Friday, November 14, 2008

April 4-11th I will be leading a team from Road to Life Church to Dominican Republic! Update: Team is full


Click play on the above video to view photos from YWAM's recent outreaches to Dominican Republic.

Trip Update:
Because of an amazing response with in the first week, all 25 seats on our airline reservations are taken. I am sorry to announce that our trip will not be taking additional applicants.

This spring I will spend my vacation focusing on the needs of others in the Dominican Republic.
Imagine the bright smiling faces, joyous laughter and loving embraces as we meet the Dominican people, amazed at the joy in which they embrace life, even though many are poverty stricken. How blessed they will truly be when they encounter the love of God.
Through my team of youth and adults, they will receive love, not just from us, but from the One Who gave it to them. Our first desire will be meeting their physical needs and providing them with some stability for the future through building homes, painting, food distribution, teaching children, providing water, etc. This will give each of us the opportunity to speak into their lives and share with them the love of Jesus Christ.
Last year, teams built a kitchen for a school so the students could receive the proper nutrition to stay awake in class. In this tangible way, over 160 students, as well as their families, felt the impact of Christ's love.
Through your support of my trip to the Dominican Republic, we together can have an eternal impact on these needy lives!

Trip Update: I am sorry to announce that our trip will not be taking additional applicants.

$100 Due before December 1st -
Application and Deposit*
$900, Jan. 19, 2009 -
1st Payment**
$300,March 2, 2009 -2nd Payment**

$1300
 = Total Trip Cost (reduced from $1400!)

*Due to limited airline availability only the fist 25 deposits of $100 were guarantee a spot on the trip at this price. Deposits have been processed in the order that they are turned into Deb, at the RTL church office. (standard office hours apply)

**All payments must be made to Road To Life Church, and clearly include the name of the participant and the designation of "Dominican Mission Trip"

Applications can be downloaded by clicking here.

Passports copies must be turned in with application or by Jan 19th.
If you don't have a passport you must start this immediately due to 6 week processing time! Start passport process by clicking here.

If I can answer any questions please call Creagon's Cell 407.492.0098


Tuesday, November 04, 2008

England to Michigan in 7 days!

I just got off a 10 hour flight from London last Friday, and now, one week later, I will be flying to Michigan (Nov. 7-17). I look forward to spending a week thanking all the people who have been so committed in supporting what God is doing through me. As well, I see this week as a chance to invite new people to join my support team. If you would like to be a part of this team please let me know. (Phone 407.492.0098)

Communicating With Future Leaders

Every month thousands of people come to ywam.com looking to find their way into world missions. It is my privilege to help these people find the answers to their questions.
Every so often I get a letter from someone thanking me for the role I have played in their life. Many of these people are from various places around the world serving full-time in missions.
While I was in England (click to see video slide show) attending meetings about this very type of communication, one of the leaders I met showed me such a letter:

"I was 18 years old, ready to go full-time with another mission organization and then found out God had other plans for me... I was crushed and lost. A friend told me to check out YWAM... so I found ywam.com, wrote them and asked them [for a YWAM location] in the Czech Republic. Right away, they got back to me, told me they [had] just heard about the first DTS in Czech and gave me their contacts- I wrote them, applied, and was accepted as the first student ever in Czech.
This was all from ywam.com. They responded and helped where they could... it was absolutely life-changing for me... I would not be where I am today, doing what I am doing, if it was not for those guys and how they took the time to help me in my time of wondering!!!"

Today, she is an international leader focusing on communicating the Gospel in some of the least reached parts of the world. Thank you for helping me mobilize the next generation of leaders!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Fairwell to England

The last sight of Brittish shores

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Flying to London England

Last spring the international chairman of YWAM, Lynn Green, asked me to join a meeting of minds in Kona Hawaii. Today, I depart for the YWAM base in Harpenden England (just north of London) to continue the conversation we started six months ago. I look forward to sharing in more depth all we do at YWAM Orlando to draw this next generation into missions with the team assembled there. As always I appreciate your prayers, especially as the issues discussed may effect literally hundreds of thousands of potential missionaries. (Photo: Creagon and Lynn this spring at the YWAM base in Kona Hawaii)

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Guess who made the front page of the newspaper











To read the article from the Samford Crimson Follow the link below.

UMin calls Samford students to go global - News
-Junior international relations and Spanish double major Hannah Joiner visits with representatives from Youth With A Mission at the Go Global Missions Emphasis fair held yesterday.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Finding God's Messengers on University Campuses

"I want to get in to missions, but I just don't know how"
"YWAM goes to South Africa? I want to go to South Africa and work with children. Can I do that?"
"Thanks for sharing your story. It helps me know that this (Missions) is really possible"

Today I got to meet and chat with the students of Samford University. Each student that stopped buy our display for the missions emphasis week wanted to make a difference in their generation, but many needed to understand what their first step would look like. I trust that with their drive to impact our world and the information I got to share today they will take action. I got to meet one student who met our YWAM team last year at this event. She will be departing for training in a few months before she spends time reaching out to the least reached people of South Asia. She is proof and encouragement that I must continue to search and find God's next generation of messengers among our university campuses.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Effective Funding for Experinced Misisonaries

Imagine being told that with in the next 3 months you would be overseeing a budget ten times greater than what you are currently operating on. To most of us this sounds too good to be true or the work of a freak chance like finding the winning the lottery ticket on a sidewalk, but for one team of dedicated missionaries this may be their new reality.

Last week I traveled to a YWAM center in an urban community to teach biblical principals of raising financial sponsorship and support to the local staff team. Many of this team have been struggling to get buy on only enough income to pay for very simplistic community style housing and donated food.

Many of God's dreams and visions for this team were consistently dismissed and thought impossible because nearly all of their funding was being absorbed by the most basic needs of life and so little was left for reaching out effectively with the Gospel.

It was my goal in a 5 day visit to help these dreams become possible again. I challenged each of the full time volunteers to create a budget based on the amount needed to be effective, not on the amount currently available. Only then was the true disparity between a mindset of Effectiveness and Poverty revealed.

By the end of last week I was amazed to see a visible glow in the eyes of each team member. God given inspiration that was once abandoned, now filled the spirits and minds of a revitalized team. Unique ways to reach out to the most oppressed of our nation with the love of Jesus once again filled the hopes of these experienced missionaries.

To be sure, there is still much work to be done before each of these visions are fully funded by committed sponsors, but a new paradigm has been discovered and a shift in thinking. There is now a marked feeling of measured optimism leading to the setting of achievable goals. I am quite certain that I will get to see astounding growth during future visits as the experience of these dedicated workers and the freedom of effective funding now will combine to share the truth of Christ in a very needy urban neighborhood.

Thank you, For your help allows me to experience the freedom of effective funding!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Flying IN Richmond VA

Michael Berg and I are teaching about financial sponsorship to the staff of YWAM Richmond Virgina. While there I got to experience one of the tools that they use to train missionaries in team work...
The HIGH Ropes Course!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Living with the Guys!

I'm living with 11 guys in a small 4 bedroom house! We represent 5 nationalities, Nigeria, Korea, Finland, Norway, and the USA. 9 of them are just starting their journey into world wide missions. For the next 12 weeks they will experience intense dicipleship training through our DTS at YWAM Orlando. Teachers will fly in from across the globe to spend one week at a time with these students focusing on subjects as imperative as World Missions, Forgiveness, Evangelism and Hearing God's voice to name a few. After these 12 weeks they will have become thoroughly prepared to share Christ's love for 2 months in nations like South Africa, Thailand or India. These young men are the future of World Missions and I am honnored to be a part of their training.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

What is Evangelism?

I have been asking some of the students in our School of Ministry and Evangelism a question. Here is what they said.....

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Teaching the next wave of YWAM Missionaries

While teaching this week at training session here in Orlando, I heard Tasha share the roots of her call to become a missionary with YWAM. Since she was a young child her heart has broken with compassion for people who have the least of in this world. Now she is committed to personally share the most valuable gift in the world to them, Jesus!
Youth With a Mission now has over 16,000 full-time volunteers around the world like Tasha. To be effective ministers of the Gospel each of these dedicated men and women have the great challenge of finding committed financial sponsors. Twenty of these minsters have traveled the world and are now in Orlando focused on learning effective principals and methods to find the financial support team that God wants to provide for them. I have had the privilege of teaching and acting as a "Coach". Most of these YWAM'ers are just starting their careers and their passion to reach the world for Jesus. Each have a vision including, orphaned children, youth at risk or the developing christian leaders around the world and I am continually inspired to help them to effectively achieve their dreams.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

New students coming to YWAM Orlando!

This summer I have spent most of my days helping the next wave of students prepare to come to YWAM Orlando. Today we have over One Hundred people applying for our Discipleship or Evangelism training schools that will start September 22nd. I have come to feel that I know many of them and have even spent many days talking and praying with them on the phone. I can't wait to see all the things God wants to do through them by sending them to the nations. This group of students is especially meaningful to me as both of my pastors daughters (Kara and Lish Schoplein) will be attending our schools.
Here is a Video from last years team and the time they spent with the children of South Africa. Many of these children have lost both of their parents to HIV/ Aids.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Billy Graham: Technology, faith and human shortcomings

True inspiration for our generation's need for Spirituality and desire for Technology!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Capitol worship

Worshiping and praying at our nations capitol with thousands

Praying in DC

Lish and Kaitlin praying at TheCall.
Perfect weather and awsome group.

On our way to TheCall DC

I am in DC with a team of youth from Road to Life Church at TheCall DC

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Since I have joined YWAM I have been looking for a good way to explain who this family is and what we do. Recently I have found a good video that sums it all up well. Enjoy!