I’ve been re-reading a book that my husband Richard and I read when we planted the church ReaLity in Greenville, South Carolina. No Compromise is the life story of Keith Green written by his wife, Melody Green. It tells the story of how Keith and Melody came to believe in Jesus and then follow Him.

Something about their story and Keith’s music resonated within us as we were ministering to young people in Greenville. Not only were Richard and I drawn to Keith Green’s life and song, but the people in our church were as well. His songs were raw, deeply moving, and full of the Holy Spirit’s anointing. Keith’s story changed us. We were challenged to live fully surrendered and love sacrificially.

It was July 28, 1982, exactly 35 years ago to date (at the writing of this blog post), when Keith Green and others took off from an airstrip, almost in walking distance from where I am sitting now, and left the earth behind never to return. The airplane accident that took the life of singer-songwriter Keith Green, shook the lives of the evangelical Christian community around the world.

WARNING SIGNS: Are your kids looking at Porn?

Having a hard time figuring out how to have a conversation with your child about sex, pornography, and sexual purity? We want to encourage you… just do it. Start right now!

If you feel like you missed your opportunity, it's never too late. It might be more serious than you think and you are your child's gatekeeper.

Family Discipleship and missions changed our Lives

Our family has always wanted to serve the Lord in radical ways, and we have been involved in many different kinds of ministry⏤including short-term missions.

We felt the Lord pulling on our hearts to do something different with our lives. We visited my daughter who serves as a missionary with YWAM in Idaho. Her Discipleship Training School was the start of her journey in missions.

We wondered, “God, could we do something like this as a family?”

Committing Our Family to Following Jesus

My pathway into missions started at the age of 14 when I moved to Budapest, Hungary with my parents so they could fulfill their dream of overseas ministry.  

God said "Go", I said "No" 

What if God asked you to go? To leave everything⎼your house, job, friends and family to follow him into the unknown? What would you say? Well, I can tell you what I said, "NO!"

Plans Have Suddenly Changed, But Don’t Panic

My family and I were happy about our next missions adventure.  We had an incredible experience in Brazil, several months earlier, as part of our YWAM Tyler training school outreach.  Now we were preparing for ministry in Turkey and Spain.  Little did we know a viral storm was brewing that would very suddenly, change our plans.

Enter the COVID-19 crisis.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE FAMILY DTS

What if you could spend the best years with your children discovering God's purpose for your family? If you could do something amazing with your entire family, and you knew you couldn't fail, what would you try?

Taking a step toward a family discipleship program is not only possible, it could be the best decision for your family's destiny.

Josh Barnes and his wife Faraday came to YWAM Tyler, Texas, for the Family DTS. They came with five kids in tow: three boys⎼12, 11, and 9 and two girls⎼7 and 4. Living in community, diving into their relationship with Jesus, and growing stronger as a family was just the beginning of their experience.

As I prepared for my guest appearance on the radio talk show last weekend, though I felt nervous, I could not help but be amazed by God’s care for me … again!

One of the things I have always desired for my kids is for them to know God . . . like really know God. I don't want them to just read about Him in the Bible or hear about Him in other people's stories. I want them to walk and talk with Him for themselves. They've always had a relationship with Him for sure, but honestly, prior to 2012, they had only "experienced" Him as much as suburban America allowed.

Gigi and I met in ministry in Brazil and were best friends. Now, we still are best friends and married too! When we first started talking, we realized we had the same dream: to be a family in missions and a lighthouse to other families. We didn't know yet what our family would look like, but we committed that to Him.