Author: Billy

Since making the announcement that we are about to become a full time missionary family, I have been approached multiple times about the whole concept of missions and how missionaries are funded.
I have no problem addressing these questions, and others like them. But since I have been repeatedly asked about these issues, I thought it would be beneficial to write a brief explanation of mission funding to answer some of those questions.

Please Please understand, THIS IS NOT A PLEA FOR MONEY. I have just been really surprised at how many people have asked me about it, and I am sure there are many more who have these questions but simply haven’t voiced them. So here goes.
Everyone reading this probably knows someone who has gone on a mission trip, or has gone themselves. Many of us have received letters or emails describing what the missionary is about to do, along with a request for financial support.

The question is, why doesn’t this person get a job, save the money, and support themselves? Are they just looking to have an adventure on everyone else’s dime? Are they simply irresponsible, impulsive? In some cases, perhaps this has been true. But the vast majority of missionaries I know, and I know a lot, have gone with a pure heart.

Those are legitimate questions to ask. So lets answer them.
The first question is why don’t they fund themselves? Or better yet, shouldn’t an able-bodied person focus on working hard instead of gallivanting all over the place? Yes, able-bodied people should work. But God does call some of them out of the workplace and into the harvest. Do you think that He should call people who are handicapped? It would be rather cumbersome for a non-able-bodied person to get around on the mission field. I think God can use either one, but surely we can agree that whether a person is capable of working is really not a factor in whether they are called to ministry.

But as far as the self-funding is concerned, let’s be honest, saving the amount of money it takes for a long term mission trip is very hard. Think about it. People work and earn and save all their lives to fund just a few years of retirement. If we expected everyone to save and fund their own long term mission, no one would be able to go until they were well advanced in years. By then, they would be married, have children, most likely carry debt, and the costs would rise and rise while the feasibility of the trip would radically dwindle. This is especially true if they are a family entering missions. The cost is too high for them to realistically be self-supported. In some cases, however, it is true that some people have tremendous financial resources and can be self-sufficient. But this is rarely the case.

The second question is, are they just being irresponsible, or seeking a thrill? Well, when we take teams on mission trips, typically I am looking for people who’s heart is to serve and be ready to do the difficult things as well as the fun things. But, at the same time, taking someone along who is looking to go on a new adventure isn’t exactly a bad thing or necessarily wrong.

Suppose a young person graduates high school or college and decides to go on a mission trip. Some people look at that and write it off as a thrill seeker looking to see the world under the guise of a noble cause, so they call it a mission trip. First of all, ask yourself, is this a common thing for a young person in this culture and day and age? The vast majority of that demographic are seeking thrills in drugs, sex, and alcohol. Of all the other places they could be looking to find excitement, they have chosen to do it in a wholesome and eternally profitable way. You really want to quench or criticize that desire? That is something that should immediately be encouraged and cultivated. Even if they are simply looking to have an adventure before they settle down and pursue their career or get married, so what? What better way for them to spend that energy than investing it in God’s kingdom? Just think, they may come away after just one trip, (as most do) and forever have a heart for global missions, and they will be the future funders of the expansion of the kingdom! Isnt that a cause worth giving to? Even if you don’t give financially, at the very least pray for this beautiful young person who is bucking the trend for their age group and willing to spend themselves working for God’s kingdom.
But you know what? When you support this person, you aren’t just giving to an individual, and their own personal growth and development, you are also contributing to the things they accomplish for the kingdom of God. Every orphan they visit, every sick person they pray for, every lost person they give the gospel to, is due in part to your help. Even if it is a one time trip, it is made possible by those who give to send them. So, the giver has his or her worldview enlarged, and begins to see the world as God sees it, and they have a vested interest in seeing the mission completed, and also enjoys a special bond with the person they are supporting. There is mutual prayer going back and for as they pray for each other and for the mission. None of this would happen if the missionary didn’t ask for support.

 

Another question we could ask is why doesn’t God just allow this person to win one of those lotteries or gain an inheritance to fund the mission for life? If God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, why doesn’t He just make the missionary a millionaire so they don’t ever have to worry about funding or rely on their brothers and sisters for support? Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
The answer is ‘No’ that would not be wonderful. It would rob both the giver and the receiver of some of the most amazing blessings that come with funding missions God’s way. There are Christians who have been given the gift of giving, and they find it a joy to do so.

When a missionary receives a financial gift, it is extremely humbling. I say this from experience. People often give me money for local and international mission work. There have been people who have entrusted me with $10,000 checks for the ministry. There have also been people who have sacrificially handed me $20, and I knew full well that this was their entire spending money for the week. Those are equally humbling experiences.

First of all, it is an affirmation that people believe in what you are doing. There is a recognition that they are not giving to you personally, but rather to what God is doing. They see the hand of God in it, and want to support it.

Secondly, it is a holy, sacred thing. There is a responsibility to allocate those funds properly and not misuse them. Thirdly, there is an accountability factor involved. It becomes a pleasure to happily report back to the giver how the funds were used and what was accomplished through their gift. This is biblical. In Acts 15:12 , after their missionary journey, we read that “The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.” They reported back to the church after their mission. We should do the same. It affirms to the givers that we were faithful with the gift, and encourages giving to future exploits.

Giving to missions is also a blessing for the giver. They become partakers in the work. Just like when people give to the local church. It’s nice to have a pastor who has time to commit himself to prayer and preparation, and is available for counsel. Its nice to have a church with good lighting and air conditioning, etc. Every time we give to the church, we make these things happen. When we give to missionaries, we become co-workers with them. They are the hands and feet of Jesus, in a physical sense, but we are the hands and feet of Jesus as well, since they wouldn’t be there without us behind them, sending them. Not everyone is called to go, since, if everyone did in fact go, there would be no one to do the sending! In truth, there are a lot more senders than goers. But all share in the work.

I have a friend who sent two of his kids on missionary trips. He had the financial capability to simply pay for their trip. All of the sudden they were gone. To tell you the honest truth, I felt slighted! I didn’t get the chance to invest in that work of God.

If a missionary doesn’t ask for support, he actually robs the church of their opportunity to invest in what God is doing.

 

Scripture has a lot to say about money, about missions, and supporting those who preach the gospel. There are many Old and New Testament passages we could refer to. The apostle Paul is a great missionary example. Paul definitely came down on both sides of the issue. To the Thessalonian church, he reminded them of how he had no problem working hard among them so that he would not be a burden to them while he shared the gospel with them. (1Thess 2) To the Corinthian church he wrote extensively in 1 Cor 9 about his rights as an apostle to make his living from the gospel, as all the other apostles did, but that he didn’t take advantage of this because of his heart to win them.

But Paul also thanked his financial supporters when he wrote to the Philippian church, “10 How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. 14 Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.

15 As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. 16 Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. 17 I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness.

18 At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”

Paul had people who supported him, and he thanked them for their aid. And he encouraged them by reminding them that they would receive a reward for it. But at the same time, there were others that he did not want to be a financial burden to, and he didn’t even ask those people for help.

In the same way there are many today to whom it is better to not ask for money for the furtherance of the gospel. They would be offended by those pleas. But at the same time, there are also many who understand that it takes money to spread the word, and they are cheerfully willing to invest in the kingdom by financially supporting those endeavors, and they will receive a reward from the Lord for their faithfulness. They have no desire to go and do the work, and they find fulfillment in playing the role of the sender, understanding that it is as much a calling as actually going. They find as much joy in giving to missions as those who physically go.

 

God is a father to the fatherless, and the friend of sinners, but the way He has chosen to do this is through us. We are the hands and feet of Jesus in this world, and it takes more than just the person who is physically on the mission field to make it happen. Every person who contributes to sending the missionary plays a vital role in making it happen. When you give to a missionary, you become a missionary. They wouldn’t be there without you.

I heard an interesting quote from either Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin in which he said, “I went to the moon, but only because there were 400,000 other people at NASA who worked to make it happen.” He knew that he could never have accomplished that amazing feat if it weren’t for the combined effort of all the people who worked to make it happen. Every person at a computer, every person in communications, every mechanic, every janitor, and every person who funded that project was part of the team.

I can honestly say without hesitation that we could never have made all those trips to India or Mexico without our financial supporters. I and the various teams that have gone over the years were the sent ones, but we only got to go because there was a body of senders behind us. We could never afford to pay for all the staging, lighting, buses, event centers, etc., to put on those crusades where tens of thousands of people heard the gospel. We couldn’t afford to pay for all the food and medical provisions that we have given out over the years. All that ministry became possible because there were people who believed in what we were doing and joined us in prayer and financial support. Without them, we would never have even gone on those trips. They share an equal blessing and will enjoy an equal reward.

 

So I hope that answers some of the questions people have about funding missions,. If its not something that you feel a burden in any way to support, well then you should not feel obligated to do so. God loves a cheerful giver. He desires the attitude to be one of excitement and joy in the act of giving. So if you feel like a missionary is being awkward or manipulative, and you don’t want to give, don’t! God doesn’t need your money. God will lay it on certain people’s hearts to support His work. He knows how to get things done without having to use unwilling vessels.

 

Finally, why do I write this? Well, for two reasons, One is to help a lot of people who have read our vision but have a hard time grasping the concept of a fairly successful, able bodied family selling everything and becoming full time missionaries, with the financial support of the body behind them. I have been asked about these issues repeatedly, so I thought I would take a minute to give some perspective.

Second, I write this for all the under-funded missionaries out there. I’m sure you (the reader) know some people on the mission field who could use your faithful support. Perhaps this gave some simple answers that helped you gain a better understanding and now you’ll feel comfortable giving those gifts.

 

Now, as far as my family is concerned, I have been asked if we are making a rash, impulsive decision to enter mission work. Are we looking for an adventure, and forgetting about our children?

The answer is absolutely not. I have worked very hard to climb the ladder in my company, and to build our financial situation to the point where I’m finally feeling like I’m established in life. We have poured ourselves into serving the Lord over the years and have been blessed with an abundant ministry that bears much fruit.

From a wordly perspective, it is foolish for us to give up everything we have worked so hard to build. But we recognize that it is the Lord who gives us the ability to get wealth, and that any ministry we are involved in is a result of His blessing, not our hard work. It’s all His. He is the one who gave it all to us, and if He is calling us to a new chapter in life, then He is able to sustain us.

It has taken us three years to finally yield to an obvious call of God on our life and pursue this vision. When I wrote about how God called us, seriously, I only included a few of the ways He confirmed it to us. I thought that would be enough to convince our friends and family that we were following what God has been telling us over and over, and not some whim or thrill seeking adventure.
The issue of money is a genuine concern. What if we come out of the gate with a lot of support, but people grow weary and it dries up? That’s a legitimate question to ask.

If we don’t have enough funding, I have absolutely no inhibitions about getting a job for supplemental income. If we go and do this mission for one, two or three years, and it just isn’t working out, what’s the worst that happens? We come home and pick up where we left off? That’s not a failure, that’s an amazing testimony for us that we were able to go on a family mission and accomplish all sorts of wonderful things for the glory of God!

I am not afraid to be ambitious, work hard, get my hands dirty, and do what it takes to support my family and get back into the workplace.
But quite honestly, I don’t think that is what will happen, at least not right away. I have seen God come through too many times before in regards to the things He called me to in ministry. There have been times of miraculous provision, where He came through in ways that blew my mind apart, and there have been times where we have had a projected budget, planned accordingly to meet it, and saw Him provide for those needs. He has been faithful every single time.

 

Our children are also a consideration. What will become of them?

Well, the short answer is that they will be fine. There are plenty of full time missionary families within the ywam organization. The bases we are going to have structure in place for children to flourish in missionary families. Beth and I have visited both bases and are confident that our children will adapt quickly to base life, and we will not be neglecting time with them in any way. In fact, considering the amount of ministry we currently are involved in, in all likelihood we will actually enjoy more time together as a family than we do now.

We are really looking forward to how the Lord will use not just Beth and I, but our entire family as we step out together in faith and follow His call.

 

I write this not as a plea for money, but because it is important for us that our family, friends, brothers and sisters are behind us when we embark on this endeavor. There is no ulterior motive here. If some are having a hard time understanding how the financial aspect of mission funding is supposed to work, then we want to talk openly about it, without necessarily doing so for the sake of seeking their financial support. What we desire is for you to be on board with us, and with global missions as a whole, being able to confidently pray for us and back us up in ministry. Those whom the Lord gives the desire to give financially to the work will do so, and we thank God for them, but we would never want to manipulate or coerce anyone to give where they don’t feel led to. What we desire is that people have a general understanding of how missions funding is supposed to work, so that when they speak of missionaries, they speak positively and pray that God would not only provide for their needs, but continue to send out even more laborers into His harvest.

 

Please feel free to contact me with any other questions you personally may have regarding this work. I’ll be happy to respond. bill.kyll@yahoo.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My family and I have made the decision to go into ministry full time. I understand that there will be a lot of questions regarding how and why we believe we have been called to this work, so I have taken the time to write an account of how He led us to this decision. This is going to be lengthy, but it details how God has called our family into full time missionary service, and conveys the vision for that call.

Our decision to dive into serving the Lord full time is not something that occurred to us overnight. It’s something that has been developing for several years.  We have always known that the ministry that God has placed me in and the things I have been involved in over the course of the last 10 years have been leading us towards the point where we would eventually make the move into full time ministry. We just didn’t know where or what exactly it would look like when the time came.

We have never had a problem with holding down a full time job and doing ministry on the side as a passion. In the past few years, the ministry has been becoming so much a part of our lives and has grown to the point where it has become difficult to juggle my job, my wonderful family, and ministry, and do them all well.  I have been asking the Lord for the past 5 years or so what His will is for our family and for the ministry. Does He want me to begin actively seeking opportunities to get into full time ministry? Does He want me to keep doing what we are doing and just have a job to pay the bills, but be passionate about serving Him and winning the lost in my spare time? Either way, I want to be submissive to His will for our family. I have had the deep desire and felt called to go full time for him, but how and where? Which direction should I go? I decided I would continue to be faithful in the things He has called me to and the responsibilities He has given me and let Him open the doors when the time came.

The decision to join YWAM as a full time missionary family is something that has taken 2 years for us to make. I have to be honest, I really didn’t ever think we would go down this particular road, but here we are. Here’s how it has unfolded.

 

A few years ago, my brother in law and his family were in their second year as full time missionaries in YWAM. At that time, they were based in Honolulu, Hawaii. He called me and told me that he thought he could get us free housing on the base if we came out to visit, as long as we would go out and do some street evangelism. Well, I had promised my wife when we were dating that I would fulfill her lifelong dream to go to Hawaii someday, and anyone who knows me knows that it doesn’t take much convincing to get me to go do some street witnessing, so we booked the tickets.

We went to Honolulu and I have to say it was easily the best place I have ever gone to for sharing the gospel. There is no other city in the world quite like it. Every week, there is a constant influx of new people from all over the globe, from all different backgrounds, coming there to relax. It’s the perfect environment to engage people and speak to them. While witnessing in Waikiki, we met people from South Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, the US mainland, etc. It really is unique in that there are people from just about everywhere who come there to vacation. This makes it a perfect place not only to be an evangelist, but also to train evangelists, especially those who would soon be going out all over the world on missions. I could see why it is such a great place to have a YWAM training base.

We talked loosely while we were there about what a great opportunity there was to launch a school of evangelism in Honolulu. The base already had a leader of the school at that time, but he was thinking about moving to another base, so the door may be opening up in the near future. Its such a strategic place for a variety of reasons. First, because of the fact that people there are approachable and open to the gospel, and it’s a great place to train evangelists with hands on experience how to witness to people of all faiths and backgrounds. Not everyone will understand this concept, but those who have any experience in the realm of evangelism and come to that place will immediately know what I’m talking about.  Secondly, because it’s a desirable place for students to want to come and participate in a school.

After we left, my brother in law encouraged me a few times to quit my job, sell the house, and join YWAM. Honestly, I had zero desire to do it. I was already preaching and teaching 3-4 times per week, and had a lot of really cool and fulfilling evangelistic ministry on my plate. Why would God call us elsewhere when we are already bearing fruit where we were at?

In March of 2013, he and I were talking again about YWAM and what kinds of opportunities there are within the organization to use gifts like ours to equip and train young missionaries. He was asking me about joining again. As we talked, I received a quickening in my spirit and felt that the Lord was telling me to go, but I dismissed it because I really never thought of myself as a full time missionary. I didn’t commit to anything but said that I would talk to Beth and pray about it. Honestly, I only said that to get him off my back. But I am not one to commit to pray and then offer up a flippant, insincere prayer, so I did pray about it. I really didn’t expect what started happening next.

I actually started having a genuine desire to go and do it. I spoke with my wife, and Beth was just as excited about it as I was, but we didn’t really have any word from the Lord other than a good feeling, so we chewed on it for a few days.  Odd things started happening.  I walked into city hall to get some permits for work, and the guy behind the counter was wearing his Hawaii shirt with all the islands on it. We started seeing unusual amounts of bumper stickers of Hawaii and flip flops among all sorts of other curious things. I was out jogging on a 35 degree morning in the middle of the desert here in WA with no ocean nearby when some guy drives by in a beachmoblie with a surfboard strapped to the top. Everywhere we looked, we sere seeing little signs. We even joked about it for those first few days, “Hey, look! A sign!” Ha ha. I told the Lord, “God, I’m gonna need a lot more than some weird circumstances to explain why I would uproot my family and do this thing.” After all, there isn’t anything necessarily unusual about seeing people wear Hawaiian shirts or that they have bumper stickers. Maybe we were just more aware of things that are simply everyday occurrences.

Then, that same week, I went out to lunch with the pastors from Calvary Chapel on a Friday. I did not plan on bringing this subject up at all. During the lunch, two of them mentioned that they were going to Hawaii next week for a wedding. It opened the door to discuss the islands, and eventually I began sharing the vision. I thought for sure they were going to laugh at me. But they didn’t. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Two of them told me I was crazy for not doing it if the door was open. Pastor Steve grabbed my arm and looked me in the eye and told me, “You need to do this.” I was totally floored. He even pulled me aside in the parking lot on the way out and told me privately that it was a needed thing and that I should really consider doing it. I explained to them that my biggest obstacle would be the financial aspect, since there aren’t any paid staff members in the YWAM organization. Everyone raises their own support. I would have to trust the Lord and my brothers and sisters to provide for our needs. Who would support a missionary to Hawaii? They were all giving me positive encouragement, and some even offered to support us financially. I was really surprised by their enthusiasm. So, at that moment, I decided I was going to move forward and start looking into it more deeply.

I came home and told Beth about our discussion and she told me that she was ready to go. To her, the biggest thing was whether or not our spiritual leadership was behind it or not. It was the most important thing for her that the church supported our decision. That evening we went out to dinner and I jokingly declared that I believed God was going to speak to me through my fortune cookie. It read, “You made a brilliant decision today” Haha

I knew the verse that says, “In the multitude of counselors, there is safety,” so I started thinking about who I wanted to get my counsel from. I didn’t want to just meet with guys who were as passionate about evangelism as I am, because their advice would be fairly predictable.  I talked to a few men and their input was positive, but I still had a few other people in mind to get counsel from. Everyone I talked to at this point had offered financial support without my even asking about it.

At this point I had a few check marks. I had my wife’s approval. I had the church’s approval. I had odd things happening in circumstances. But I still needed more.

We were lying in bed that night talking and I was reading my Bible. In every major decision we have made before, the Lord has spoken to me very clearly in the Word about it and given me direction. I’ll be praying about something, and then in my daily reading, He will have a verse jump out at me and come alive and speak right into my situation. This is without me having to go search out verses that I think may apply.

So I am reading and thinking this in the back of my mind, wondering if its just going to be a bunch of other Christians telling me this is a good thing, or whether the Lord will give me some Scripture, and immediately as I finish that thought, the next verse I read is Proverbs 20:18 “Plans are established by counsel.” I felt reassured that I was doing the right thing by seeking advice from godly guys, and shared the verse with Beth. I knew that God would be in the midst of my discussions and that He was telling me to trust the counsel of my brothers in the Lord.

Then I flipped to my next bookmark in my daily reading, which was in Luke 5. In verse 4 Jesus says, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Mindblower. The verse lept off the page and spoke directly to me. I shared it with Beth and she was just as impressed. I was getting confirmation in the Word now, too. Check #4. Seriously, these are just a couple of Scriptures that I am sharing with you. God has given us an enormous amount of confirmation in the word, but I don’t want to be too exhaustive here.

Then we went out to dinner with another pastor friend of mine who has always been a great help and encouragement to me. I knew he wouldn’t beat around the bush but would give me an honest assessment. He and his wife were extremely supportive. Of course, they didn’t want us to leave but they understood the incredible opportunity behind raising up a generation of soul winners. I began sharing the verses God had given me, but just as I was about to share the second verse, he interrupted me and said, “Wait a minute! I’ve been talking to you for all these years about full time ministry and I’ve been telling you to go ahead. This better not be a failure to launch!”  Ha ha. Then I shared the second verse to “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” He shouted, “See! There’s confirmation right there!” He asked his wife, “How many times in our marriage have you ever heard me say that word?” “Never,” she said. Coincidence? It was pretty interesting. But overall, our conversation went well, and he confirmed that this fits who we are in Christ and the gifts God has given us.

I had another meeting with a respected friend who I knew would have solid advice. I was really trying to get input from people who were not at all emotionally involved, so they could give me some perspective that I might be missing. As I was waiting for him to show up to our lunch meeting, I bumped into another friend and quickly gave him the rundown. He was really enthusiastic and committed on the spot to sending monthly support. I was so surprised by all these people who talked about giving to what God was going to do. I never asked for anything from anyone, or even hinted that I was looking for support at this point. Then my friend showed up and I outlined the vision for him. We talked about it extensively and all the possibilities wrapped around it. One thing he did ask was whether or not I had personally talked to the higher-ups within YWAM about it and heard from their own mouths that this is possible. So my take-away points from that meeting included that. I had planned on making those calls, but now that things had been moving along, it was time to contact them and hear it straight from them.

When we were in Honolulu, we had dinner with Danny Lehmann, the director of evangelism for YWAM.  He has been in YWAM for over 30 years, lives on the main base in Kona, and is the dean of the school. He was part of the original discussion, but I hadn’t spoken to him about it since. So I got his number from my brother in law, and gave him a call. He actually gave me about 20 minutes of his time. We spoke about the vision for the school and he was extremely supportive. He was excited about having someone with a passion for pure evangelism join the organization. He told me that if we would join YWAM and come to start the school, he would support it, be involved in it, promote it, and recruit students for it. He reiterated over and over that YWAM needs people like us and told me to come. Another check in place. Now I heard it from the horse’s mouth that they wanted us there in Honolulu and that they would support the vision to start the school.

That night, I began looking into pricing to see what the costs would actually be. Everyone who joins YWAM must go through a DTS (discipleship training school), before going out on the mission field. Families must go through it together. Its 3 months in classroom, and 2-3 months on outreach, which is a mission to a foreign country. We had initially thought that we should do our DTS in Kona, where we would establish key relationships for our future with the school. But after seeing the costs in going to the Kona base, I began feeling pretty overwhelmed. It was way too unrealistic for a family of 7 to afford to do the DTS there. I started thinking we were not going to be able to do it at all. Then I remembered that there are lots of bases all over the U.S. that we could go to, and that maybe those relationships weren’t as necessary to forge immediately after all, depending on how much less the cost was to do the DTS somewhere else. The first base that popped up in my search engine was in San Diego, so I jotted the phone number down and went to bed, planning on calling them in the morning to talk to someone about the cost.

When I woke in the morning, I was feeling a little bummed out. I was getting kind of excited, but the cost looked too high to be realistic. I opened the book I was reading as a daily devotional, and what do I read? The title was “Trusting God for Money”. It was all about how the author had to learn to trust God for money when he made the transition into full time mission work. In it, he explained how he too had always supported himself and his exploits in ministry, but now he had to let go and allow the rest of the body to get involved in what God was doing. He could trust that the Lord would provide for his needs. Then he gave some details about how to convey the vision for ministry, and all the spiritual benefits that come to both the receiver and the givers in supporting missions, and how the Lord impresses upon certain people the desire to give to Him. I felt a renewed sense of faith in what we were doing. Do you think this is a coincidence, or God’s perfect timing to speak to me about the exact area where I was struggling?

When I called the base, they were actually not in San Diego, but in San Antonio, Mexico. It’s a little town about 20 minutes south of Tijuana. The base is actually called, YWAM San Diego Baja. She told me that the base didn’t carry any debt, so their tuition costs were much less. Plus, since they were in Mexico, they would be totally flexible for our family and allow us to use our time there and in nearby towns as our outreach, so there wouldn’t be all those costs of flying my family around the world for the outreach phase of the DTS. It turns out that we can do our DTS there for considerably less than the cost of doing it pretty much anywhere else in the YWAM organization. This is totally doable, I thought.

Immediately after hanging up with her, I called Beth and told her about it. It really looks like this could be the place to go. I didn’t get a chance to look at their website too much since it was so late the night before, so I told her to go ahead and google YWAM San Diego Baja and check it out. “What did you say?” she asked me.  I said “San Diego Baja B-A-J-A.”  It turns out, Beth had just pulled onto the freeway and the car in front of her had a huge bumper sticker that just read “BAJA”. It grabbed her attention and blazed into her mind. Then I called her. Coincidence?

As we have been being led to make this decision, there has been a real war going on inside my mind. Everything I have been taught by the secular worldview says that what I’m about to do is crazy. We have achieved the American dream. Beautiful family, great job, dream home. Now, I’m about to give it all up? Everything in my spirit says “Yes!” The rewards will be immeasurable. To pour into the lives of scores of missionaries, training them to become a generation of evangelists, and see the Kingdom of God advanced in the world is far more fulfilling than anything else. But everything in my flesh says to just keep what we’ve got and keep up what we’ve been doing.  The rubber was about to meet the road in this whole thing. Sooner or later I would have to make a decision.

I went to the church and met with another one of the pastors who was not at the pastors meeting the week before. I was hoping to also meet with Steve to let him know how things were progressing and get his thoughts about whether he was really serious about thinking our family needed to do this thing. But he was really busy, and he was going be gone the entire next week.

The pastor I met with listened to the vision and all the events that had led up to that point and pretty much told me that if I didn’t go, I would end up like Jonah and be one miserable sucker. God gave me a couple of scriptures during our meeting. Jesus said in Luke that “He who seeks to save his life shall lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake and the Kingdom of God’s sake, the same shall save it.”

1John 2 says to “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

Then he told me that Steve had already enthusiastically told him about the whole thing and that he thought it was a perfect fit for our family. I was really reassured by his kind words and encouragement. Also the fact that these guys had already been talking about it spoke volumes to me about their support of the vision.

A couple days later, I was on the freeway, praying as I was driving, and I started questioning again what was happening. What would our families have to say? What about our church family and the people we serve? Are people going to think we’ve lost our minds? I asked the Lord to give me another confirmation that this is the right thing for our family. As soon as I finished the prayer, I got an email alert on my phone. I opened it up (yes, I was still driving shhh!) and it turned out to be from a friend at church. She had heard about what was going on and was totally blown away by our faith and obedience to move forward. She wrote a long letter which basically encouraged me by saying that she was personally inspired to seek God’s will and be more willing to do what He says. That was another cool coincidental moment where God gave me a timely word of encouragement.

But like I said, there have been many times where my rational mind tells me this is crazy. The next day, I was wrestling with those thoughts again and asked the Lord for another sign.  Even though He had already been showing us so much, I was still reluctant to let go. I opened the Bible to begin reading, and a passage in the Old Testament opened up like a magnet and caught my eye. I began reading in Isaiah 42:18-20

18 Listen, you who are deaf!

Look and see, you blind!

19 Who is as blind as my own people, my servant?

Who is as deaf as my messenger?

Who is as blind as my chosen people,

The servant of the Lord?

20 You see and recognize what is right

but refuse to act on it.

You hear with your ears,

But you don’t really listen.

Yikes! I got rebuked! God is only going to speak clearly for so long before we have to act in obedience. But I have to say that the Lord is good. Shortly after the rebuke, he also gave me another incredible, timely email. I received a ministry update from a well known international evangelist in which he had an article entitled, “Have I Misunderstood God’s Will?” It was all about misconceptions people have in discerning the will of God. Many people want to know every last minute detail before they step out in ‘faith’ in what God is calling them to. But God doesn’t usually do things that way. He usually reveals His will in layers. He will ask us to take a step of faith in a certain direction, and as we obey, He reveals the next step. Like Abraham, who the Lord told to leave everything and go into a land He would show him. He didn’t know all the details, but he knew he had been called by God, so he obeyed, and became the father of faith. There are many more examples in Scripture of men being called in this way. The article spoke so clearly to me, I forwarded it to Beth and she also was greatly encouraged by it.

Not long after that, I was having a doubting moment again. I was fairly certain at this point that God was calling us, but unsure of the timing. I was driving back to Tri Cities from Sunnyside during work, and I was praying again and asking God, “Really? You really want us to do this thing? I’m wiling to go where you send me. Is it this year, or in 10 years?” Before I could even say “Amen,” my phone rang. It was the City of Sunnyside building inspector. I answered the phone and he says, “Aloha!” I said, “What did you just say?” He chuckled and said, “Aloha! It’s a nice place. Haven’t you ever been there?”  I have never had anyone say that to me in my life, except while we were in Hawaii. But he goes and says it to me, while I’m praying at that exact moment? So I called Beth to tell her about it, and we were both encouraged, knowing that the odds of that being coincidence are near impossible. She hangs up the phone and turns the tv show back on, and the first thing that pops up is a girl who says, “Get ready to go to Oahu!” Beth shouts, “What?!” the girl says a second time, “Get ready to go to Oahu!” There is no possible way to attribute this to happenstance or coincidence.
There’s a pattern here of God giving us direction at the exact time we have a doubt or a question. Honestly, there is much, much more in terms of God confirming this to us over and over again in all kinds of ways. But I think this gives you an idea that it is clearly something God is calling us to.

 

It was getting pretty obvious that things were falling into place for us to actually make the decision to go. The last thing I was waiting for was to see God’s provision. A few people had already offered financial support, but I have no idea what those numbers were, since we hadn’t been really actively seeking support.
But the first step in the process of the financial side is to sell the house. Will it even sell for what we would like to get out of it? I had no doubt that we could sell our house. But will it sell for the right amount? Will God provide the funds beyond that to support our family in Hawaii?

I called a Christian realtor friend of mine, who is a ministry minded guy. I laid out the vision for him and he totally volunteered to sell the house for free, with zero commission. He wanted to do the job as an offering to the Lord. What a blessing! Before we hung up, he said, “I’m so glad you called today.” When I asked him why, he said that he had just been praying, a little bit ago, that very morning, feeling bad about not being faithful in giving to missions lately. He said he asked the Lord, “How can I give to missions? How can I help?” Then I called him! Wow! Every step of the way, the Lord has been setting things up and giving answers and direction to every aspect, just as we needed it. It took some time to sell the house, but eventually it sold. We didn’t make enough money on the sale for me to feel comfortable going just yet, so we decided we would build one more house and sell it as a fundraiser. That is where we are now, with the new house on the market and ready to launch as soon as it sells.

Once we have this house sold, we will be heading out to the next DTS at the YWAM San Diego Baja base, and from there we will head to Honolulu. After completing the prerequisites within the organization, we will be leading our own school and training missionaries.

This is what we understand at this point. God could close the door on the whole thing for another 2 years if He wants to. He could reveal more things to me and expand the vision in ways I can’t forsee right now. I kind of expect Him to as we take more steps of faith. The things He has taught and developed in us over the past two years of preparation have shown me that there very well may be more things He wants to do before we actually go. But right now, it looks like the timing is right, and the door is open.

Will you pray for us? Pray that the house sells. Pray for wisdom. For open doors. For provision. For God to go before us. For us to remain humble and teachable in this process.

Please take a second to visit my website and subscribe to the blog. This way, you will receive updates in your email inbox as things progress, and you will be able to follow us on this journey. I will be using that as the vehicle through which we communicate and update those who support us with prayer and financial support.  Go to www.sowingtheseed.com and subscribe.

Thanks brothers and sisters.

 

May God bless you

Billy Kyllonen and family

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was talking with a friend today about God’s forgiveness, and he posed the argument, “I don’t understand how a guy can run around his whole life, livin like the devil, drinkin and doin drugs, breakin up marriages and all that stuff, and he can lay on his deathbed and still be forgiven. How can he can live like that and at the last second, say a prayer and he’s good? I don’t like that at all. He should have to do some penance and try to make it up to people first.”
Now that is a common question, and an understandable one, especially when he admitted he was the victim of this guy’s misdeeds.
So I explained that he was looking from a human perspective, and it’s hard for us to grasp the love of God. Then I told him that he could understand it better by asking himself how much God has forgiven him of his own sins? (He is guilty of a pretty rowdy lifestyle himself) Immediately he got defensive and shouted incredulously, “Forgive me for what? I ain’t done nuthin!”

Here we have the problem exposed. This poor guy never understood what a complete and utter failure he really is. Jesus said that he who has been forgiven much, the same loves much. (Luke 7) If you don’t think you’re all that bad, and you only look to Jesus to make up for those few areas you fall short, well then you won’t love Him or others all that much.
I was speaking to the older brother of the prodigal son. He had no desire to see someone else receive forgiveness and restoration. He wanted to see judgment.
Jesus also warned us to be careful what kind of judgment we use, for that same judgement we use will be measured back to us. (Matt 7:2) in other words, you will be judged the same way you judge others.

A person who recognizes their desperate need of the Savior, and finds mercy and forgiveness in the blood of Christ, will long to see others find the same grace that they have. That kind of person rejoices when another sinner becomes a saint, even if it’s on a deathbed.
But a Mr. Goody Two-shoes who never says a bad word and always tucks in his shirt, and looks down on those who stumble, will have a hard time when he sees his father show love to a screw-up.
What do you think when you see someone come to Christ? It’s easy to smile when a clean cut, well dressed person wants to join the church, but what do you think when the person who’s sins have developed some notoriety shows up? Although it may be true that they are guilty of crimes you haven’t committed, I’ll bet there are marks on your rap sheet that aren’t on theirs.
Can you show the same love to others that God has shown to you?

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Eph 4:32
“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Col 3:13

We are called to forgive on a level way beyond what our natural self wants to or thinks is right.
It’s a tall order, but you can do it, when you recognize what a scumbag you are and that God forgave you.

The winning of a soul to Christ is cause for a great celebration. In fact, all of heaven rejoices when that happens.
You can get a glimpse of the condition of your heart by how you react when your Father receives a sinner. You don’t want to be the angry, jealous older brother who refuses to come in and celebrate when his lost brother has come home.

You know those times when your eyes meet with a total stranger, and you can either say,”Hello,” or walk by? This morning at the gym I happened to meet met Lou, a 91 year old man who was just leaving. I asked, “How’s it going, buddy?” He gave me a surprised look, and then began to tell me about how he had just unexpectedly lost his 65 yr old son.
We talked about that for a few minutes and prayed together about the whole situation. Then we talked some more about life and death, and he remarked that he has buried pretty much every friend he ever had.
I asked how it felt to know that he had so many people waiting for him, and he said, “If I get there! I’ve done a lot of thing I wish I hadn’t.”
At 91, he had heard and knew the gospel, and even said he believes it, so I gave him the scripture from 1John 1:9, which says that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Then I talked about the fact that, at 37, I too have done a lot of things I wish I hadn’t, but God forgives. “Getting there” doesn’t depend on my performance, but on Jesus’ work at the cross.
Then we talked about his wife, Jorita Irene, and how she doesn’t get around as well as he does, even though she’s 5 years younger, since she has circulation problems in her legs. We prayed for her too, and I also prayed that God would help him trust solely in Christ and give him assurance.
Then, as we parted, I encouraged him to read the book of 1 John. It was written so that we “might know that we have eternal life.”
We both agreed that it was more than “coincidence” that we bumped into each other this morning.

I was looking at one of those missing persons websites today, where they have all these photos of young people who have disappeared, either because they were runaways or were kidnapped. The situation seems so hopeless when you scroll through hundreds and hundreds of faces, and wonder how in the world anyone will ever recognize any of them. It seems so futile.
Then I wondered what would I do if it was one of my own kids? To what extent would I go to find my own son or daughter? Words can’t express the empty, panicked anxiety that I would feel. Any parent can identify with that. I would stop at nothing, spare no expense, spend every waking moment desperately searching to find my lost child. I wouldn’t rest day or night, for how could my eyes find sleep as long as my son or daughter was lost? I would gladly give up all my resources to find them, searching every shelter, every slum, under every bridge. Their face would be on every website, every milk carton, every peg board as I would plead with the world to help me find my child.
My heart became filled with compassion for these parents. and also for the children, who are either enslaved or running away from a place they didn’t feel loved or wanted.

Then I thought of the heart of God and how it must break for the millions of the men and women around the world who are lost, without the Savor. Every one of them is His son or daughter. Whether they are the prodigals, who for whatever reason are running from their Father, or are enslaved by their sins, addictions, or circumstances, God’s love for them burns even more intensely than my love for my own children. Every one of them was created with special purpose and God has paid the ultimate price to redeem them. Jesus paid the ransom with His own blood to bring them home.

From this perspective, it’s no wonder the Bible says that all of heaven rejoices when just one sinner comes to repentance. Have you ever been in a stadium and felt the awesome power of the crowd screaming after a goal or touchdown? Can you imagine that multiplied by a thousand thousands as the whole host of heaven celebrates over one single soul? Wow, God certainly loves us immensely!

Do you want to do something tremendously pleasing to the heart of God? Easily, the most powerful thing that you can do to align your life with the will of God, is to answer the call to become a fisher of men. Jesus said that the Son of man has come to seek and save that which was lost.
God could have chosen to use all sorts of means to spread the gospel, but He has chosen to use US. We are supposed to be the hands and feet of Jesus. God is the Father to the fatherless. Jesus is the friend of sinners. But how does He do it? Through you and me.
But, you protest, you can’t open your mouth. You wouldn’t know what to say. Okay, then support someone who does. Not everyone is called to go out onto the mission field. If everyone was supposed to be going, then there wouldn’t be anyone left to do the sending!
There are missionaries all over the world who need your prayer and support. When you give financially to a missionary, you become a missionary. You take part in the work.

Imagine if it were your child that was lost. What would you be willing to give in order to bring your own son or daughter home?
Could you give just a fraction of that to help reach the world for Christ?
How are you supporting mission work today?

People often tell me that they want to do certain things for God, but they don’t know for sure if they are supposed to. How they can know if they are being called by God?
I’m certainly no expert at discerning God’s perfect will for everyone else’s lives, but there are some biblical principles we can apply.
I was talking today with a local pastor, his wife, and one of his church members who is feeling the call to become a full time missionary, but is still waiting to see how it will work out.

God doesn’t always tell us all of the details when He calls us. When He called Abraham, He simply told him to, “Go into a land I will show you,” without telling him exactly where it would be or how it would all work out. Abraham had very few details, yet he uprooted his wife and all his possessions and wandered into the desert, where God revealed to him, step by step, His will for his life. (Genesis 12) When Abraham took those steps of obedience, God would continue pointing him in the right direction.
But God also told Abraham that he would have a son, and in that case, he had to wait until God’s perfect time for Isaac to be born.

Psalm 37:4,5 tells us to, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” Does that mean God will grant me all my heart’s wishes of a bigger house, better job, or nicer car when I make the demand? Not quite.
When you delight yourself in the Lord, and have your mind and heart set on heavenly things, then God will give you desires for right things and align your will with His. That’s why he says that it is God who is all the while at work in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. God is at work in your heart to conform your desires to His.
According to Eph 5:8, “We are His workmanship, create in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” God already has good works laid out in front of you for you to walk in. Are you? Or do you need to discover what they are?
We are told in 1John 5:14,15, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
When you know that what you are asking is consistent with God’s will, you can move forward in faith.

When God told Abraham to “Go”, He didn’t possess him and uncontrollably force him into action. It was Abrahams will to obey God that motivated him to physically GO when prompted. But when God told Abraham that he would have a son, then all the effort in the world produced nothing until God provided the miracle.
Sometimes God gives you the desire to do something, and when you step out in faithful obedience, all the doors open up and you enjoy immediate success in the Lord.
Sometimes, he gives you a desire, but you have to wait for it. In such cases, let me encourage you with more from David in psalm 37:7 “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.”

Have you received a vision from God for your life, but you’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting but haven’t acted yet? Are you delighting yourself in the Lord? Have you committed your way to Him?
Maybe it’s time to step out in faith!

My brother and I once went out deer hunting in the woods behind our house. He was learning to archery hunt, and I tagged along for fun.
We set up behind some small pine trees on the edge of a clearing, and we were barely there a few minutes when he decided to take a chew.
I held his bow while he dug around for his can of snuff.
As he was taking his sweet old time getting the perfect pinch, a huge buck walked right out in front of us. It was a real trophy.
I was frantically yanking on his arm, whispering, “big buck!,” but he thought I was joking and said aloud, “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” and continued to lolly gag around with his chew.
By the time he finally looked up, the deer was already at the other edge of the clearing, and he only got a glimpse of it before it disappeared into the woods. He gasped in disappointment as he realized he had just missed the opportunity of a lifetime.
It was only about a week later when we heard that another hunter had shot that monster, a 7×7 wall-hanger.

Suppose I bought a new car, and each week I replaced a few parts with identical new parts until eventually I had replaced all the parts. Would it be the same car I originally purchased? The logical answer would be no.
Replacing old parts with new parts changes the identity of an object, but could I say the same thing about people? After all, my body is a continually changing organism in which cells are constantly reproducing and dying off. In fact, it takes about seven years for all of my cells to be entirely replaced.
If that is true, are past pictures of me really pictures of “Me” or are they just pictures of an ancestor who resembles me? Is there any reason for me to fear or look forward to the future if, when the future arrives, it won’t really be “Me”, since the current “Me” will have ceased to exist?
Is there any reason to reward or punish good and bad behavior if the current person is just one link in a chain of successive individuals?
The reason for us to find meaning in or appreciate past experiences, enjoy the present, or look forward to future ones, is if we believe that the “Me” that has those experiences is more than the physical “Me” that is constantly changing. My identity is more than this physical body. “I” am a soul which remains constant through changes in my physical self. My memories are mine because “I” experienced them. My future is mine because “I” will be there.
God has given “Me” the promise of eternal life, and “I” will be there to experience it.
He has promised me a brand new body, fit for the heavens. “I” will take off this current physical body like old clothes, and put on the new one, but it will still be the same “Me” who enjoys paradise with God forever.
Pretty cool concept, dontcha think?