When I went to The Flood, I was expecting breakthrough, but little did I know what it would entail.
The Flood was a week long event preceding the Send missions movement, held in Kansas City, Missouri. During The Flood and The Send, there were lots of worship times, speakers such as Francis Chan and Lou Engle, as well as outreaches each afternoon of The Flood. Before going to the Flood, I was not completely sure what to expect. I knew it was going to be incredible, but what would that look like?
God has brought over 70,000 Afghan refugees to our doorstep. They are dispersed in seven different locations. Possibly 10,000 new arrivals on their way. Preparing them for life in America is an arduous task.
We shouldn't be upset when God moves us and scatters us into the world. Even if we are somewhat in our home culture, we need to remind ourselves that we are outlanders.
A lot of us feel even more disconnected because the world seems so weird now. There is so much turmoil and change. We feel uncertain.
As believers, we should be certain of who we are because as we own our identity, we transform the cultures and places where we are planted. Yet, we remain different from them.
How do we operate among the lost? How do we reach them?
In critical times of persecution and seeing those we love die because of their faith we can be at peace knowing Jesus is Lord over Afghanistan.
"Oh my gosh, THESE are the prostitutes! I didn't even recognize them!"
"I had this revelation one day as I was listening to the kids at our Street Church share their stories. I thought they looked somewhat typical. Just young people running around with backpacks on their backs, except most of them were homeless. We'd see drag queens standing on the street corners in stilettos and short skirts, but the street kids sure didn't fit the stereotype of a prostitute." - Kim Dale
As believers, we understand that part of the commission given to us by Jesus is to go into all nations. With the times we are living in today, it’s not always possible to do what's on our hearts in following Jesus' command.
How is it even possible to be missional in spite of the restrictions we are facing? Though the physical reach of our activity is blocked, and for good reason, our passion to share the love of Jesus with the nations hasn't diminished at all.
Our urban centers around the country have been seeking creative expressions of how to minister. We are so encouraged by their stories and are praying for more!
I was a member of the radical underground. While few Americans remember the tumultuous 60s era in our history, I was right in the middle of it. The hippie movement was at its height, and I fit right in doing drugs and participating in protests and demonstrations in Washington D.C. and elsewhere during the Vietnam War.
It was the drug dealer. He was the reason dozens of cars were lined up in the middle of the street and around the block. Every Friday afternoon his customers would leave their cars running in the improvised drive-thru to run up the rickety staircase in the back alley.
Dave Funke shook his head in disgust. He had seen the apartment where everyone went to score. All of the chaos just added to feelings he could hardly put into words. How was he ever going to make a difference in this crime-infested, impoverished community?
First a confession, I’m just a small town East Texas boy. For generations my family has lived in small towns and farming communities. When I was 19, I was on a YWAM School of Evangelism outreach for two months in the big city of Chicago. You might as well have taken me to Mars.
I drove the bus all through the night to Chicago for a week of city outreach with one of YWAM Tyler’s training schools. I thought I was just a bus driver, but God had some things to teach me about Urban America.
According to a 2015 Pew Research Center estimate, there are roughly 1.8 billion Muslims in the world today, and Islam is supposedly the world's fastest growing major religion. Many Christians have a heart to see Muslims reached with the good news of Jesus, but let's face it, the task can seem daunting. After all, Saudi Arabia isn't where most of us go on vacation, and Iraq isn't exactly in our neighborhood!
