Blog Archives

Sometimes deciding to go on a mission trip is not the biggest challenge to getting to the field, it’s actually overcoming the obstacles that come up once you or your group decide to go. I see this over and over again..if the enemy can’t stop you from going, he will throw everything at you to hinder you getting there. (more…)

Years ago, I was called to a church as Director of Christian Education, and I worked with the youth.  Other Bible teaching churches in our community had big gymnasiums and youth centers and fantastic, established youth programs.  We couldn’t compete, so I decided not to try.  I began working with our teenagers by encouraging them to go to the great programs at our sister churches and enjoy what they had to offer.  Then, bring their friends back to their home church, because we were going to do something totally new, something unique.  We were going to teach them to serve. We knew how to equip them for service in the name of Christ. (more…)

Out of our experience with orphans in Sunrise ministry (HIV Program), the mission is not ours but God’s. Mission is in the heart of God and He is the one who does the work us. Human beings are only agents or facilitators of the work of God.

Please, let me share a story of one of the boys seen above.

This boy is now 4 years old and is in 1st grade. His mom fell in a river and died when he was two months old and was left with his step grand-mother. In fact, I am the one who officiated his mom’s funeral because she was our church member. He has one brother who is also living with him. He has some mental challenges which we are yet to know from a doctor. (more…)

At age 13, I knew I wanted to be a football coach.  From then through the present, I’ve never doubted, never wavered in that desire.

All my coaches, in all sports, from junior high to college have had a positive influence on me, both in the teaching of carryover values (ex.:  excellence in preparation, organization and planning, hard work, stewardship of gifts and talents, personal relationships, respect for the dignity of others, teamwork, etc., etc.).  Soon after becoming a student assistant football coach at DePauw University, and later as a graduate assistant football coach at Oklahoma State University, I began to realize more fully the opportunity God gives coaches for generational transfer (passing on the purposes and ways of God to future generations). (more…)

As Christians, we tend to get so caught up in doing that we can forget the most important thing – the Father’s love.  When we get saved, we are told that we are well and that we need to make disciples for Christ. This statement is only partly true, because yes we do have access to everything we need to be well and make disciples for Christ, but we are only at the beginning of the journey. (more…)

I’ve often think about how much my first foreign mission trip changed my life. It was back in 1979, but it still resonates in my heart, almost daily. Needless to say, it dramatically impacted my life, and my family’s life. COI was born out of that trip, even though we did not know it at the time.

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