OUTWARD APOLOGETICS PROMO VIDEO

As you know, this fall I am pioneering the first ever Apologetics seminar/school here at YWAM Salem.  This is awesome for a few reasons.  First, we have NOTHING like this in our mission at this time...which is actually kind of crazy.  Second, is it is open to the public.  Third, is it will hopefully serve as a prototype for other YWAM bases to begin to pioneer their own Outward Apologetics Schools in the future.  Please take a few minutes to view our promo video at http://vimeo.com/98888373

A Care Giver and a "Good Guy" Come to Christ

This Wednesday we had an amazing time doing the Gospel Guy.  It was great to have our summer High School interns out with us.  Seeing them be challenged to do evangelism and actually being able to be there with them to help and guide them, and even learn from them is a lot of fun.  One lady I spoke to was probably the nicest person you could ever meet, and the kindest...she has been a caregiver for the elderly for 20 years.  She was actually so good that that actually was her problem.  She believed she would be "good" enough to get to heaven.  I shared the Gospel with her and we spoke for about an hour.  Towards the end of our discussion something clicked, and she realized her goodness was not good enough, and that she needed Christ.  She then gave her life to the Lord.  A few minutes after that, we began to speak to a guy who was very similar in his convictions of the lady we met.  Our conversation dealt with much of the same stuff...our Christs righteousness, our works are like filthy rags type of stuff.  He also gave his life to Christ.  What is amazing about this is the huge encouragement it is to our high school interns.  Actually having them see people come to Christ is a testimony to God's amazing faithfulness, and it definitely spurs them on to be more bold with their witness.

The Faces of Oregon Begins!

Lewis and Clark and Sacajawea

To help draw more people to our open air evangelism nights, we started our "Pictures With The Faces of Oregon".  It is a blast.  People just come up, ask us how much, we respond by telling them its free, they then whip out their I phones or cameras, and have a blast taking pictures.  Through this we invite them to the evening meeting times.

Anders and Aidan in the Pioneer Wagon

Aidan picking a fight with Bigfoot

Open Air Evangelism Nights

My buddy Russ and his son Will playing Amazing Grace on the bagpipes

Our open air evangelism times have started at our Riverfront Park on Thursday nights.  So far, it has been a great time, although we did get rained out half way into our time this week.  It has been awesome to see our Mission Adventures students boldly proclaim the Gospel through personal testimonies.  One kid shared at the mic and it was his first time ever getting up in front of a group, let alone in a completely open setting! One evening my pastor friend Russ and his son came out and drew a crowd in by playing bagpipes.  the next time my friend Jeff Martin came and did slight of hand illusions.  He is amazing at what he does and for sure was a hit with the crowd.  We look forward to future evenings doing this!

Jeff "The Curly Haired Magician" shares the Gospel via amazing slight of hand

Aidan volunteers to take part in a magic trick

My Conversation with John Wayne and an Athiest

Me, John Wayne and an Alex the Athiest

One of the outreaches we do hear with our Mission Adventures teams is one we call "Speaking With the Stars".  We have the students take a bunch of life size cardboard cut outs of famous movie stars, rock stars, etc... and they simply interview people on the streets about the particular "stars" life.  Great ice breaker discussion starter type of outreach.  Today, I had John Wayne with me and I ended up speaking about 45 minutes to a guy named Alex who is an atheist.  We had an amazing discussion, and seeds were definitely planted in his heart and mind.  The cool thing is that he works in the mall where we normally do the Gospel Guy, so i for sure will get the chance to talk to him again.  Pray for him please.  FYI...the conversation started when Alex said among a few profanities how much he liked john Wayne because he always put the boots to the bad guys.  I asked him what he meant by bad guys.  Thus started our discussion of how in the world he could say anyone is bad when his belief system allows no room for a moral absolute law giver to tell us what is bad and what is not.  

Two Come to Christ as MA Students Hit the Streets!

Mission Adventure Students sharing the Gospel today

This week we have our first MA group of the summer.  We have been doing training with them the past two days on evangelism, and today we hit the streets with them for a solid six hours doing all sorts of outreaches. It was an amazing time today, as many of the students shared the Gospel for the first time in their lives, and for some icing on the cake two people came to Christ!  The students were able to utilize the training that we gave them and apply in in real life conversations today.  This particular group is really going for it, and stepping out of their comfort bubbles to share the Gospel.

Outward Apologetics Seminar is Coming Along!

I cannot describe how excited I am as each day we come closer to the Outward Apologetics Seminar Iam running here in the fall.  As i mentioned before, we needed to get 6 students to make the school happen and I believe we have, if not a few more!  Putting this school together is giving me new life I tell you!  We even have a local youth pastor who will be doing the school!  If I am not working on Mission Adventures stuff, I have been very busy putting this school together.  it has been a lot of administrative work which is definitely not in my gift bag, but I truly have enjoyed it as it is something I am excited about.  Please continue to pray as i put this together, and please pray for more students!  Take a look at our ad on our base website to become more familiar with this school.  http://www.ywamsalem.org/outward-apologetics-seminar/

Let it Begin!!

It is that time of year again and our Summer Mission Adventures Season is ready to begin!  Next week we have our first group arriving.  This summer it seems we have had a drop in numbers and groups, so our summer is a bit different.  We have a few groups, then a gap or two...then more groups.  This is a bit different from our usual summer when we have group after group every week.  At the same time, I am excited for what I know the Lord is going to do with the groups we do have coming.  Please pray for our summer groups, as well as all the groups participating in Mission Adventures all over the world this summer!

Strawberry Picking Time

Every year around this time we head out to pick strawberries on the weekend.  It is amazing the amount of strawberries you can pick with this large of a work force.  I promise the kids did not eat any while picking.

Revolving Door to the Nations

Graduation and Commissioning Service

Tonight was a double feature at YWAM Salem.  Our Winter DTS had their graduation, and our Spring DTS had their commissioning service.  One group just returned from 10 weeks in Nepal and India, and the other group heads out next week for 10 weeks to Rwanda.  I had the priviledge at speaking in both of these schools on evangelism, as well as having all these students do the Gospel Guy with us during their DTS.  It is literally amazing how many people our campus is able to send into missions.  It is literally like a revolving door to the nations here.  Every three months, new people come, and new people go.  Speaking of the nations, one of the things that literally can stop a YWAM base is the World Cup.  On our campus we have many Brazilians, Mexicans, Europeons, and even some avid soccer fans from America.  So today, at 1:00 pm when most of us should of been working, many of us ended up in the cafe watching Brazil play Croatia.  It's just something you have to do in YWAM when it comes to the World Cup!

A common site all over the world in YWAM...people from all nations watching the World Cup

Is Money Really the Biggest Problem in the World?

As we were doing the Gospel Guy this Wednesday I saw a group of 3 guys hanging around talking.  I decided to walk over to them and ask them if they would like to answer a question.  They were pretty open and said sure.  I asked them what they thought the biggest problem in the world was today.  Two of the guys kind of sat there and thought a bit while one of the guys blurted out that he thought it was money.  I then proceeded to ask him follow up questions as to why he believed that and what he meant.  Before long, the three realized I really did not want to talk about money...I was there to tell them about Jesus.  two of the guys began to "drift off", which usually happens when I witness to groups of people.  when you approach a group, many times most of the group will leave because they feel uncomfortable.  I am okay with that.  Jesus is worth making them feel a bit uncomfortable I think.  Anyway, the young man named Richard who I continued to speak with stayed and I was able to share the Gospel with him.  Praise God, he surrendered his life to Christ rite in front of his friends.  It was awesome.  After we prayed, I looked at his two friends and asked them, "What about you guys?"  They politely said no thanks.  This is the way the Lord works in the hearts of man.  Some are open, some are not.  I love "crowd buster evangelism".  It is amazing how when you share the Gospel with a group of people, although many will shut you out, there is always one whom desires to hear of Christ.

Wyatt Earp and Jesus?

Today I began a conversation with a young 19 year old kid named Tim.  He was a real nice guy, and very open to conversation.  As we began to talk, it was clear that he was seeking truth.  I shared the gospel with him, and used an illustration a friend of mine once shared with me about how God's gift of eternal life is like a Christmas present that we look at Christmas morning and either open it or throw away.  Tim admitted that he treated God's gift like that and rite there he repented and gave his life to Jesus Christ. Another amazing story of god's faithfulness!  Then, as I got his contact info to plug him into a local church body, I found out his last name was Earp.  I looked at him, and he smiled and casually said, "Yes, as in Wyatt Earp.  i am a direct blood relative of Wyatt Earp.  He was my great, great, great, uncle."  I think it was just three greats, but it might of been four.  I was in shock and I we talked about it. Apparently he has proof, family tree type stuff, etc..  So today, on the streets of Salem, OR, the great, great, great, nephew of the famous Wyatt Earp gave his life to Christ.  Now there is a story for the books.  What a God we serve!

Salem...A Melting Pot of Lost Worldviews

Wednesday City Market

This past Wednesday we were at our city market as usual for the Gospel Guy. I wanted to share with you all how many different types of people we spoke with in one day.  It is always amazing to see how much of a melting pot of worldviews the capitol city of Oregon is.  Just in that one block market you see in the picture above, I had discussions with Muslims, Agnostics, Athiests, Jehovahs Witnesses, Christian Science, Wiccans, and Mormons. I was exhausted by the end of the day, and to be honest, feeling a bit heavy spiritually.  My heart was hurting for how Satan has blinded so many.  It is crazy to realize that as nice and quaint as the market looks on the outside, it is literally a battlefield where the forces of light and darkness collide when we share the Gospel.