When I was a youth minister, I learned the power of encouragement from an idea I got out of a book of youth ministry ideas. It was called the “car wash.” To hold a car wash, line students up in two parallel lines facing each other, then choose someone to walk through the car wash. … More Everyone needs a car wash!
There are many different ways to encourage people. Think how encouraged a single mom or a struggling young couple who have children would be by an offer of free babysitting. There are people around us every day who feel marginalized because they lack resources or relationships; we just have to see them. In every group … More People need encouragement!
God has brought an amazing young Congolese man into my life whose name is Tresor. Tresor simply wants to help those in society who have no voice. Tresor has reached out to former child soldiers, street kids, and rape survivors in the DR Congo. Thanks to his encouragement, I have been able to join him … More Anyone want this $100 bill?
I played the role of a youth advocate in 1984 when I arrived in the DR Congo with a desire to start a youth ministry movement. The children and youth of the DR Congo were considered by many to be second-class citizens, having no voice of influence in their culture. Sadly, the cultural view of … More What is youth ministry?
The citizenship of heaven will be made up of people from every ethnic and language group on Earth. God’s kingdom has no place for ethnocentrism, racism, or prejudice. Prejudice simply means to “pre-judge” someone—that is, judging without the benefit of all the facts about him or her, which no human will ever have. Only God … More It’s just a joke?
Ignoring the people around us every day is easy to do. We walk by so many people whom we don’t even see, let alone acknowledge—they just seem like part of the scenery. Can you imagine having this embarrassing conversation with another human being, created in the image of God, when you get to heaven? You: … More Prior Value
We are all incredibly self-focused, self-centered people. It is only through great intentional effort that we can become other-focused people. The key is becoming so overwhelmed by the truth of God’s love for us that we look for our basic validation only from Him. Accepting and believing in God’s great love for us will free … More Are you other-focused?
You never know when your last communication will be with anyone, including your children. Children can die from many causes, but it is always shocking when it happens. I remember the shock and heartache I felt for Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman and his family when I heard about their little five year old girl … More Last phone call!
At 7:35 p.m. on March 20, 1985, I became a father for the first time. As I stood beside my wife in the delivery room of a mission hospital in the DR Congo, four people were in the room: me, my wife Julie, the doctor, and the midwife—and then suddenly there were five. Sarah Ann … More A Miraculous Gift!
Tracee, a visiting missionary recruit, once spoke in one of my college classes. She was a very attractive single woman in her late twenties, and she was on her way to Afghanistan as a missionary. When a student asked her to share about what it felt like being a single missionary at her age, she … More Stay in the race!
