And We're Off!!

Students have arrived, and its time to get this thing started!

The first two days of the OAS went great, and we are excited to get the ball rolling this Monday.  the first two days were spend doing basic orientation stuff, going through our syllabus, etc... We have a great group of six hungry students, and I am so excited to see how this all goes!

First two days were spend going over our course syllabus, orientation,etc..

Handpainted pictures decorate the classroom

Our "OAS Crest" made by one of our staff.  Our room looks great...with a kind of midevil feel to it

 

Talk About a Full Schedule!

As we begin our Outward Apologetics Seminar. I took some time to count the number of hours our students will be involved in different areas.  It is not an exhaustive list, but I think it will give you a pretty good picture of what life will be like for our students over the next seven weeks.

• Students will spend 108 hours in lecture 
• Students will spend 56 hours on the streets doing the Gospel Guy
• Students will spend 7 hours participating in open forum team debates
• Students will spend 3.5 hours in simulated improve witnessing training sessions
• Students will spend 3.5 hours reviewing video clips of apologetics and evangelism
• Students will spend 6 hours in intercessory prayer for specific cults
• Students will spend 7 hours fasting over the course of the school
• Students will spend 28 hours serving on our campus in different capacities
• Students will spend 2 hours doing open air evangelism
• Students will spend 6 hours visiting different cults
• Students will read 2 books over the course of the seven weeks
• Students will lead apologetics/evangelism training sessions for three local churches
• Students will spend 6 hours participating in the ASK curriculum of Ravi Zacharias Ministries
• Students will spend a TON of time in homework assignements

Youth Pastors Olympics Video

Check out our video of our recent youth pastors video.  http://vimeo.com/106764528

Outward Apologetic Seminar is Almost here!

Starting September 25th, we have 6 students arriving for our Outward Apologetics Seminar.  The day is finally approaching! I have been very busy and put a lot of work into forming this school/seminar and cant wait.  Just a brief look into the school for you.  Our students will be living on our YWAM Campus for the 7 weeks of the school.  Every week we have a different speaker coming in to teach on various things such as Truth, Tactics and Defending the faith, Creation/Evolution, the rreliabilityof the Bible, etc...just to name a few.  Our students week is packed full of teaching, outreach, homework, and activities that will all equip them to reach the lost through effective evangelism which gives people dignity, while sharing truth.  One of the activities i am real excited about is one called "Temple Tours".  Every Wednesday, we are taking our students to get tours and interviews of different cults.  They will be going to a Mormon ward, Jehovahs Witness Kingdom Hall, Universalist church, Bahai temple, Christian Science Center, and a Sikh temple.  Its gonna be awesome.  Starting in two weeks, I will be posting a weekly overview on the blog of things going on in the school, as this will encompass our lives until Novebmer 14th when the students graduate!  Please be praying for our students and this school!!

Youth Pastors Olympics 2014

Great day spent with local Youth Pastors at the Olympics

On September 11th, we hosted our 3rd annual youth Pastors Olympics.  It was a great time, and we raised money for a local work here called Serving Our Veterans at Home.  We had 50 guys signed up, but only about half that ended up coming, but fun was still had by all.  Here is a link to the local newspaper that did a small article and video feed on the event.  Take a look!  http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/life/faith/2014/09/12/silly-games-bring-together-area-youth-pastors/15515751/

Wayne Crowder, director of SOVAH (Serving Our Veterans at Home) recieves honor and shares with our local youth pastors.  Great being able to honor vets through this event

Gospel Guy Growing

Bennett, one of our staff, prays for a man who is doubting the existence of God

We would appreciate your prayers as we have been getting more and more interest from local churches who would like to participate with the Gospel Guy.  With my upcoming Outward Apologetics School coming up, we are going to be doing the Gospel Guy 3 days a week with our students, so I will have to put the networking with churches on hold for a bit. But it is clear that we are on the verge of entering a new season with the Gospel Guy.  I am excited to see how we develop the Gospel Guy.  Prayers appreciated.

A Vacation for the Memory Books

Each summer we try and vacation at one of our nations National parks. After living in Russia and traveling in many parts of the world, we realize how privileged we are in this nation to have these amazing parks.   This summer after our busy Mission Adventures season we had planned to drive down to Yosemite and the Redwoods. To make a long story short, out of a 7 day vacation we ended up in Yosemite only two days, spending the rest in obscure small downs stuck in hotels as our van broke down time and time again!  The Redwoods will have to wait for another year.  It was definatley a vacation that we will never forget.  By the way, despite all the stress and issues with the van, we did enjoy the two days in Yosemite...even though we ended up having to take a bus into the park because of the van breaking down!  Fun times!

Kids enjoyed playing and swimming in crystal clear rivers in Yosemite

The family truckster got another badge this summer as we FINALLY got to Yosemite