Building Relationships, Sharing the Vision

Thanks so much for your prayers while I was away at the LEAD conference this past week. Riva and Quinn were so blessed by the community that rallied around and supported them while I was gone, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the conference. Here are two takeaways:

1. I am thankful for the kinds of conversations that were taking place. This conference was attended by MTW team leaders from all over the world along with many of their national partners. As we talked about MTW, her place in the global mission, and the future of the organization, I heard two consistent encouragements: MTW has been faithful in planting churches and preaching the gospel of grace. But there is much that we are not good at, and this conference provided an opportunity to discuss those things. I was very encouraged by MTW’s commitment to grow in those areas, and am excited for the future as Dr. Lloyd Kim leads us forward in addressing these things.

Dr. Michael Oh, keynote speaker, prays for Dr. Lloyd Kim, MTW’s new coordinator.

2. Mostly, I am thankful for the opportunity to spend time with other brothers from all over Asia and the Pacific, building relationships and sharing about GYFM. GYFM is a new ministry within MTW, so some people still don’t know who we are or what we do. As I talked with people, I found them to be very excited about GYFM. Some of them invited us to come and minister to the MKs on their team. Others wanted us to come to their countries to offer youth ministry courses for nationals. In each case, people were excited about and thankful for the ministry of GYFM.

Enjoying a fresh coconut with friends just outside our hotel.

I hope you are getting the sense that God is using GYFM to get the word out! People are starting to realize that if we want to fulfill the great commission and raise up leaders for the church of tomorrow, we have to invest in youth minstry. In other words, you are having a global impact, and we are so thankful for you!