from the desk of our president:
I have been doing this Global Passion thing for a while now. Since 2001! You’d think I’d get used to how things go.
Not. Even. Close.
It is different every year. This year was our eighteenth summer of sending teams all over the world to preach the gospel and it was different than any other we have done. Not in a bad or weird way, but in the working-for-God-is-never-stale-or-old kind of way. It is as vibrant and alive as ever before.
I can remember clearly that first summer. I led three outreach teams: Ireland, Romania and Fiji. Each one unique yet the same in that young people stepped out of their comfort zone and took the gospel of Jesus to the lost and hurting of this world. There are missionaries out there today that were teenagers on those first trips.
I can hardly wait to see how many missionaries will be someplace in the world 10-15 years from now because of what they experienced and saw as they traveled the world with Global Passion Ministries. We sent teams to Panama, Colombia, Fiji, Costa Rica, Alaska, Vacaville and Orlando. Hundreds of people doing a wide variety of things as our missionaries gave us direction.
It is a key element of a GP trip…serving each missionary God sends us to.
We do not build our own ministry but rather try and meet the needs of the ones God sends us to. Our goal is that our students see missions from the perspective of the missionary. We want them to catch the heart of God for the lost people of this world. We want them to rub shoulders with the heroes of our faith so that they might hear the call of God to serve Him on some foreign field. We don’t do trips for trips sake. As we say quite often around our office it is more than just a trip, we put them on planes and let God do the rest.
Ministering to Girls at risk in Panama. Loving kids in a far north village in Alaska where outsiders rarely come. Doing a VBS with a church plant in Vacaville helping their reputation grow in their neighborhood. Spending quality time with orphans in Colombia and having the kids minister as much to us as we did to them. Women’s ministry was a hit in Costa Rica helping our missionaries there meet needs. We gave away 400 pairs of glasses in Fiji bringing sight as well as preaching the Gospel and seeing people come to Christ.
That never gets old!
We took on a huge undertaking this summer in Orlando as we led the Assemblies of God National Youth Department’s outreach that coincides with National Youth Convention. Two hundred students spread out all over the Orlando area ministering in local churches as well as helping in community centers, doing VBS, yard work for a community transformation non-profit and loving people on the streets of Orlando. That week ended with a partnership with Convoy of Hope in giving away groceries in a needy community. Such a huge blessing. All of these things done by teenagers who gave themselves away for the cause of Christ. I’m blown away at the response.
As we head into 2020 and beyond, it still amazes me all the Lord allows us to partner in doing with Him. I know I can only see the surface of what He has in mind.
The planning has already begun for 2020 outreaches.
One is Reach France 2020. This is in partnership with Jesus Revolution, a ministry out of Norway. I met with their leader about two years ago and we have been given the green light from the Assemblies of God National Youth Department to make this a National AIM trip. We believe God for 500 students to join us as we cover the nation of France with the good news that Jesus loves them and has a plan and a purpose for their lives.
We are also headed back to Fiji in June with our partner Medical Ministries International. We have a new partner on the ground in Fiji that is helping us open doors into the South Pacific, something I have been dreaming of for years.
At the end of July, we head to Columbus Ohio for the AG National Youth Convention and AIM Outreach. We are believing for 1000 Students to help us cover the city with the love of Jesus.
And so much more.
All of these things we do have one purpose: seeing students respond to the call of God to go into the world and preach the Gospel. Your prayer and financial support help us do that very thing. Keep up the good work and we will remain faithful to what the Lord mandated to me so many years ago. Put them on airplanes and take them around the world and let me make missionaries out of them. Make it so Jesus.
Until All Have Heard,
Steve
