Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) broke ground in September on a $48 million first-phase facility that will serve as new headquarters near Orlando, Florida.

CCC had been $4.8 million short of having the necessary funds in hand—a prerequisite the board of directors stipulated before starting construction on 285 acres of donated land in Orange County.

In July, 6,000 CCC staff and leaders from 172 countries gathered in Fort Collins, Colorado, for the largest gathering of the ministry in its 46-year history.

The day after the assembly prayed and fasted for the additional money to be raised, a gift of $5 million was pledged to the ministry by a donor who asked to remain anonymous.

The new World Center for Discipleship and Evangelism will eventually house administrative offices, a chapel, a retreat center, a visitor's center, and hotel. CCC envisions the facility as the nerve center for the more than 50 ministries under its international umbrella.

One of the largest nonprofits in the nation, with annual expenditures topping $200 million, Campus Crusade expects to add an additional 300 jobs to the 700 existing positions at its headquarters when construction is finished in October 1998. Two additional phases will follow, although CCC does not have a cost estimate for those.

Ministry leaders hope to capitalize on Orlando's tourist-mecca status to attract thousands of daily visitors to the center to hear about Christ and catch a vision for CCC's global goals.