This week began my ministry up in Northern Minnesota and Fargo. I spent the week traveling with Mike, another coordinator in IWT, and Marty, the National Director of IWT, across the northern part of Minnesota. We picked up Marty from the Minneapolis airport, and then went to Duluth, and worked our away from Duluth across the state of Minnesota to the Fargo/Moorhead area. It was an awesome week of meetings.
The purpose of our trip was to start having some of the initial conversations in communities across the state about getting ready for the tour towards the Fall of 2011 and the Spring of 2012. In Duluth, we were able to meet with some key youth leaders and the director of Youth for Christ (YFC), as well as a very respected church leader. The conversations were very fruitful, and there seems to be a lot of excitement growing in the area for the tour and the discipleship process we hope to form. We also had a meeting just outside of Duluth in a small town called Cloquet, which had a similar tone to the meeting, and we even saw an open door into the indian reservation in town, which is really exciting.
After our meetings in Duluth we drove to the Hibbing/Grand Rapids area, which is known by some as the Iron Range of Minnesota. We had two meetings, one in Hibbing and one in Grand Rapids. Both meetings saw a lot of growth as the communities began to engage with each other about discipleship and prayer. The coolest thing about the meetings had to be how God communicated to us before hand in prayer exactly what happened in the meeting. In one of the meetings it seemed we were going a little of course. Normally that would have been a little disconcerting, but it was communicated to us through our team back in Kansas City that this would happen, and that we were not to be worried, but instead go to prayer with the leaders of the community. That is exactly what we did, and through the prayer God brought us back on course and broke through. It is cool to see how when you leave things to God how He is always faithful to come through in the end.
The final stop was in Fargo, which is the city/area that is moving the fastest out of the entire region. I got to meet the local steering for the first time on Friday, and it was so encouraging to be in the meeting. The people in Fargo have such a dedicated heart to Jesus and the Kingdom. To see how the Lord has grabbed them and is moving them along is awesome, and they have such a dedicated heart to discipleship, prayer, and the power of God, which are some major themes that God has been speaking to us as a team, which is another display of God's faithfulness. He has called us as a ministry to focus on prayer, discipleship, and to go in His power, and now has brought us to a communicty that has such a heart for all three of those areas. That is so awesome!
After all of our meetings we drove back to Minneapolis to drop Marty off at the airport, and then Mike and I high tailed back to Kansas City to miss the huge storm that went through the area, and we made it just in time. Now we are back in Kansas City, and working on some preliminary projects until Mike and I move up to Fargo on the 18th of January to be the ground forces so to speak for the ministry. Until then we are working on getting a Discipleship Seminar organized, a banquet put together, the local exec board assembled, getting more churches aware and partnering with the tour, trying to find venues for the events, as well as finding housing and an office for Mike and I. So, we have a decent amount of work to do.
With all of this I am super excited to start working up there. I feel that through out the week God gave me a lot of vision for the area, as well as a sense of expenctancy and excitement for what He is about to do up there. One point the ministry has really been working on is forming nets of discipleship to catch all of those who come to faith at the events. God has really spoken to us about building a lasting structure for the communities to work with once we are gone, and we believe those nets will take the shape of what we call neighborhood networks, in which we empower all of the believers to turn there households into outreach centers for their neighborhood. In essence, every Christian's home will become a hub in that neighborhood for prayer, bible study/discipleship, outreach, and nurturing. Our hope is that we can begin to unite the Christians in every neighborhood regardless of chuch and denominational lines to begin to unite together to pray for strategy and wisdom in how to reach their neighborhoods for the Kingdom. The vision is what is exciting most of the area, so we are excited to see this vision take root and really flourish, because we believe this is what will produce lasting fruit
As a result, God has talked ot me a lot about discipleship and training the local church, which speaks right to my teachers heart. I love teaching and discipling, so I am pumped for that. Although, this has had a strong focus on targeting the youth and young adults of the area, and training them to form these centers in their high schools and campuses. I would love to see a revival among this younger generation, and from the sounds of it God has something up His sleeve to do just that in Northern Minnesota, and I cannot wait to see what is and be a part of it.
After all of that excitement I came home yesterday and just crashed, which was good. I just relaxed and spent some time with God, that was until my room mate and friend Cassi wanted to get a movie, so we went out to get one. On our way to the Red Box I over looked a curb and busted out my tire, which we changed out for the spare in the middle of blistering cold winds. However, the moral of the story is now I need a new tire, and I am looking for the finances to do that. If you could help with the repair of my new tire you can donate below by clicking on the button and giving into my paypal account. It would be extremely appreciate and is needed.
I just want to thank you all for supporting me through your finances, thoughts, and prayers. Everything I do is because of you guys, and I am so thankful to have such a good group of friends and family who allow me and go with me to do the work that God has called me to. I am praying for you and love you. If there is anything I can specifically pray for please let me know! God bless!
Also if you want to partner in prayer here are a few prayer points.
1.) First, is that God would release the funds needed to get out of debt from my colleges loans, which are a huge hindrance to my ministry right now.
2.) Strategy and wisdom for the leaders in Minnesota/Fargo who are beginning to prepare their churches and the community for the tour in the fall of next year
3.) Safety and protection for all of the IWT who are traveling through out the holidays
4.) Strategy and wisdom for IWT staff as we seek to make some adjustments in the ministry to make prayer and discipleship a stronger focus in the ministry.
5.) Revelation for all of the staff into the Kingdom and love of Christ, which is our motivation for everything.
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