But, no, Robert had been involved with Campus House at Georgia Tech, a Christian-based organization that ministered to students at the University. He decided to defer his leap into the business world for one year, while serving as one of the Campus House leaders. After this year, he decided to continue with Campus House. (He hated to give up playing on the Campus House Flag Football Team where he was living out his fantases as an NFL Wide Receiver.)

During this second year he became aware of an organization based out of Indianapolis, Indiana, called GlobalScope, that had missions across the world. The mission of Globalscope is to transform the world's university students through authentic and relevant campus ministry. Each Globalscope ministry is a place where everyone is made welcome and is free to ask hard questions about life and faith while experiencing Christian community.

At this time GlobalScope was looking to open a campus ministry at the University of Birmingham in Birmingham, England. Now many of you reading this will probably think of countries such as in Africa when addressing the subject of overseas ministries, but the fact is that England has become a nation largely unchurched, so campus ministries are actually needed there.

To establish this campus ministry, where none currently existed, Robert, and some other students made visits to England with the objective of finding a location from which they could deliver their ministry, and this would obviously require finding a place near the university. Unfortunately, their early efforts were unsuccessful, and they found themselves embarking upon the mission without a campus ministry location. So without a location Robert and Natalie and their GlobalScope associates did lots of prayer walks around campus, met with local churches, and made friends/built relationships with students.

During this time, Robert became closer to Natalie, a great member of his GlobalScope team, who came from Georgia Southern University, and their relationship deepened with them marrying in June 2008 in Fayetteville, Georgia.

Two months after marrying, they were back in Birmingham, and still trying to find a location. One Sunday they decided to attend the service at a nearby church. The church they picked that day was Tiverton Church. And they found themselves in a sanctuary that might have seated 150 people but only had around eight parishioners there for the service, not the GlobalScope missionaries.

Robert and his student friends thought that this church was in a good location from which to begin a Wednesday night campus ministry. It turned out that one of the British students that Robert and his friends had met knew one of the elders of the Tiverton church, and shortly thereafter Robert and his crew found themselves at a meeting with church elders to present their case to have the church allow them to use its facilities for Wednesday night Campus Ministry activities.

In preparation for this meeting, the GlobalScope crew made an eight page pamphlet that described whom they were, and what they wanted to accomplish; and it was provided in advance to the elders. About 30 minutes into their session the Senior Elder indicated that he needed no more presentation. At that point Robert and his friends thought they had stuck out. But to their surprise the Elder explained that the elders had reviewed the information presented by Robert on behalf of GlobalScope, and decided that a GlobalScope ministry at Tiverton Church was something that should be fully endorsed, and that the elders were willing to lease the church and all its facilities. GlobalScope was just to pay the monthly rent, which was more than reasonable.

And with that, the GlobalScope Mission at the University of Birmingham was underway! Surely the students happening to pick Tiverton Church for a Sunday service, finding a student who knew an elder, and having the elders essentially turn the entire property over to GlobalScope, had to be with God's blessing.

It turned out that the property included not only the sanctuary, but a large kitchen, and a very large meeting room, as well as connected buildings that had space for an office and rooms for interns who would be visiting the property. Natalie came up with a name for the ministry: Canvas. To attract students initially they set up free coffee just outside the church for students going and coming from classes.

Canvas was hugely successful, drawing such a number of students to its weekly Bible studies that would make any religious-based campus house at any US university highly envious. But Robert and Natalie had decided that while they could be fully dedicated to GlobalScope in England, this would be simply a Godly commission with a limited duration. So after four highly successful years, they returned to the United States, leaving Canvas in good hands and with numerous achievements well-worthy of emulation.

Blessings to Robert, Natalie, and their fellow missionaries for a job well done!