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
Love’s Prayer
The Prayer Love Makes When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, we know Jesus' response as The Lord's Prayer. Were they looking for a 'formula' in order to get prayer 'right' every time? Probably. Do we do the same thing? So let me ask, what kind of prayer...
Is It Good?
There are two sets of 10 Commandments in the Bible! Seriously. You'll remember the ones that start with Thou shalt or Thou shalt not and maybe Cecil B. Demille's reverberating 'G-a-w-d' voice. Regular readers may also remember we have taught Genesis in sessions of the...
Prayer: Practicing His Presence
In various speaking engagements I am asked what we teach in EquipUs Pastor Training School. We have taught a course on spiritual formations. One of the topics in that course is the discipline of prayer. What follows is adapted from the syllabus we used. Many thanks to...
Kinks and Links
Lessons are all around us, in every season. My wife gets happier as the days grow longer and spring is almost here. I recently moved a water hose and yes, it had kinks in it. Ever squeeze the trigger on your spray nozzle and watch the water just drip out? Why? There...
Know You’re Broken? Celebrate!
I've learned so much from Backyard Lessons. My wife does her creative, green-thumb-thing and I often see the lessons in it. This installment is really a follow-up to Church: Pretender's Playground. Why? Because there are too many people in the Church who need to stop...
Rescue
Rescue? Who Me? Click on the line and listen to Lauren Daigle - Rescue. Who needs a rescue? Who needs a rescuer? I don't need a rescue but I will rescue someone else! Really? This blog is about Loving God and Loving People. We look at First Commandment love meeting...
412, Prayer & Praise
What does 412 have to do with prayer, praise and EquipUS? Were there children at your house Christmas who were beside themselves with excitement? That's an accurate description of me. But my excitement comes from things much more important than gifts under the tree!...
Prayer: Passion for His Purpose
What is your purpose in prayer? Should it always be one thing? Might it be multiple things? In Prayer: Practicing His Presence we took a look at the Lord's Prayer. That post was taken largely from a study guide for the EquipUs Pastor Training School. So is this one!...
Sentimentalism
Lack Of Critical Thinking Leads To Wrong Conclusions Our society suffers from a growing scarcity of critical thinking. Simultaneously, sentimentalism is rising rapidly. Sentimentalism leads people to believe God sees the earth and all human affairs through a hole like...
Wanted: Zeros – Not Heroes
People doing short-term missions are not heroes! Can they do good work? Yes! Is that work needed? Yes! Should you engage? Absolutely! What should you leave at home? The hero mindset. Why is that important and what should you take instead? Short-term Missions: Jesus'...
Prayer: Maker’s Primer
Prayer that is big, bold, and beyond was our subject two days ago. In a previous post, we looked at the Manufacturer's Specifications for prayer. This post will: examine (not exhaust) more thoughts in that line Share the current need for big, bold prayer Ephesians...
Prayer: The Manufacturer’s Specifications
Think about this: Prayer is God's idea! That's a no-brainer, right? Now consider the following: God is Sovereign over all that is, was, or will be There is nothing God does not know He knows our thoughts before we think them He knows the motives behind our thoughts He...



