Josh Newell: Executive Director

Josh brings a range of experience to the role of executive director of Jesus Film Project. Shortly after graduating from Indiana University, he and his wife, Holly, joined staff with Campus Crusade for Christ® as part of the first JESUS film short-term recording team. Through that experience, they developed a heart for the Muslim world, and worked with Bible translation partners in the Middle East to translate new versions of the JESUS film.

After moving their family to serve in the North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia area, Josh began to lead the Global Church Movements (GCM) for Campus Crusade. Simultaneously, Josh helped to launch two leadership teams to more effectively serve the 30 countries in the area, then served as director of Leadership Development for North Africa and the Middle East.

In 2013 Josh received his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and joined Jesus Film Project as director of Marketing Communications and U.S. Strategy.

He and Holly have four children.

Deborah Andree: Chief of Staff

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 Meiner: Chief Operating Officer

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.

Kevin Camilli: Chief Financial Officer

Kevin Camilli has served as the CFO for the Jesus Film Project since February 2020. He has served as a ministry CFO for many Cru® ministries since 2010. Prior to that, he served as director of Accounting and in various project roles in Cru. He also served as CFO for Christian Care from 2005 to 2007. He joined Cru in 2001 after serving in the marketplace in finance and accounting roles in Citicorp and related public companies as well as private equity ventures.

Kevin graduated from the University of Richmond in 1986, majoring in finance and economics, and from Fordham University in 1991 with an MBA. Kevin became a follower of Jesus in 1990, and his life was forever changed. He and his wife, Emily, have five children: Michael, Abigail, Hannah Kate, Andrew, and Caroline, and two grandchildren, Emily and Claire.

Matt Thiessen: Director of Development

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.

Keith Bubalo: Director of Global Expansion

Keith has been a ministry strategy leader and mission mobilizer with Cru since 1979. He led local campus ministries at the University of Pennsylvania and Michigan State University for 13 years. He also helped launch new campus ministries in East Asia, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Europe through sending students on a variety of short- and long-term mission trips. As the director of Cru’s Campus Global Missions efforts, he has been involved in sending thousands of students to serve Christ around the world for more than 20 years.

He is now focused on the goal of planting 5 million churches among those who have the least access to the gospel, using Jesus Film Project resources in partnership with the body of Christ.

Keith is married to Kim, and they have two children and four grandchildren. He is the author of “Go Do Say Give: The Freedom and Fruitfulness of Surrender to Jesus.”

Kim Bubalo: Director of Global Expansion

Kim’s passion, since her involvement with Cru as a student at the University of Missouri, has been to see lives changed by Jesus. She led a variety of local campus ministry initiatives with Cru for 17 years at the University of Pennsylvania and Michigan State University. For the next two decades, she helped in Cru’s global effort to send thousands of students to more than 80 countries.

In 2017, Kim joined Jesus Film Project to bring focus to global strategies that reach out to those with the least access to the gospel. She is the director of the Global Expansion team, which collaborates with the body of Christ to develop and implement effective evangelism and church-planting strategies around the world using Jesus Film Project resources.

Kim graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in medical dietetics. She and her husband, Keith, have two children and four grandchildren.

Nick DeCola: Director of Human Resources

Nick started ​with the​ Campus Ministry ​of Cru at Syracuse University in 1985. Since 2001 he’s served at Cru’s headquarters in Orlando in a variety of Leadership Development/Human Resource roles. He enthusiastically joined the Jesus Film Project team in 2017​.  His driving passion is to see people assimilate the gospel into their own lives and be empowered to live out of their God-given calling in building Jesus’ kingdom.

Nick and his wife, Debbi, have four sons, two of whom are married. They have one grandson. Nick enjoys playing all kinds of sports with his family, including pickleball, golf, disc golf and spikeball.

Gabe Handy: Director of Digital Strategies

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.

Jamie Wagner: Director of Global Mobilization

Jamie got involved with Cru in college at the University of Missouri. Upon graduating, she and her husband, Ryan, joined as campus staff at Mizzou in 2006.

Jamie served with the campus ministry of Cru for eight years before coming to Jesus Film Project in 2014. Jamie helped lead Jesus Film Project’s rebranding efforts in 2015, served as the director for U.S. Strategy from 2017 to 2019, and served as the director of Global Mobilization from 2019 to 2021, for which she led Jesus Film Project’s equipment and training efforts around the world. Jamie is currently working on her Master of Arts in Global Evangelism and Organizational Leadership through Wheaton College.

Jamie has three children and enjoys serving with her husband, Ryan, the associate director of Digital Strategies for Jesus Film Project.

Chris Deckert: Director of Language Strategies

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.

John McNeill: Europe Regional Leader

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*: North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia Regional Leader

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 Pinto: Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Leader

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 Wataba: Africa Regional Leader

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 Oh: East Asia Regional Leader

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 Nayak: Southeast Asia and South Asia Regional Leader

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.