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
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!
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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...
The Promise – Resourcing the Mission
What is your mission? How many do you have? How can you accomplish them? Your Missions When I say Resourcing the Mission most people probably think in terms of a short term EquipUs mission trip to some far off place. We do resource that kind of mission. But Christians...
What now, God?
Our work of Equipping For Life is applied on the mission field. But how many other areas of life, or stages of life, are better lived if we are equipped to meet them? That’s what I found so interesting about Mandy Horne. She also equips others! Mandy is the founder of...
Spiritual Warfare: Always With Us
It's tempting to provide a discourse on spiritual warfare. But that would require books, not a blog post! Instead, I'm going to put one current battle into perspective. If we learn something in the process, all the better! Spiritual Warfare: Always With Us We have a...
Life’s Storms – A Survival Guide
We all know about life's storms. That's why we need a survival guide! Man's question is an ancient one: Why is there pain and suffering in our world? I think the question goes as far back as Cain and Abel. Why them? Well, Adam and Eve knew what things were like before...
Are We There Yet?
I have great experience with road trips and children, and youth! And on every trip there's always a repeated question: Are we there yet? When Jesus walked across the sea and revealed Himself to His disciples, two things happened: They eventually recognized Him They...


