moriera joins us from Brazil. He has decades of leadership experience and cross-cultural missionary work experience in Latin America and Europe. Paulo recently concluded his term as the board president for our SEPAL Brazil partner, and he is the OC Global Alliance Guidance Team moderator. Paulo serves our team as a Latin America Liaison. We are blessed with his linguistic and cultural understanding of this amazing region.

Tony Ford is the Board Chairman of One Challenge UK. He has spent his lifetime serving with FEBA and OC, including a decade of leadership in our Global Alliance. He currently serves as our Communications Associate and is the Editor of our internal OCGA Communique.

Rahn Strickler has also spent his life working with OC.  He and Stephanie served in several of our fields in Asia, and I have lost track of how many of our boards he has served on.  Rahn devotes his time to diaspora ministry and has helped form an OC Diaspora Ministry Network, which he oversees.

Phil Cox worked in the tech sector for many years before joining Outreach Canada.  Phil turned his knowledge and expertise toward helping Outreach Canada and the OC Global Alliance harness the latest and most useful technologies to serve our teams and partners.  Phil is our IT Associate.

I am so grateful to have a team now.  We all live in different parts of the world but can connect virtually.  These guys are also helping to reduce my travel schedule and will be great resources for our teams.  We will continue to add to our team, but God has blessed us with a great start.