Uganda video update #4

I depart for Uganda on Saturday! Check out this 3 min video update with the latest news and a prayer request.

Some of the expenses—the vaccinations, in particular—ended up costing more than anticipated. I have gotten approval to increase my trip budget from $2,500 to $3,000 to cover everything. To date I have received $2,730 in donations, or 91% of this new budget. I only need $270 to meet the new goal! Please consider donating $20 or more:

I am excited about what God is going to do through this CYIA training. Please pray for the training staff, the students who are coming to attend, and the children that they will reach with the love of Christ.

Uganda video update #3

Check out my 2 min video update on what happened this weekend. Thanks for all of your help and support!!!

UPDATE (Dec 26, 2011): Some of the expenses—the vaccinations, in particular—ended up costing more than anticipated. I have gotten approval to increase my trip budget from $2,500 to $3,000 to cover the expenses. To date I have received $2,730 in donations, or 91% of this new budget. Would you consider helping by donating $20 or more?

Thanks to everyone for all of your questions, comments, and encouragement. I look forward to staying in touch with you over these next few weeks.

Uganda video update #2

UPDATE (Dec 26, 2011): Some of the expenses—the vaccinations, in particular—ended up costing more than anticipated. I have gotten approval to increase my trip budget from $2,500 to $3,000 to cover the expenses. To date I have received $2,730 in donations, or 91% of this new budget. Would you consider helping by donating $20 or more?

I wanted to thank everyone for all of the questions, comments, and encouragement you have given via Facebook, email, and in person over the past six weeks. It never ceases to amaze me how God binds His people together no matter where they are, around the nation or around the world!

Uganda video update #1

UPDATE (Dec 26, 2011): Some of the expenses—the vaccinations, in particular—ended up costing more than anticipated. I have gotten approval to increase my trip budget from $2,500 to $3,000 to cover the expenses. To date I have received $2,730 in donations, or 91% of this new budget. Would you consider helping by donating $20 or more?

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

CEF World Day of Prayer

I would like to invite you to join me in going before the Lord for the most important aspect of accomplishing CEF’s ministry: prayer. Without depending on God—who he is and what he does—we cannot reach the children, we cannot disciple them, and we cannot establish them in local churches.

Use this short URL to watch a video message from CEF’s vice president of USA Ministries, Moises Esteves, on the vitality of prayer: http://j.mp/vyQKRg.

Please join me in praying on the CEF World Day of Prayer: Wednesday, November 2. Thank you!

Help Sylvia finish CMI

UPDATE: As of November 9, Sylvia's cost of CMI is fully paid! Thank you everyone for your help!!!

Sylvia has been on our CYIA summer missions team here in Denver for the past five years. It has been amazing to see her learn and grow and minister to children!

This fall, Sylvia traveled to our HQ in Missouri for the Children’s Ministries Institute (CMI)—an intensive 12-week training. As I write this post, she and her fellow students are just finishing up week nine! They will graduate on November 11.

The cost for CMI is about $4,500. Through scholarships and fundraising, Sylvia has gotten almost all of the funds she needs. However, she still needs about $520 for the final payment, which is due next week (Oct 24-28).

Would you consider a gift to help Sylvia finish CMI?

Click “Donate” to give a secure online donation via credit card or PayPal:

Thank you so much!

- Andrew

Andrew's mission trip to Uganda

I wanted to share with you about something new and exciting that is coming up:

I have been invited by CEF of Uganda to serve as a facilitator for their seventh annual Christian Youth In Action (CYIA) training. They train students to reach children for Christ in 5-Day Clubs, just like we do here in Denver during our summer missions. I am very excited about this opportunity! It will be my first time to travel overseas.

I will be in Uganda from January 2-14, 2012. I will get to speak in chapel services to challenge and encourage the students, as well as help facilitate some training classes and practicum times. CEF of Uganda is expecting about 140 young people to attend the training. It will take place at a school just a few miles outside of Kampala.

The trip budget has been set at $3,000 USD. Would you consider giving $20 or more toward this mission trip? I would really appreciate it! Your support is what makes all of this possible.

Click "Donate" to give a secure online donation via credit card or PayPal:

The children of Uganda are hungry and thirsty for the gospel of Christ. I am excited to be a part of a team building up young missionaries who will reach them with the Good News next year in 2012! Thanks for reading.

Prayer & Praise (Sept 18-24)

- Well, we had a great summer of ministry with Christian Youth In Action! Praise God for these results: CYIA students taught 886 children all across the Denver metro area. 79 children were counseled for salvation, and 18 were counseled for Christian growth. In addition, the children in clubs raised over $700 for a CEF missionary in East/Central Africa.

It was an exciting summer, and I saw each of the students grow in different ways, especially the six students who went on the Salt Lake City mission trip I wrote to you about last time. Please pray for all of these students as they are back in school now and striving to live for Jesus in that environment!

- We are planning a CEF banquet for Friday, November 4. Would you pray for us to be able to get all of the table sponsors that we need for this event? We are hoping for this banquet to be a great success in casting the vision about reaching children for Christ and getting more people involved through prayer, finances, volunteering, etc.

- Now that the summer ministry is over, I have shifted my focus to planning for next year as well as just doing overall program development. Please pray for me to stay focused, be effective in developing relationships with our ministry partners, and have great ideas for how we can continue building this ministry! God is faithful, and I am looking forward to the next year.

Thanks for praying!

Prayer & Praise (June 26-July 2)

- Christian Youth In Action (CYIA) training finished up this past Friday, and the students did great! We celebrated the end of two weeks of hard work with a movie night.

During the second week of training, the CYIA students taught six practice 5-Day Clubs. 87 children attended, and 11 of them placed their faith in Christ for the first time!!! The children also brought $112.08 for Florence Aderi, a CEF missionary in East/Central Africa.

- This week is our first full week of 5-Day Clubs for Greater Denver. We have five teams out this week, four of them with a 1st-time team leader. Praise God, they are doing a fantastic job! The teams are teaching clubs in Thornton, Broomfield, Castle Rock, Littleton, Denver, Aurora, and Lafayette. Would you pray for the safety of the teams as they travel?

- Our ministry partners for 5-Day Clubs this week include Crossroads Church, Salvation Army Red Shield, E&R Cannon Child Care, Bullfrogs & Butterflies Child Care, The Journey Community Church, and New Life Evangelical Free Church. Please pray that God would use each of these partnerships to further His glory and kingdom in the lives of the children and their communities.

Thanks!

Prayer & Praise (June 19-25)

- It has been a busy couple of months since I wrote you last! In April, we finished signing up 18 students (pictured above) to be on our Christian Youth In Action (CYIA) team this summer.

In May, I traveled to North Carolina for a week to attend the CEF International Conference, which takes place every three years. We celebrated the fact that CEF now has active ministry to children in 176 nations around the world. (See the flags of the nations pictured below).



- June 6-8 I took our student leaders (pictured below) on a retreat to do leadership training, spiritual formation, and team-building. It was a memorable experience and I think they learned a lot! We were blessed with the use of a home up in mountains, which was great for getting away from the distractions of everyday life.



- Most recently, we just returned from our first week of CYIA training, help at a camp in Allenspark, CO. This week we are holding a second week of training at Hope Crossing Church next to our office here in Denver. The students have been busy taking classes on all the various aspects of children’s ministry, studying the lessons and stories that they will be telling in 5-Day Clubs, and getting to know their teammates better and better!

This week they actually teach one 5-Day Club each day and then come back to the office to evaluate how it went and continue studying. This hands-on training will prepare them for next week when they launch into doing ministry all day, every day. Pray for these students as they courageously take the good news of Jesus to the children of our city!!!

Prayer & Praise (March 20-26)

- Last time I wrote to you, I was just about to head up to Frontier School of the Bible in Wyoming to represent CEF at their Spring Missions Conference. Well, I am happy to say the trip went great! I got to teach two sessions, meet some really great students, and spread the word about the ministry that CEF is doing with children in Denver and around the world.

- On March 4, we held our annual informational meeting for students and parents to come learn about Christian Youth In Action (CYIA). About 20-30 people turned out for it, and I am really excited about the students that God is bringing to us this year. I think we are going to have a solid team this summer.



The application deadline for our two-week mission trip to Salt Lake City is March 25, and the application deadline for summer missions in Denver is April 4. Please pray for the students to be able to get their paperwork done and turned in on time, and pray especially that God would bring us just the right students for His purpose!

- For the past almost five years we have shared office space with Candlelight Electric, a service company. This arrangement has served us well in many ways, but it has also had its drawbacks. Our lease with Candlelight was up on Dec 31. We are now renting from them on a month-to-month basis, as we wanted to find a new location that would better position us for future ministry.

I have been working closely with a broker for the past few months, and I am pleased to say that just this week we received the final executed lease agreement on a new office suite.



The new building (pictured above) is very visible, easily accessible, and situated right next to a church that we plan to partner with for larger trainings. It is a great location and we have signed a three-year lease. Moving day is planned for April 16. Please pray for everything as we get prepared!

Thank you for all your support!

Prayer & Praise (Feb 6-12)

- I am taking a few weeks off from Good News Club while my co-teacher, Ruth, goes on a trip to California to help raise her financial support. Ruth is preparing to start serving full-time with CEF of Greater Denver later this year. Will you pray that she has a great trip and can build some solid new relationships? She will be in California from Feb 3-18.

- I leave tonight for Frontier School of the Bible in LaGrange, Wyoming, to represent CEF at their spring missions conference. It is about a 160-mile drive from Denver and the weather is poor today (snow; cold temperatures). Will you pray for safety as I travel?

Here is a picture from the Starbucks in Denver right now where I am writing this post:



I will be at Frontier for three days, teach two workshops, have a display table set up, and hopefully just have lots of great conversations with the students! Here are the workshop sessions I will be teaching:

TEAMWORK IN MISSIONS: God didn't just call you ... He called others too! But what if you don't really get along with those other people? In this session, we will dig into the book of Acts to see what dynamics of teamwork the early Christians encountered as they carried out their mission, and what lessons we can learn from them as we carry out the mission today.

TRANSFORMATIONAL STUDENT MINISTRY: How does transformation happen? And what does this mean for how we do student ministry? In this session we will explore a simple yet powerful principle from the Scriptures that explains how God has designed us, and then from that insight explore how we and the students we minister to might be changed.

I'm looking forward to it! Thanks so much for your prayers and for your heart for this ministry.

Prayer & Praise (Jan 16-22)

- On Saturday night (Jan 15), we had our “Christmas in January” party for the CYIA summer missionaries. It was great time!!! We shared a meal, played games, and did a drawing for door prizes.

- We finished off 2010 with contributions for our Christian Youth In Action (CYIA) program totaling $29,827 (or 89% of budget). And although we did not quite make budget, this 89% in 2010 represents a great improvement from 2009. There is definitely momentum building for this ministry. I am looking forward to a great 2011!

As I put together the budget for this year, I am incorporating some new ways of cutting costs vs. the way we ran the program last year. Additionally, I am also excited about some new fundraising opportunities/strategies we will be pursuing this year. Will you join me in praying that this ministry to students and children will be fully-funded in 2011 and that, above all else, we would honor God in all we do and listen to His voice in all things?

- At Good News Club last week, I spoke with a six-year-old girl after the Bible lesson. She had professed faith in Christ at club several weeks ago and when I spoke with her today she told me that she wanted to tell her friends at school about Jesus.

“I think that’s a great idea!” I said. Then, looking at Ruth and me, she said: “I want to be like you guys when I grow up! I think it would be fun to go around and teach people about Jesus.”

I don’t know what God’s plans are for this little girl, but I can tell that the Holy Spirit is doing something wonderful in her heart. Please pray that Good News Club will continue to be a source of growth and encouragement for her!