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!

The truth can be painful. At times I honestly would like to avoid the truth. Avoidance can be much easier than confrontation. The story of Jesus is truth, and it can be painful. I want to be very truthful in my letter to you. I have discovered that sometimes, we in Chi Alpha are like electricity; we take the path of least resistance. In this edition of Expeditions we are focusing on telling His Story. In our present day pluralistic society it is often much more comfortable and definitely safer to remain in the avoidance camp when it comes to telling His story on our campuses. I have found the same to be true in our mission experiences.

Crystal and I began to develop student missions in Chi Alpha nearly 14 years ago. The early short term teams that went out were rugged, radical, and adventurous for the Kingdom of God. The requests for assignments from those early teams were in general, “Send us to the hard places where we can share Jesus with those who have never heard.” They wanted to go to the inconvenient lost. The cost wasn’t the primary factor; they were driven by need. And the barometer of need was not physical, it was spiritual. It was about evangelism.

There has been a shift in our team requests since then. Today our greatest requests are for orphanage, relief, and AIDS work as well as other service projects. We like inexpensive prepackaged trips that are easy to implement. Why this shift? I believe, and you won’t like this assessment, that it is because we have acquiesced to the tolerance message so prevalent on our campuses. It is much easier and definitely much more acceptable to go back to campus and tell your fellow students or the dean that you spent a portion of your summer serving orphans, feeding the poor, or working with AIDS victims. Don’t get me wrong, all of this is admirable and commendable. You will receive objections from almost no one. But, if you tell these same people that you spent your summer in the villages of Central Eurasia sharing the message of Jesus (His Story) you will be looked at in most circumstances with contempt.

Feeding the poor, working with orphans, building houses is not enough. We must tell them His Story.

It has been said, “preach the gospel and if necessary use words.” Then you better plan to use words, because it is necessary. Let’s once again be rugged, radical, and adventurous and tell His Story to the lost around the world.

from Ty and Cina

Cina and I arrived in Tokyo the night before the earthquake, March 10. We were there to speak for the National Chi Alpha Training Seminar (March 11-12) that missionary co-workers had organized with the Japan Assemblies of God National Youth Department.

As we found ourselves in the middle of this crisis together with our missionary and Japanese colleagues, we knew that God had us there in Japan to do more than just survive!

Last Thursday afternoon we took a bus to a hotel at Narita Airport so we could be nearby for our flight to Taiwan/Manila early Friday morning.  But, there we experienced yet another earthquake (5.8 magnitude) with an epicenter right under us at the airport with several of its own aftershocks.

We went down to the lobby, as the 8th floor was just too wobbly for our liking. We helped a couple of families down with young children. They headed out for the US on Friday, too, leaving primarily due to concerns over exposure to radiation and frayed nerves. We’re sure they were not believers. It’s such a different feeling when you know you are in the Lord’s care and your times are in his hands – regardless of what happens.

It’s sad to think that most of the world lives without this kind of hope and assurance when you know that there is more than enough hope to go around for everyone! Lord, help us get it out!!

Japan considers itself a secular society. Few identify themselves with one single religious tradition. To most, religion is a blend of certain Buddhist beliefs and Japan’s ancient Shinto tradition.  The practice of religion revolves mainly around major life events, particularly the death of a loved one.

Less than one percent of Japan’s 127 million practice Christianity. Most live their entire life without ever knowing a believer.

As the nation mourns the great loss of life brought on by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami of March 11, millions will be turning to their country’s religious traditions and rituals for death and burial. But with many bodies lost to the tsunami, Japanese will also have to face not being able to carry out these rituals that to them are of great importance.

It is believed that the living bear responsibility for the well being of the ancestors in the spirit world. After burial, Japanese commonly keep altars at home where they offer food and pay tribute to the dead.

Unlike Christianity, Judaism or Islam that tend to ask why when tragedy strikes, Buddhism and Shinto traditions do not look for a divine cause or message behind a disaster.  Their focus instead is on their individual behavior in reaction to the tragedy. But now the Japanese high value on “holding it all together” and responding properly is being stressed to the breaking point with the triple tragedies of the past week, compounded by continuous aftershocks, freezing temperatures, and the fear of increased exposure to nuclear radiation.

Ty and I had the God-given opportunity to be in Japan and experience the first week of the tragedies together with the Japanese people. On the day the earthquake and tsunami hit we were participating in a National Chi Alpha University Ministry Training conference sponsored by the JAG National Youth Department. OneHope has a university version of the Book of Hope with an accompanying conversational English textbook that is used by campus ministries and churches to engage with students.

The day after the quake we contacted another one of our OneHope partners in Tokyo, the youth ministry of Tokyo Baptist Church (TBC). Though this congregation is an English speaking international church serving the foreign community, God is using them to build relationships with Japanese through a variety of outreach efforts, including the use of the Book of Hope. Their youth ministry, led by Pastor Chris McCottry, is regularly seeing Japanese students make decisions to follow Jesus.

We contacted Pastor Chris 24 hours to see if we might somehow join together to take Jesus to the streets in the area surrounding their church where students commonly hang out.  He met with his youth leaders and came up with a plan. On Sunday afternoon we, and Amanda Fosburg (Chi Alpha MAPS worker from Oklahoma) joined their students for a time of sharing and praying together. We then headed out to the Shibuya train station area (Shibuya is a center for youth fashion and culture) where members of their youth band began singing with the help of an amplifier, guitar, and mic. The rest of us connected with the groups of students that passed by, giving out invitations to a youth gathering at the church and a literature piece that presented hope and peace in Jesus. Some Book of Hope was given to those interested to know more.

Jesus life was ordered by His objective. Everything He did and said was part of the whole pattern. His ultimate purpose was to redeem the world for God the Father. Not for one moment did Jesus lose sight of His goal. So how did He achieve His objective?

The purpose of the book is to give structure to His method.

Selection

Men were His method. His concern was not with program to reach the multitudes, but with men whom the multitudes would follow.

1. He enlisted men who could bear witness to His life and carry on His work after He returned to the Father. He didn’t seem to be in hurry to select. [HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THEM?] None of them were Levites, nor prominent at the Synagogue, not wealthy, not educated. The most refined seemed to be Judas Iscariot. They were impulsive, temperamental, easily offended, ambitious, and had all the prejudices of their time.
2. Willing to learn. Unlearned and ignorant [Acts 4:13] but they were teachable. Often mistaken in their judgment and slow to comprehend spiritual things. Their mannerisms awkward, their abilities limited but their hearts were big, exception Judas the I. All seemed to have a sincere yearning for God.
3. Concentrated on a few. Kept the group small in order to effectively work with them. Middle of 2nd year of ministry narrowed the group down to 12. After spending a night in prayer He called His disciples to Him and chose 12 whom He also designated apostles. Lk 6:12-13. He had many other followers, then even among them He selected 3, Peter, James and John. No record of the others complaining about the preeminence of the 3. He counted on those 12, literally staked His whole ministry on them.
4. Didn’t neglect the masses but didn’t ‘play to the crowd.’ One of the temptations of Satan. After healing, didn’t want the masses to know, they applauded Him in Jerusalem and screamed for His head a week later. Many believed, few were converted. 34. 1 Cor 15:6 about 500 truly grasped the meaning of the Gospel.
5. Accurate state of humanity. Depraved human nature is fickly. The people were easily excited by Jesus but the deceitful religious authorities controlled and manipulated the masses. Mk 6:34 they were like helpless sheep wandering aimlessly w/o a shepherd. ‘He did what He could to help the multitudes, He had to devote Himself primarily to a few men, rather than the masses, so the masses could at last be saved.’ 36•

Association

1. He stayed with them. He was His own school and curriculum. It was a natural informality.’ Knowledge was gained by association before it was understood by explanation. ‘How do we know the way? I am the way, the truth and the life.’ Jn. 14:5,6. John and Andrew…come and see. Jn. 1:39. Philip to Nathaniel, ‘come and see.’ Jn 1:46. 2nd and 3rd years, Jesus gave increasingly more time to the chosen disciples. Fully half of the Gospels are about Jesus last months of His life, primarily the last week. 45. 10 postresurrection appearances are to his followers, particularly the chosen disciples. ‘He actually spent more time with His disciples that with everybody else in the world put together.’ 45 He ministered to the masses with the disciples in tow. Ministered to the needy at the same time showing the disciples how to do it, with personal explanation afterward.
2. Takes time. He wanted to be with them.
3. Follow up. Zacchaeus after his conversion Lk 19:7. Two extra days in Sychar after the woman at the well encounter. Jn 4:399-42. Welcomed the ministry of the women Lk 10:38-42, Lk. 8:1-3 but didn’t incorporate them into the select company of chosen disciples. We know without community, churches being truly communities, over half will fall away. It is more than church service and new converts classes.

Consecration

He required obedience. They were not required to be smart but they had to be loyal. They were called ‘Christian’ later Acts 11:26 now they were learners, pupils of the Master. At the beginning all they were asked to do was to follow Jesus.

1. The way of the cross. This went just beyond a joyful acceptance of the Messianic promise. Surrender of one’s whole life, absolute submission to His sovereignty, no compromise, one Master, not two, complete forsaking of sin. Perfection of love was now the only standard of conduct. Mt. 5:48 ‘Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.’ Love manifested itself in obedience to Christ. John 14:21, 23. There was a cross in the picture Mt. 16:24, 20:17-28, Mk. 8:34f, Lk 9:23f, John 12:25f, 13:1-20. Lots turned back Jn. 6:25ff.
2. Count the cost. Our selfishness will eventually cause us to fall away. Pretentious living…= anguish and tragedy. Mt. 27:3ff, Acts 1:18f. You don’t make your own terms for discipleship.
3. You obey, you learn. They didn’t comprehend the meaning of the Cross and so their understanding of the Kingdom was faulty too. He restored them at the sea on the beach. Your capacity to receive revelation will grow providing you continue to practice the truth you understand. 56.
4. Proof of love….keep my commandments. Jn. 14: and 15. Absolute obedience. My food is to do the will who Him who sent me. Jn 4:34. 5:30, 15:10, summed up in ‘not my will but yours.’ Lk 22:42, Mk.14:36, Mt. 26:39f.

There could be no development of character or purpose in the disciples w/o consecration. You learn to follow before you lead.

Impartation

’Receive the Holy Spirit.’ Jn. 20:22.

1. He gave Himself away. Jn. 3:16 God so loved the world.. Love is always giving itself away. The cross the expression of the infinite love of God expressed in an infinite way. The disciples saw this practiced before their eyes, like washing their feet. Jn 13:1ff Jesus denied Himself comfort and pleasures and became a servant. Refused physical satisfaction, popular acclaim, prestige, perks…the things the disciples sought to escape, He embraced: poverty, humiliation, constant demands, verbal and physical attacks, sorrow, even death. The Disciples may not have always understood it and certainly couldn’t explain it, but could never mistake it. 63.
2. His sanctification. It was not for the purpose of benefiting Himself, but for His disciples that they might ‘be sanctified in the truth.’ Jn. 17:18f. Thesis: ‘..in giving Himself to God, Jesus gave Himself to those about Him so that they might come to know through His life a similar commitment to the mission for which He had come into the world. His whole evangelistic plan hinged on this dedication, and in turn, the faithfulness with which His disciples gave themselves in love to the world about them.’ 63.
3. Role and function of the Holy Spirit. As Jesus neared the end of His ministry on earth He started talking more and more about ‘another’ comforter, an advocate who would stand by their side, a person who would take exactly the same place with them in the unseen realm of reality that Jesus had filled in the flesh. Jn. 14:16. The HS would guide them into all truth and show them things to come. 16:13, teach them what they needed to know 14:26. Help them pray 14:12,13 16:23, 24. HS would glorify the Son by taking the things of Christ and making them real to His followers 16:14. 15. Be with them forever 14:17.
   This is no theory, no make shift arrangement, no creed. This is the promise of real compensation for the loss of Jesus presence with them at their comforter, teacher, guide, companion. Jesus was confined to one body and one place but in the Spirit these limitations were all removed. He would be with them always and literally be enabled never to leave them nor forsake them. Looking at it this way, it was better for Jesus having finished His work, to return to the Father and send the blessed comforter in His place. Jn 16:7.
   Of course the other part of the work of the HS was to enable them to carry on the redemptive mission of evangelism. Lk 4:18, Mt. 10:19f, Jn 16:8, 14, 14:12. It was altogether the Spirit’s work, a divine work which had been going on from the beginning continuing till God’s purposes were fulfilled. Just let the Spirit have complete charge of your lives.

Demonstration

The deliberate strategy of moving being knowledge to action.

1. Practice of prayer. Didn’t force lessons on them but kept on praying till they asked Him to teach them what He was doing. At that time their hearts were prepared to receive. First, basic principles of prayer and then a model prayer. Sometimes one has to be quite elementary in order to get people started in a discipline. ‘One thing is certain. Unless they grasped the meaning of prayer, and learned how to practice it with consistency, not much would ever come from their lives.’ 72 More than 20 times the Gospels point out Jesus emphasis on prayer.
2. Using scripture, its’ importance for personal devotions and winning others to the Way. 66 references to the OT in the Gospels to the disciples, more than 90 biblical allusions with the masses. That meant that they too were to use the Scriptures. In short; principles of biblical exhortation, interpretation, application and memorization. Let the Scriptures be the authority for your pronouncements.Note: it was clear that if the disciples were to continue in His fellowship by the Spirit after He was gone from them in the flesh, they would have to abide in His word. Jn 15:7.
3. Teaching naturally by using whatever situation they were in at the time. He was able to see relevance in regard to evangelism by explaining a spiritual truth or telling the disciples how to deal with people. For the most part, the disciples were absorbing His teaching w/o even knowing that they were being trained to win people under similar conditions for God! Jesus method of teaching didn’t obscure the message. He was His method. Evangelism was lived before them in spirit and in technique. Example.
   • Recognize the need in all classes of people.
   • The best method to approach them
   • Draw people to you, win their confidence and inspire their faith
   • Open to them the way of salvation and call them to a decision.‘His method was so real and practical that it just came naturally.’ 75
4. Class was always in session. He spent three times longer than His message explaining it to the disciples. Mt 13:ff Mk 4:10ff Lk 8:9ff. If the disciples were bewildered but didn’t ‘speak up,’ then Jesus did, like after the episode with the rich young ruler. Mt. 19:23f Mk 10:23f.
   He didn’t ask anyone to do or be anything which first He had not demonstrated in His own life, showing its’ workability and relevance to His mission in life. 76 Let us show the same vulnerability and when our weaknesses are revealed to have the grace to apologize. The knowledge we acquire must be applied to our lives otherwise it can be a stumbling block to further truth. The disciples knew enough to get started and He saw to it they did something about it. Brings us naturally to.

Delegation

Initially He didn’t say anything to them about evangelizing the world. First it was get the disciples into a vital experience with God, show them how he worked, before telling them what they had to do. The first year they mainly watched. He kept the vision before them by His activity. Observation: we might be a little more patient with new converts. Beginning of Jesus’ third tour of Galilee Mk 6:6, time to go to work.

1. Briefing instructions. Here He outlined for them explicitly what He had been teaching implicitly all the time. What did He do? 1. He reaffirmed His purpose for their lives. Lk 9:1ff Mt 10:1 Mk 6:7. 2. Immediacy of their task, ‘Kingdom was at hand.’ Mt 10:7. 3. Spelled out the scope of their authority Mt. 10:8. 4. Go see first of all the people most open to the message, like kinsmen. [He won’t repeat that when the 70 are sent out.] 5. Trust God with all your needs. Travel light. Mt. 10:9,10 6. Find friendly people to stay with. In effect the disciples were told to concentrate their time on the most promising individuals in each town who would be able to follow up after they were gone. 82.
2. Expect hardship! Mt 10:17,18ff. You are not above your Master, but don’t fear. You are sheep among wolves. Jesus never let His followers underestimate the strength of the enemy. They weren’t looking for trouble, but be prepared.
3. The Gospel will divide the complacent and the compromisers. ‘they were not hand shaking emissaries maintaining the status quo of complacency.’ All you have to do it read Mt. 10:34-38 and you’ll get the picture described by Jesus Himself. The revolutionary Gospel, when it is obeyed, will produce a revolutionary change in people and their society. 84.
4. One with Christ, two by two, mission of seventy, postresurrection commands…and at the end Jesus went over the whole thing again for the last time Lk 24:44ff and Acts 1:8. They were to be the human instruments announcing the Gospel and the HS was to be God’s personal empowerment for their mission.

So the message is clear. Begin to work and keep it up, they weren’t discharged yet from school so the next step is…

Supervision

1. Mk 8:17-19 How many baskets remained? Mt 16:12 be aware of …Disciples, don’t discourage any sincere work on my behalf. Mk 9:39ff. Treat the children better. Mt. 18:14. Lk 9:55, no, we are not going to destroy these people with fire! Don’t rest on success or failure.. He expected their best, as you grow in knowledge, improve! Teach, assign tasks, follow up. Don’t let your little efforts become an excuse for not doing more. We are not called to a defensive position of ‘holding the fort,’ rather to ‘storm the heights.’ 95

Reproduction

Mt 28:19 The necessity and inevitability of life reproducing its kind, like the vine and the branches. Jn 15:1ffJesus in numerous occasions He called them to evaluate the product of their lives. [Jn 12:24f, Mt 7:16ff, Jn. 4:36f, Mk 4:18f. Mt 3:17 read p. 101 for the explanation in Master Plan]. We are to go out and win others who would come to be what we are. …disciples of Christ. That is what it means to make disciples, go+baptize+teach=all derive their force from ‘make disciples,’ the controlling verb of that passage. It is not going to the ends of the earth, preaching, baptizing, teaching but ‘to make disciples.’ That is the Master’s plan for evangelism.

How do you carry out this plan, Epilogue in Coleman’s book touches these points, read the chapter after first trying to fill in the blanks, i.e. how would you make a plan for discipleship?

Life has a plan, what’s yours. Methods will vary, seek some way to incorporate the wisdom of Jesus’ strategy in your own preferred method of evangelism. Priority of People. Giving an explanation is not enough. Win, train, work and pray with the people. Begin with a few. Stay together, let them see us in action, feel our vision and know how it relates to their life. Give them time. Anything worthwhile takes time. Group meetings. Expect something from them. Give them something to do which requires the best that is in them. Keep them going. Help them carry their burdens. Let them carry on. Turn them loose from your control to have their own spiritual experiences. Every mm. of progress will have to be won by conquest, for the enemy will never surrender. Nothing less than the infilling of the HS will be sufficient to meet the challenge. 115. The price of victory comes high. The world is desperately seeking someone to follow, will you be the one who leads them to Christ or darkness.

Reflection/Application

1. Review the major elements in Jesus strategy
2. Which of them will be easier or more natural to implement and which more difficult?
3. Design action steps to fulfill the purpose of these 7 elements.
4. Based on what you have learned on the principles of power, how will you empower them?  What ways will they need to empower whom they disciple for the 2 Tim. 2:2 principle to be carried out and the Mt. 28:19-20 command fulfilled..