We just wrapped up an amazing 2021-2022 year with local and international outreaches. The year began with a prayer for thirty college campuses. God’s challenge came in prayer, just like Mordecai challenged Esther the queen in a foreign empire. God sent me to challenge a local student group to recognize that God has placed them in their sphere, Stockton University, “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).
This was the beginning of our first YWAM Student Centre University Discipleship Course. Eight students took leadership roles and about 20 joined our weekly discipleship class with worship, teaching, prayer, and outreach preparation. We had different instructors for six weeks, including Jon Buthy of FCA, Jonathan Gonzales of Ocean City Tabernacle, Tom Perkins of Sojourn Church, Prof. Maria Castillo, and myself.
For local outreach, we distributed Bibles to nearly over 1800 homes in Somers Point, NJ. Seventy-five cases of Bibles were purchased through generous donations from local churches and individual donors. We packed them up in door-hanger bags with information from local ministries, a gospel tract, and a DVD with the Jesus film available in multiple languages. We gathered on Saturday mornings in June at Mission Point Church for a short prayer time. Students and local volunteers formed teams and went door to door until noon and then returned to share beautiful testimonies, like the former motorcycle gang leader who accepted a Bible with sincere interest in reading it.
Then, in July, a few of us went on the international outreach. We had an amazing time ministering with YWAM ministries, churches, and professionals in five cities in Chile. The goal of our Chile for Christ outreach was to see the kingdom of God established in five of the most important cities of Chile, serving with Christ-centered churches and local leaders and professionals. We affirmed God’s vision for Christian professionals serving in various spheres of society.
We had a day-long clinic with doctors, social workers, therapists, dentists, teachers, counselors, and even real estate agents partnering to help families in Chile. It was fantastic. We distributed hundreds of Spanish Bibles door-to-door in various cities. We learned that Chile suffers from Bible Poverty. Here’s what Chris Lopez, one of our outreach participants wrote of his experience:
“We prayed with a woman who had been working in a local church for twenty-five years, yet had never owned a Bible! It was such a blessing to gift her a Bible of her own… In the city of San Ramon, again, we witnessed shocking levels of Bible poverty. Many houses did not have a Bible… This outreach opened our eyes to how precious the word of God is.”
Chris and Rachel were two of the four of us who went to Chile. They are engaged to be married and they are praying about doing the DTS in Cartagena, Colombia next year. Chris will be a teacher at a Christian school here in South Jersey this year. He is anxious to see another University Discipleship Course at Stockton.
We’re also connecting with other YWAM ministries working on college campuses to help them do the University Discipleship Course at their locations. Perhaps you would be interested in launching the University Discipleship Course at the university in your area? Who knows if God has brought you to this place “for such a time as this”?