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
Easter: What Did You Lose?
Easter: The Losses As a follower of this devotional blog, you will probably hear a good Easter sermon. It's likely you will hear about the gains of Easter. That's a good thing. We gained much in Christ's victory over death. But what did you lose? Do you think about...
A Great Motivational Speaker?
Hear For Free - Perfect Motivational Speaker Imagine you have a bought a ticket to hear a great motivational speaker. You walk into the long-anticipated event and the great speaker says, "I've got the right to tell you what to do!" How would you react? What if you...
First Loved
We love God because He first loved us - I John 4:19 That short statement says a great deal about God. It also says a great deal about us. And it speaks volumes about what our Father can say in so few words! First Loved - A Reminder This short, simple verse is a...
Love’s Prayer
The Prayer Love Makes When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, we know Jesus' response as The Lord's Prayer. Were they looking for a 'formula' in order to get prayer 'right' every time? Probably. Do we do the same thing? So let me ask, what kind of prayer...
Is It Good?
There are two sets of 10 Commandments in the Bible! Seriously. You'll remember the ones that start with Thou shalt or Thou shalt not and maybe Cecil B. Demille's reverberating 'G-a-w-d' voice. Regular readers may also remember we have taught Genesis in sessions of the...
Prayer: Practicing His Presence
In various speaking engagements I am asked what we teach in EquipUs Pastor Training School. We have taught a course on spiritual formations. One of the topics in that course is the discipline of prayer. What follows is adapted from the syllabus we used. Many thanks to...
Kinks and Links
Lessons are all around us, in every season. My wife gets happier as the days grow longer and spring is almost here. I recently moved a water hose and yes, it had kinks in it. Ever squeeze the trigger on your spray nozzle and watch the water just drip out? Why? There...
Know You’re Broken? Celebrate!
I've learned so much from Backyard Lessons. My wife does her creative, green-thumb-thing and I often see the lessons in it. This installment is really a follow-up to Church: Pretender's Playground. Why? Because there are too many people in the Church who need to stop...
Rescue
Rescue? Who Me? Click on the line and listen to Lauren Daigle - Rescue. Who needs a rescue? Who needs a rescuer? I don't need a rescue but I will rescue someone else! Really? This blog is about Loving God and Loving People. We look at First Commandment love meeting...
412, Prayer & Praise
What does 412 have to do with prayer, praise and EquipUS? Were there children at your house Christmas who were beside themselves with excitement? That's an accurate description of me. But my excitement comes from things much more important than gifts under the tree!...
Prayer: Passion for His Purpose
What is your purpose in prayer? Should it always be one thing? Might it be multiple things? In Prayer: Practicing His Presence we took a look at the Lord's Prayer. That post was taken largely from a study guide for the EquipUs Pastor Training School. So is this one!...
Sentimentalism
Lack Of Critical Thinking Leads To Wrong Conclusions Our society suffers from a growing scarcity of critical thinking. Simultaneously, sentimentalism is rising rapidly. Sentimentalism leads people to believe God sees the earth and all human affairs through a hole like...


