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How the BlackBerry Passport Helps This Minister Grow His Church

ChrisJordan1Nearly four years ago, Chris Jordan experienced a profound and positive life change when he became a born-again Christian. After his faith conversion, he recognized the disconnect between his career in law enforcement, which he describes as dark and cynical, and the call he feels from his faith to serve others. Pursuing that call, about a year ago he started CNE Ministry, and in May he left his job as Deputy Sheriff for Harford County, Maryland, to step into the ministry full time. Chris says as soon as he made the decision to commit to his ministry, he felt a sensation of peace.

A big part of starting any new venture, including a church, is connecting with others, and Chris took some time to share how his BlackBerry Passport is helping him develop his new path and share his journey with others.

Chris one of many people who are connected to their Passports. Check out our profiles of other Passport-loving professionals, including this multi-talented therapist, this supercharged stylist, this talent-acquisition manager, this police officer, this life-saving oncologist, this rising NBA starcelebrity chef Tyler Florence, this international video game company executive, and TV personality Piers Morgan.

Ryan: Which BlackBerry do you currently own?

Chris: I currently have the Passport; I typically upgrade every year to the newest model. I love the keyboard; it’s by far my most favorite device that I’ve used. I wasn’t even sure about the Passport at first. I had the Z30 before, and I really, really loved the Z30; it was just a phenomenal phone.

Ryan: What was the inspiration behind the name CNE Ministry?

Chris: The inspiration came from praying one day. God gave me a vision, that’s all there was to it. When I wrote it down, it also looked like the word ONE. That was the concept that God gave me; it was a unification. A part of our mission is restoring hope to restore your relationships with God and loved ones. Through that restored relationship is a unification process of bringing people together for one purpose.

Ryan: How do people get in touch with your ministry?

Chris: Right now it’s through people we know that are part of the church or contacts of friends and family. Over the last six months, our contacts have grown dramatically, and we’ve opened some amazing doors. We have a lot more connections now online and throughout the [Maryland] area. We’ve also grown into social media. It’s just a matter of developing each of those avenues. We’re trying to direct most of our traffic through Facebook. We put events and information on there.

ChrisJordan2Ryan: What does your day to day look like?

Chris: It all depends; since I resigned from my job, I’ve actually become even busier! My wife says that although I don’t work, she sees less of me. Basically it’s a process; I’m trying to determine what my days are going to look like. In August we’re to be certified as John Maxwell members to be coaches, speakers, and trainers in leadership. We’re trying to tie that in with the ministry and figure out what it looks like.

Right now, I’m in the process of developing. I’m currently working on the design of a brochure. We’re working on a devotion that we can incorporate with our story of restoration and why it’s important. CNE Ministry is about restoration; there’s a story behind that, my wife and I – our lives before each other, coming together, how we were restored, how we found hope, and how we can open up ourselves to help other people. I’m part of three different leadership teams in the area. It’s about solidifying our vision, what we are doing in the community, how we can unify certain areas, things like that. It keeps me pretty busy.

Ryan: How does your Passport help you stay productive?

Chris: Pretty much every BlackBerry that I’ve had, for me it’s a continuity of services about everything. I can move smoothly in and out of applications easily. I don’t need an app for everything. BlackBerry has never been big into the application world, but with BlackBerry you don’t necessarily need an app because you have web-based systems that work just as good, sometimes better than an app. Plus the security, [which is] one of the reasons why I’ve never gone away from BlackBerry.

Ryan: What is your favorite feature?

Chris: I do lot of my stuff online through the browser. I can often beat people browser-wise over apps when it comes to looking information up. Often I find what I’m looking for before the other person has finished typing.

Passport_Black_GreyFabricRyan: Which apps do you use the most?

Chris: I use a Bible app a lot and Evernote quite a bit. I also use Twitter and iGrann. I upload videos to YouTube a lot, so it’s useful when I’m on the go.

Ryan: What do your colleagues say about your Passport?

Chris: Wherever I go, I pull out my phone and hear, “is that your phone?” Or “what is that, that’s huge!” The next one is, “that’s a BlackBerry? I thought that they were out of business?!” It’s amazing to me that people still believe that. It gives me an opportunity to talk about the shift to BB10 and support of cross-platform devices. Today’s BlackBerry is cutting edge; it’s leading and innovating in a way which people are craving.

Ryan: Out of 10, how would you rate the Passport?

Chris: An upper 8. Nothing is going to be perfect, no matter what platform you’re on. The durability and reliability let me give it a high rating.

Are you ready to sign up for your new Passport? Get a factory-unlocked BlackBerry Passport from our global shopping portal, ShopBlackBerry.com (check with your local carrier for device compatibility).

Ryan Blundell

About Ryan Blundell

Ryan has been involved in the wireless industry for well over a decade; currently managing technical communication, interaction design and content strategy for a Canadian wireless provider. He has previously been published on Innovation Insights, Business 2 Community, Everything Zoomer and CrackBerry.com. You can follow Ryan on twitter @ryanblundell