Reaching All Ages for the Glory of God [Ministry Update]

Share the Good News!

I just returned from a powerful weekend of ministry at our Next Generations Conference at Good News Fellowship Church in Gary, Minnesota. On Friday night, I talked about the need for all generations in the Body of Christ to work together for the glory of God. Every member of the Body of Christ is important, from the youngest to the oldest. By working together, we can receive the unique benefit from all ages.

on Saturday night, with a fun family event for all ages. We started out with a pizza party and then a talent show featuring country music, comedy from Lena (of Ole and Lena fame), puppeteering, a youthful accordion performance and more. This was followed up with some contemporary praise and worship and a message from Pastor Tom Ramsey of Thief River Falls, Minnesota. It was an awesome night! Kids were dancing! Parents were touched! Families were brought closer together! Adults were praying for children. Children were praying for adults. There was good preaching, good praising, and God was glorified!

When Susan and I began our ministry in nearby Twin Valley, Minnesota in 1983, Tom Ramsey’s family was a part of our church. He was three years old at the time. Now, 35 years later, we are working together to bring the Good News of the Gospel to young, old, and in between. Tom Ramsey’s message on “Our Identity in Christ” hit the mark with every age group. He used some props which helped the children engage, but I heard comments from teens and older adults that the message greatly ministered to them.

During that meeting, I had a word from the Lord about family problems. There were two main thoughts. First, even God has family problems, so don’t condemn yourself over divisions in your family. Second, God’s answer to His family problems is to forgive and seek reconciliation. As the scripture says, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their sins against them, and has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:19, MEV. Likewise, we need to forgive family members, even if they have done wrong, in order to bring healing.

The meetings in Gary really stirred my heart, and opened my understanding to a powerful paradigm of ministry. I saw that we can have a Family Fun Night, with something for all ages. The children love it, because they love the attention. The adults love it, because they are touched by the excitement of the young people. Then we can preach the Gospel and minister by the Holy Spirit, and God will do miracles. We do not always need to divide everyone up by age groups to have successful ministry. We can reach more people in less time, with less workers, and with less money. This is something that we can implement in our evangelistic ministry, and can also be regularly utilized by local churches. Check below for more photos from the Next Generations Conference.

Read my article, “Reaching the Next Generations for the Glory of God.”

Younger and Older in the Believers School of Ministry

We have been seeing a similar pattern in our Believers School of Ministry. Even though the teaching sessions often go well over an hour, we are seeing young people intimately involved and impacted. At our recent class in Mankato, we had students ranging from 11 to 81. One of the children in our Mankato class wrote these words in large letters on the back of the class evaluation, “This class has meant everything to me. It has given me confidence for my purpose in life!!!!!!” Pretty profound for a 12-year-old boy! Similarly, we saw a variety of ages in our Believers School of Ministry that we held last fall in Tolna, North Dakota, as well as the classes we held by Skype in a nation in India.

Read the full report on the “Mankato Believers School of Ministry Ignites Gospel Fires” here.

On another note from our Believers School of Ministry which we held via Skype in India, Pastor Deva reports that since the classes, God has been using him in the healing ministry. He said that through the classes, he became convinced that God’s will is healing. He has been stepping out and seeing results. This was very exciting to me, because during the classes, I had given him a word from the Lord that he was going to begin move in the ministry of healing in a much greater way.

Touching a Church & Region in North Dakota

In April, Susan and I had tremendous meetings at Prairie Faith, a church in Glenfield, North Dakota. I spoke three messages on Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today and forever.”

Jesus Christ Yesterday—in creation and the Old Testament
Jesus Christ Today—the miracle worker in the Gospels and in 2018.
Jesus Christ Forever—the glorified Christ in the book of Revelation and in eternity.

Susan had a powerful Women’s Brunch on Saturday which drew ladies from around the region. There was laughing, there was crying, but most of all there was edification, and a perceivable burden was lifted off of many who came. Prairie Faith touched our hearts and we look forward to more ministry in the northern reaches of the Upper Midwest.

Looking Ahead!

This month, I will be travelling to England and Wales, attending a conference of the International Gospel Outreach (IGO) in Cornwall, England and a Revival School of Ministry in southern Wales. I’ll be ministering once again to the Roma Gypsy people in the Midlands of England, and traveling to north Wales to meet with pastors and to spy out the land for future ministry. Please pray with me for divine connections for God’s glory and that revival fires would be lit that will never go out, in Jesus name.

Read the missions report from our last trip, “Reach England and Reach the World” here.

I will be returning to Benin, West Africa in January 2019 for two large open-air festivals and a leaders conference. Susan is planning to go with me. I am also excited to share with you that we have begun the work of translating my book, “You Can Touch the World” into French, which is the language of Benin and 30 other African nations. By God’s grace, we plan to have 1,000 copies of the book printed for this outreach. Please begin to pray with us for this exciting opportunity!

Read the missions report from our last trip to Benin here.

Thank you for Sending Us!

The Bible says “how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent?” (Rom 10:14-15, partial) You are “sending” us through your prayers, financial support and encouragement. For that, we are very thankful. Check out our audio podcast, “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work.” It’s a great message for families, for churches, and for world evangelism. Together, we do better, we do more, and we go farther. Please send along your prayer requests as well. Susan and I count it a privilege to pray with you concerning the needs in your life.

P.S. Susan wanted me to tell you that we have ten new lambs here on the farm this spring (two sets of twins and two sets of triplets). Two of them were born while I was away for the Next Generations Conference, so Susan was able to help momma with her little lambs.