God calls ministers to equip the Church for the work of the ministry. After many years of working in one local church, I experienced what I’ll call an ‘enlargement’ of my view of God’s calling. In preparing mission volunteers for work overseas, we equip the domestic church to do a better job of reaching its own community ed-italia.com. The mission volunteer teams then equip the foreign church to better reach its community for Christ. In both cases, the church is equipped. And, God is glorified through changed lives on the mission field, in volunteer mission teams, and in the domestic church!
The ‘centerpiece’ of my work through EquipUs is the Pastor Training Schools. This began in the city of Barahona, Dominican Republic. We teach 70-85 pastors and our approach is to “Entrust the Gospel to faithful men who will, in turn, entrust it to others.” God has blessed this work and the pastors have been faithful in implementing what they have been taught. Evidence of this is the increase in baptisms among these 50+ churches after one year of work with the pastors: an average of 44%! Currently, the churches are showing an average annual growth rate of 18.5% via baptisms. I believe our Prayer Teams are the first ones responsible for these results. God has answered through American pastors who volunteer to teach, and mission volunteer members who do construction work, medical clinics, sports camps, or any of several mission/evangelism outreach projects concurrent with our Pastor Training Schools. As Henry Blackaby said in Experiencing God, “See what God is doing and join Him in it.” YOU can make an eternal difference in someone’s life.
Recent Posts
Definitions Matter!
Life's Lessons Were Really Taught in Grade School Church would be much more effective and fun if we applied childhood disciplines! What are those? It is apparent very few students encounter the subject of spelling. But I recall writing those spelling lesson words over...
Going To: Church Or Worship?
Isn't worship synonymous with church? Why ask such an odd question? First, clarity in our thinking and definitions leads to greater usefulness in God's Kingdom. Second, answering such questions is a matter of obedience. Really? Yes! Romans 12:1-2 says we are to be...
Blessed: If You Only Knew!
Blessed by God! What is your reaction? My friend Mike always says, I'm blessed, doing better than I deserve. If we believe that, then the cover image should be just the beginning of our reaction when God says we are: Blessed! So it might just make your day to know...
Image Is Everything!
Foreword to: Image Is Everything The teaching and equipping work we do is a huge blessing in many ways. One of those is all the study necessary to put teaching materials together. Those thoughts and ideas are developed and shared with many people, in many places, and...
God’s Rx: Beauty In The Why
Thank You! Two words unlock a beautiful, divine gift. But the gift can only be seen if we refuse to see our Father in our own light. What? Let's start with something we all know and work our way up! Thank You: How we see it As a ministry family, we have received...
Prayer: Taught by the Wish Book
Our boys have summer birthdays that are just a couple of weeks apart. We celebrated those birthdays recently. But in a previous celebration, the conversation turned to the good ol' days. The twenty-somethings asked how Mom and Dad did birthdays way back when. Before...
Mission: Improve Life – The Essential First Step
Is your mission to improve your life! If so, what does that bring to mind? Maybe it's: A newer car or bigger house Maybe you thought of a vacation home Greater investment returns or retirement income. In fact, it might be anything. But if improving life is your goal,...
Your Greatest Blessing: Running From It or Running to It?
What are you running toward? That question was in view during a recent conversation. It's normal for me to have daily conversations with pastors. It is unusual for one to tell me what I heard in this particular conversation. Conversations Teach Us The pastor I spoke...
Happily Ever After: Your Heart’s Desire?
Your heart's desire is...? How do you define Happily ever after...? We learned these 'happy ending' words in Mom's lap with our favorite book of bedtime stories. I heard a 'happy ending' story today. A friend had a heart's desire. It became reality. And the good news...
Unfailing Faithulness Builds a Better You
Does your faithfulness build a better you? It does in part. Think about the songs you know that speak about your Father's faithfulness (Great is Thy Faithfulness, He is Faithful, etc.). Now, what about the fact that God cannot fail at anything He undertakes? Reminds...
Christians’ Cultural Currency
Are you happy with our cultural scene? Do you feel overwhelmed and a little hopeless by what you see? Have you wondered if there is a way to effectively engage in the cultural wars? There are answers to these questions. I think you'll find them helpful! Cultural...
What Does Grace Look Like?
For all you others with a twisted sense of humor, Grace is not 5' 6" with long brown hair and a captivating smile! Our granddaughter is named Grace and if that was the direction of this post I'd just put her picture here. She's cute and I've spent a good bit of time...



