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
Missions: A Matter of …
Evangelism and missions is a matter of ... Several answers are possible. It might be a matter of volunteers. That is certainly high on the list because projects wouldn't get done if people didn't volunteer to go. Some would say it's a matter of money. It would be...
The Grace Factor: A Challenge
God's grace is more than we can comprehend. I have attempted to shed a little light on just one magnificent expression of His grace. It was challenging to begin the process in an engaging manner. I want to wrap it up with God's challenge to us and my confession to...
When Is Communion Almost Funny?
Churches have their 'routines' for observing Church ordinances. In the church I served some years ago, preparation for the Lord's Supper was done by the deacons. The deacon chairman was responsible to get a team of men together for this task. This particular year,...
Romans 8, Kirsten And The God Of All Comfort
Valuable connections are so helpful - when or if we can see them. That's my intent here. First, I'll help you connect a couple of well-known verses: Romans 8:28 and II Corinthians 1:3-4. Then, there are applications of the connection made. Finally, you'll see a very...
Questions For Learning
An orator, preacher, or attorney will want to frame a question properly. How and when questions are asked lends impact to their answers. Recurring questions also point to undiscovered facts. Questions are tools for learning. Jesus asked questions and invited those...
Conquering Culture: A Kingdom Requirement
Do you remember the story, The Emperor's New Clothes? A smooth talker convinced the monarch of the absurd. The shyster said he could weave a fabric so fine it could hardly be felt. The Emperor wound up parading around with no clothes. Know what's worse than that? All...
Gaius: Seizing Opportunity
We are still in need of Helping Hands for this year's mission projects. Specifically, we need volunteers to help build churches in the Dominican Republic and in Belize. I’ll have several things to share about that here on the blog, the newsletter and elsewhere. Just...
Epic FAIL – Epic Goodness
God's goodness is evident on so many levels. And when we have those near-miss moments (like my epic fail) we are reminded of just how good our Father is! There is some humor in my failure. I am not offended if you smile because I survived and God is good! However,...
2 Life-Changing Priorities
Message From La Romana Insight has a way of showing up in the most unexpected places. Our ROW mission team was blessed with great insight during a home ministry visit in La Romana (see Keith Burnett Ministries Facebook post). A bit of perspective comes from the New...
Your Scent – Own It!
II Corinthians 2 - It Smells Like Money? Images communicate powerfully. Jeremiah asked, Can a leopard change his spots? The image illustrates the question, Can evil change itself to good? You can't change what you are. And if you are looking for joy in life, stop...
How to Say, I Love You
A young lady returned to work after lunch one day to find flowers and a note on her desk. She opened the note and read, I love you, then promptly ripped the note in half and tossed it and the flowers in the trash can. She had just found out that her boyfriend was...
The Promise – Resource for Renewal
You have been given everything you need! That's not just a statement. It's a promise! How do I know? As we saw in the last post, our Father cannot lie. In Ephesians 1 we read: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every...


