15 MINUTES WITH
Suse
This is the 30th edition of
Resonate (insert party popper
sound here!).
When Resonate posted, Justin
Timberlake was at the top of the
charts, Google was only 8 years
old, North Korea was claiming
to have tested their first nuclear
bomb and poor Pluto had just
been demoted to a dwarf planet.
So, in celebration of this
momentous milestone we take
a walk down memory lane and
spend 15 minutes with someone
who was there at Resonate’s
inception. We sit down with
Suse Campbell, a Global Interaction
icon, to give us a behind the
scenes look at the beginning of
our favourite magazine.
Why develop a magazine for
young adults all about mission?
Back in ’05 when social media was in
nappies and most mission mags gave
off a crusty, old-school vibe, Resonate
arrived in mailboxes (postal variety) to
give young adult readers a refreshing
take on cross-cultural mission. Real
people. Real stories.
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Age
20 something
What was it like to get
Resonate off the ground? What’s your most
memorable article and why?
We pitched the magazine to 18-25yr
olds but soon found that oldies also
lapped it up. While it was great to
spread the love, a few people didn’t
quite get the tone. Yes, there was a
complaint letter (postal variety) about
seeing ‘fart’ in print. Ah so many favs, don’t make me choose!
The four-part series on the ‘Dummies
Guide’ to discerning a call to mission
is chock full of good advice. And my
torn‑out Cambodian Ginger Salmon
recipe (Issue 7) became so sauce-stained,
I’m glad it made it into the Resonate-
inspired Global Interaction cookbook.
What’s changed in the mission scene
since the beginning of Resonate?
Screens! There are now more ways
to connect with real mission stories.
Blogs, podcasts, webinars and eBooks
are great. (I might be old school, but I
still like flicking the pages of Resonate
while eating my breaky.)
Best feedback or response you
ever received from a reader.
I love to hear that some cross-cultural
workers are on the field today because
they were challenged by reading
Resonate!
Resonate gives pastors ideas of mission
topics to chat about. I pray it helps a
young adult keep the flickering flame
of interest burning a few years after a
Global Xposure trip. It just might give
a pew-sitter a defibrillator-like jolt of
inspiration. But mostly, I hope it plays a
small part in getting more people to join
Global Interaction teams. It’s only when
people go that we can hope to delete
the ‘least’ bit of the least-reached.
The Wins and Challenges of serving cross-culturally at different ages and stages.*
30 and 40 something
The Wins
What role do you think Resonate
plays in the mission scene today?
50 something
The Wins
∙ ∙ High levels of energy
∙ ∙ Aptitude for learning
language
∙ ∙ Life experience
∙ ∙ Mission as a whole
family affair
The Wins
∙ ∙ Greater space and
freedom
∙ ∙ Potential financial stability
The Challenges The Challenges The Challenges
∙ ∙ Little life experience ∙ ∙ Children’s education ∙ ∙ Harder to learn language
∙ ∙ Decisions around finances
and finding a spouse
∙ ∙ Decisions around finances
and the future
*We recognise there are a fair few generalisations in this list.
∙ ∙ Major transitions in
families (ageing parents,
becoming grandparents)