Trusting God...

After returning to Denver from a deeply encouraging and uplifting trip in November to South America meeting with Latin American Leaders; I arrived back to be confronted with the challenges of funding our end-of-year needs for Youth for Christ International. As I focused on the financial shortfalls facing the ministry in such difficult economic times I was somewhat overwhelmed with the challenge of raising the funds to meet these needs. I was especially burdened for our donors and ministry partners. As I have met with many of our faithful supporters and friends throughout the year I have been confronted with their pain and the impact this recession is having on these much-loved servants of Jesus. I found myself laying awake at night worrying about finances, deeply concerned for our many friends who are battling to survive in business, praying for them and wondering why things need to be so hard for us at a time when we are overwhelmed with opportunities to grow the ministry and impact so many more young people.

One of the great blessings God has given me is that He has surrounded me with godly men and women who mentor me, support me and pray for me. They soon picked up that something was bothering me and confronted me about this. They reminded me of a special word the Lord had given me recently about His miraculous provision and they challenged me to stop relying on myself and instead trust God. They prayed for me, that I would be able to give this burden over to the Lord. They prayed for our ministry partners that I felt so powerless to help, that God would meet their needs and encourage them in these times of financial famine.

I realized that like Peter, I had taken my eyes off Jesus, looking instead at the storm raging around me. In fear and helplessness I had begun to sink. As I turned my eyes back to Jesus and trusted Him with the burden and fear He lifted me up and carried me into the security of His care, love and sovereignty.

It is now a month later and as I prepare to leave for a trip to Australia to be with family for the holidays, I find myself in a different state of faith. We are half way to meeting our year end financial target and still have some way to go, but God has been so good to us in providing funds and encouragement through His people as well as giving me absolute assurance of His continued provision. So, I am resting in His promise and am confident that He will supply the remainder of the funds we need before the end of the year. I have an amazing sense of peace about this financial challenge and the needs of our friends and supporters. God has given us many reminders about His Sovereignty, providence, care, grace and love.

I pray that you and your families also experience God’s peace and the assurance of His love and provision as you celebrate the coming of Jesus to our world. May you have a wonderful Jesus-filled Christmas and a blessed and God-directed New Year.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen ~ (Eph 3:20-21)

The Word the Lord gave me...

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:19

The following quote by D.L. Moody has encouraged me lately as I have felt burdened by the needs of our donors and ministry partners who have been struggling in this economic downturn. Please read my most recent 'prayer update' on my website to understand the full impact of this story about D.L. Moody and his encouragement to R.A. Torrey which in turn has encouraged me to hold fast to what God has called me to do and trust Him to provide all we need.

Moody quote - by R.A. Torrey.....

One day Mr. Moody drove up to my house at Northfield and said: "Torrey, I want you to take a ride with me." I got into the carriage and we drove out toward Lover's Lane, talking about some great and unexpected difficulties that had arisen in regard to the work in Northfield and Chicago, and in connection with other work that was very dear to him.

As we drove along, some black storm clouds lay ahead of us, and then suddenly, as we were talking, it began to rain. He drove the horse into a shed near the entrance to Lover's Lane to shelter the horse, and then laid the reins upon the dashboard and said: "Torrey, pray"; and then, as best I could, I prayed, while he in his heart joined me in prayer. And when my voice was silent he began to pray. Oh, I wish you could have heard that prayer! I shall never forget it, so simple, so trustful, so definite and so direct and so mighty. When the storm was over and we drove back to town, the obstacles had been surmounted, and the work of the schools, and other work that was threatened, went on as it had never gone on before, and it has gone on until this day.

As we drove back, Mr. Moody said to me: "Torrey, we will let the other men do the talking and the criticizing, and we will stick to the work that God has given us to do, and let Him take care of the difficulties and answer the criticisms."

On one occasion Mr. Moody said to me in Chicago: "I have just found, to my surprise, that we are twenty thousand dollars behind in our finances for the work here and in Northfield, and we must have that twenty thousand dollars, and I am going to get it by prayer." He did not tell a soul who had the ability to give a penny of the twenty thousand dollars' deficit, but looked right to God and said: "I need twenty thousand dollars for my work; send me that money in such a way that I will know it comes straight from Thee." And God heard that prayer. The money came in such a way that it was clear that it came from God in direct answer to prayer.

Yes, D. L. Moody was a man who believed in the God who answers prayer, and not only believed in Him in a theoretical way but believed in Him in a practical way. He was a man who met every difficulty that stood in his way -- by prayer. Everything he undertook was backed up by prayer, and in everything, his ultimate dependence was upon God.

Blessings to you and yours,

Calling

A friend of mine has a quote at the end of his emails from Howard Hendricks:

"Your career is what you get paid for; your calling is what you were made for."

I believe finding your calling – particularly in service to God – is pivotal to living a life of meaning and purpose.

The Bible says “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Proverbs 29:18 (KJV). Burnout is a form of perishing; it doesn’t occur because people are working too hard, or are too tired or too driven – it occurs when people lose their meaning and purpose in what they are doing with their life.

Many people trudge through life, just going through the motions of living without ever finding what they were made for; never reaching their full potential, never following a dream. I have lost count of the number of people who have told me they are counting down the days to their retirement. It appears they are finding little fulfillment in what they are doing and are literally wishing their life away.

A calling is a personal vision – a dream of what can be, of who you can be and of the impact you can have in the world. I believe the best way to find our calling is to ask the One who designed us what we were designed for. Why don’t you ask God what He wants you to do with your life, what He made you for – I am sure He will tell you.

Empowering our Youth as World Changers

I often find myself meeting with small groups of adults and talking to them about how to respond to the current generation of young people - a generation who desire to change the world and who are actually looking for inter-generational relationships.

On a recent trip to Wisconsin, I was with such a small group and one of the people in the group happened to bring along their 18 year old daughter. I found myself sharing about young people, describing the current youth generation and all the time wondering how this was being perceived by this 18 year old. One of the things I shared was the various ways we can respond to young people who have dreams and visions to change the world and a desire to be heard by older generations. You can get a better overview of what I shared by going to the article I recently posted on my website by clicking here .

After I finished speaking, I gave an opportunity for people to respond, share their thoughts and ask questions. A number of the people in the group commented about young people and asked questions to gain further clarification of what I had shared. Eventually, Ed, my colleague who was travelling with me, asked this 18 year old what she thought about it all. She said that she had been captivated by what I was saying. She stated that she had many dreams and visions for changing the world for the better and for getting involved in church, but she said that nobody wants to listen. She also said that she longed for inter-generational relationships - she longed to hear older people’s stories and for older people to listen to hers. She expressed a great desire to be validated and affirmed by older generations. She expressed in a very heartfelt way how the disillusionment and alienation she felt within the Church was actually driving her away from involvement in local church community. She was very insitent that we all understood that her love for Jesus and commitment to her faith was not diminshing, but that she was drifting away from the Church because she simply couldn't find a place there.

It was so refreshing to have this young woman share at this gathering. She so clearly expressed what young people are experiencing and feeling in the Church today and she overwhelmingly reinforced our need to validate them, empower them to lead and have strategic input into who the church is and how we impact the world. Unfortunately, many churches seem to misunderstand where young people are today or know the proper response that needs to be extended to these world-changers. I pray that this young woman, who has so much potential, will find a place in the Church where she can lead now rather than be rejected as somebody who has to wait until they are older before they can have any valid role of leadership or influence.

Doing something you love to do for the Kingdom

I love being around young people - they are so creative, uncomplicated and practical in their expressions of faith and service for the Kingdom. I was recently reminded of this by two young people – Teddy and Megan - who responded to a need that they heard me talking about when I was staying in their home on a recent visit to San Diego.

In YFC we have selected around 320 world-changing young leaders from 75 nations to lead our ministry into the future. We are seeking sponsorship for these young leaders to enable them to participate in a 2-year leadership and development process that will see them empowered into strategic leadership roles in our ministry throughout the world. It costs $3,500 to sponsor a young leader through this process. We still need sponsorship for some of these young leaders and while in San Diego Teddy (11) and Megan (9) heard me sharing about Jose Carlos – a young leader in Mexico.

They both decided they could do something for Jose Carlos. They committed to raising the money for the sponsorship. Teddy is a keen golfer and Megan is a gifted artist. Teddy planned a two-day golfing marathon involving playing 100 holes of golf. He got busy seeking sponsors for each hole he played. Megan designed gift cards, produced 700 cards and offered them for sale. To-date they have raised over $2,000!

These two young people when presented with an opportunity to serve God, instinctively worked out how God had equipped them to advance His Kingdom. How did they work this out? By assessing what they loved to do and applying this passion and natural gifting to serving God.

As we get older and more analytical about our faith, we tend to develop a perspective that we need to give up any pastimes, hobbies, activities we are passionate about. We feel guilty about enjoying passions and activities and devoting too much time and energy to these things. Maybe we need to reflect on what these activities and pastimes tell us about ourselves and work out ways we can employ our natural giftings and passions in the Kingdom of God. God is not a “killjoy”. He doesn’t look at all the things we are enjoying in life and demand that we give them up just because we enjoy them. He has made us all unique and special and he wants us to use our uniqueness to serve Him and others. Teddy and Megan didn’t feel guilty about their golf and art – they felt energized and empowered to do something for God. I think we can learn a lot from them.

The Global Economic Crisis

As the world faces the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930's, I think it is important for us to acknowledge how this is impacting our ministry across the world and to strengthen and encourage each other as together we face the pain and challenges associated with this worldwide recession.

In the International office our giving is down 20% when compared to the same time last year. This has resulted in us having to make painful cuts to our budget, including substantial cuts to our staff salaries and benefits, as well as cuts to financial support and services we had planned to provide this year. Nations and YFC staff supported through our office are also experiencing significant shortfalls in giving.

I know many of you - my YFC brothers and sisters - are suffering much, and some of you have had to find alternative means of income and support to continue to function in YFC and care for your families.

It is tough times like these that define us as followers of Jesus. As we encounter difficult life circumstances it often causes us to pause and review our calling and commitment to ministry. For us in YFC, this is an opportunity to count the cost of remaining true to our unique and strategic calling to reach the young people of the world. I encourage you to persevere, to not lose sight of the prize, to finish the race.

As I reflect on the challenges we all face at present I am reminded of the verses in James 1:2-4~

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

With these verses in mind, I am greatly encouraged by the way in which YFC staff across the world are embracing the pain and continuing to serve under extremely difficult circumstances. Millions of young people are still being reached and discipled, and we are even seeing growth and development of new ministry in several regions of the world. This is a wonderful testimony to the faithfulness and commitment of our YFC family.

I want to remind you that you are not alone. Our God is with us and you are surrounded by a world-wide family that shares your calling, your joy, and your pain. Take time to encourage and pray for each other - call someone in YFC today, pray with someone, send an encouraging email. Let us join hands in unity and Christian community and support each other through this difficult and challenging time.

Your brother in Christ,