The Commission on Student Ministries traveled to Japan, the first part of March, for the training of Japanese students and church leaders at the Chi Alpha campus ministries training seminar held in Tokyo. From the 170 churches that the Assemblies of God has in the country we saw 31 churches and 26 campuses represented! Pray with us that the training would advance student ministries in Japan, and transform the lives of this generation of University students. We were hosted by Chi Alpha Japan and they recorded and uploaded the sessions. Click *here* to view the sessions!

Community Strategizing with Pés Formosos and Chi Alpha

This last week, John and I traveled from cold and wintery Belgium to the warm summer skies and flowers of Joinville, Brazil. Contrasts of weather and culture are always a joy to observe as we travel to share with students who have a passion for the mission of God on their campus. This last week was no exception. Joinville is a beautiful city, full of flowers and greenery… and it was not only plants that were blooming: grass-roots campus ministries gathered to explore new identity and purpose statement and to pour over the five pillars of campus ministry (discipleship, witness, prayer, worship, and fellowship). Together we dialogued about common problems, laid them on the table for prayer, and asked the Holy Spirit to help us think creatively in response to the problems.

Because we have been in Brazil for several years in a row, we were able to re–connect with students and discover what has happened as a result of earlier trips. Jacqueline told us that she had been in a small group, using the Discipleship Study Guide, and said “it works!” In some parts of the world, small groups are common, but in Brazil, Christians enjoy gathering in large groups, the bigger the better, to hear preaching and great worship. So for many, the complimentary idea of small groups is new but when they tried it, they found they like it. We had the joy of sharing many stories of how God has used students in Munich who had been part of discipleship small groups 25 years ago. It was life changing! We can also say, ‘it works!’

Pray for our friends in Brazil as they accept the challenge and responsibility to reach their fellow student colleagues for Jesus, and help them become followers of Christ.

Three weeks in Central Asia with temperatures at minus 20, the lack of water, electricity, or milk on different days, continual police checks and stolen tires…these realities of life gave us heavy hearts for the folks who live and serve there. We were privileged to teach cross-cultural training and team strategizing for a great of young people from Asia, South and North America who were called by God to plant the church in this broken nation. These countries, bruised from the totalitarian regimes of the past, continue to experience declining quality of life causing many pastors and Christians (as well as others!) to have a strong desire to emigrate to the West, making it extremely challenging to plant the church of the future.

Central Asian Squirrel amazed us with his beauty...and assured us that God loves this land and these people.

Today John and I are out in Central Asia. By “chance”, through a mutual friend, we met a woman from Latin America and her husband who are doing student ministry. It fell into their laps…Through a friend of her daughter, Ann got to know a couple of Indian young women studying medicine in this CA country…and soon she found she was helping with food for their parties, then praying for and with them, then giving them advice and now she is known as “mom” to more than 50 Indian students. More than half of them are Hindu, but are looking for fellowship, a place to belong, and a caring, listening ear.

This sweet couple is pouring out their lives here. In our time together, they were hungry for training, resources, prayer, and encouragement. I wonder how many other unsung heroes are hidden away on the back side of God’s green earth, simply doing what God is putting into their hands, with love and faithfulness.

College of Student Ministry… Connect… Encounter… ImpactNow… regardless of what you call it, student ministry training is the event encapsulating the best of community, fellowship and God encounters every year. This year was no exception!

Students and European university pastors have been gathering the first two weeks of August for more than twenty years, preparing students and staff alike to transform their universities, cities and nations. The beautiful university campus in Gödöllö (Budapest), Hungary was the venue, where we…

• Reconstructed the “tower of Babel” with spaghetti, tape, string and a marshmallow
• Soaked up the collective wisdom and experience of colleagues such as: Kirk Priest, Mark Good and company, Shawn Galyen and many others in classes and workshops
• Walked through the prayer stations in a powerful God encounter
• Prayed for the nations and declared the Lord over our universities in the 17 languages represented at the conference—as well as prayer walked the University
• Laughed our way through the Bunte Abend [Talent Show]—a wonderful collection of talent reflecting our cultural diversity
• Planned for the coming year in Coaching Pods
• Squeezed in times of talking, laughter, sharing, praying and community bonding with every spare minute.

Next year will come soon—and then we will hear the stories of changed lives and enhanced student groups as a result of the wisdom, fellowship and prayer invested this year at our Student Ministry Training. I can’t wait!

The very campus we were on has no Christian witness that we are aware of reflecting the harvest fields of the universities that need workers, pray… come help us!

It was 6am when the music started… Kenny G on the saxophone… and I had to lay a moment and try to get my bearings. Where am I? In a city of an unnamed land that is controlled by communism! The music had me fooled, but within a few minutes the sound of hundreds, if not thousands of students doing calisthenics in teams and jogging around the large university square in chanting, coordinated groups of 50, was enough to get me out of bed to stand on the balcony and record this fascinating testimony to a totalitarian land.

In this land, where everything is strictly controlled, John and I realized what it must mean to live long term where your conversations are being listened to, and where every care must be taken not to use the subversive words: missionary, evangelism, discipleship, conversion, Jesus, God, etc., … John and I found ourselves whispering in our apartment as we read God’s Word in the mornings together.

Regardless of the restricted vocabulary, the Spirit continues to call students to himself, for the Spirit is not silenced by totalitarianism. Our colleagues are working to touch the hearts and lives of students, and through these students, this nation will be discipled!

Please pray especially for those who choose to follow, and pray for wisdom, resources, personnel, and passion for the team that is on the ground.

The 7th. National Consulation for Evangelism took place in Belo Horizonte, Brazil with 50-100 people in attendance. Jossy Soares is the leader of Pes Formosos [Beautiful Feet] the Assemblies of God university ministry. There were students, professors and staff from at least 13 cities as we convened on the Agricultural campus of the National University 24-16, March. The meetings were very interactive and lively with lots of warm smiles and wonderful weather. The many speakers included pastors, workers, professors as well as Josh and Mayra Renfro AGWM campus workers in Chile and Anita and John Koeshall from Europe.

Students For Christ Discipleship Traing Camps have started. SFC leaders have geared up for 43 three day camps before the end of May. I am leaving home for two camps. Uphold all camps in your prayers. One more SFC camp starts in Madhya Pradesh tomorrow, first ever in that North Indian state.

This coming June, Chi Alpha will kick off its fifth year of Little League Baseball in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. This program has proved to be an effective channel for building relationships, bridging the gap between cultures, and training athletes. Coaches strive to teach not only baseball but also the importance of discipline and team work. For the past four years, US and Central Asian Chi Alpha students have come together and partnered with the local church to bless the children of Kyrgyzstan.

Anticipation builds all year, and when summer arrives, the kids are ready. The two months of games fly by, and at the closing ceremony of one season, a countdown begins for the next.

“Will you come back next year?”

This seems to be the reoccurring question. And each year that Chi Alpha comes back, the children come back, bringing their friends and families along with them. There are now 10 teams and 3 divisions.

It has been an incredible journey so far, and we can only imagine what is in store for the rest of the way.

Click the title to watch the video. Thanks!