Hi Friends!
This is a bit long, so if you get exhausted and want to stop reading, at least scroll down to the end where there are some pictures for you to enjoy.
Another month has passed and there is much to report. First of all, the kids have finished the school year, so they are all home for the summer. We are seriously considering keeping them home next year because Hawaii is implementing the new bathroom policies by the start of the new school year. I don’t really want my kids being indoctrinated by this ideology. Angel has started her first job at McDonalds, and it looks like they may be hiring Elijah as well. Angel wants to save every dollar so she can do her own DTS next year. She set up a bank account without getting a debit card or checks so she won’t be tempted to spend anything. We support her 100%!
Beth and I are still staffing the current DTS. (Discipleship Training School) There are only 7 students for the summer school. Last week, I was the speaker and the subject was, of course, evangelism. There are two weeks left of lectures before the team heads off for Greece.
Also, last Sunday was the second session of the Evangelism class at Calvary Chapel Honolulu. There are 23 people in the class, so I’m excited to se how many of these people become active about sharing the gospel by the end of our 8 weeks together.
Today I’m jumping on a plane and heading to Finland to teach in DTS for the week of June 20-24. The door is wide open for us to continue to help train on the subject of evangelism there. They had invited us to come in August to the national staff meeting and do some teaching, but it was going to be way too expensive and we would not have anyone to stay in Hawaii with the kids, so we have decided to pass on that opportunity. But, I’m still very excited about going there for this upcoming week to speak at one of the bases.
I have written before about the invitation to go to Nigeria in September to teach in a DTS and also to a bunch of churches there. The leader is a personal friend so I know its a safe place to go. But they are a poor base, and even though they have a lot of students, they don’t have the resources to pay for travel costs for speakers, so if I go I will be paying for all of those costs. Its looking like this also will be too expensive so I’m leaning towards turning down that offer.
One upcoming meeting that we are very excited about is whats called the Presence Gathering, which will be happening in early November in Chico, CA. 17 base leaders and their staff members will be meeting for a week to seek God and receive training. There is one main speaker for the week, followed by optional breakout sessions over the weekend. I was initially invited to be one of three workshops on evangelism for the weekend. They had asked me to teach on ‘power evangelism’ (words of knowledge, healing, miracles), but I responded that I was going to teach on the simple gospel message. The leader immediately called me to ask what I was talking about, and within a few minutes of talking about the importance of sharing the biblical gospel with people, (the cross, repentance, forgiveness, resurrection, salvation) he became so excited and inspired, he shifted my teaching time from one of three workshops to being one of the main teaching times during the week. So I have the opportunity to influence 17 base leaders and the staff members they bring, by stressing the importance of sharing the biblical, simple message of the gospel in the midst of our humanitarian mission work. Please be praying for that. I need to do this in such a way that it is well received. These are people who will be selecting speakers and subject matter for multiple schools, and literally hundreds of students each year. A well-spoken delivery has the potential to influence so many missionaries. Pray that God uses that teaching to restore and reignite a passion for people getting saved.
We have been heavily advertising the upcoming School of Missions and Evangelism, which starts in September. We’ve made a couple of promotional videos and have been actively contacting everyone we know who has been involved in YWAM to join us as students. So far there are 7 students that we know are planning to come, but I think our minimum number is 8, so please be praying that more people are stirred to apply.
Aside from our responsibilities at YWAM, we are still going out and preaching the gospel locally, usually twice a week. The fruit we have been experiencing is so amazing. People are getting saved all the time out here. Last week, seven high school kids gave their lives to Christ in one encounter. I have been posting photos on the family Facebook page of different outreaches, so if you are following that you can see some of those. But I’m going to post a bunch of photos here so you can see some of the fruit that has come from you support.
How do I get these pictures? Well, when I lead someone to the Lord, I offer my phone number to them so that they can call me any time to ask questions, or get together to talk more and do some discipleship. Sometimes, I’ll get a photo and send it to their phone so they have some kind of remembrance of the day they made the best decision of their life. Plus I’m also looking forward to updating and encouraging you on whats happening on the mission field. It doesn’t always happen, but occasionally we will get a photo together.
In the book of Acts, Paul and Barnabas “sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.” (Acts 14:26,27)
Then again in Acts 15:3,4 “ Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.”
For those of you have been praying for us, and also for those who have been supporting us financially, we want to, like Paul and Barnabas, report what God has been doing, and like the early church, we trust it brings great joy to you. We would not be here without your support, so I want you to see some of the fruit of your labor and donations. Here are a few photos of some of the people who have given their lives to Christ.
Thank you and may God bless you continually,
Billy, Beth and Family