Event Summary of 2009

In 2009 we set this following targets:

Our target is to plan for 15 events in Panama, 12 events in the United States, and up to 3 events in other countries in Latin Americas (30 events total).

In preparing our annual report for the Presbytery of the James, as well as for PRMI which provides our covering here are some interesting statistics:

Live Events (conferences, sermons, classes): 46

• IPET Classes in Panama/Costa Rica: 16
• Preachings: 13 sermons in 10 churches.
• Live Conference Events: 17

Countries Served: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, United States, Guatemala

Virtual Events (on-line or by telephone): 56

• Virtual Webinars: 11
• Evangelism Coaching: 39 individuals / churches.
• Virtual Sunday School class: 1
• Expert Interviews: 5

Not only did we meet our event goals for 2009, but we far exceeded them.

God has been gracious in opening doors for us, and then providing for us through His people.

First Time here?

Hear directly from Vida Joven Leaders

National Leader Vida Joven Nicaragua Testimonial from Chris Walker

Kevin Suywan shares about the ministry of Presence

Another leader from Vida Joven Guatemala explains how learning about the Holy Spirit has helped her minsitry. She’s been receiving Dunamis teaching from PRMI at Vida Joven Nicaragua’s annual training camp

RSS Readers May need to Click through to see the 3 videos.

Sample Videos from Workshop at Vida Abundante Panama

Sample illustration from the teaching.

I chose to do this in English with translation for sake of clarity.

I still have a hard time composing “on the fly” in spanish, so for sake of time, we did it this way.

RSS Readers: Macaroni Sample

A sermon Illustration

RSS Readers: Sermon Sample in Spanish

You’ve Really Given me Liberty

After teaching on evangelism this weekend Vida Abundante in Calidonia, Maria (not her real name) pulls me aside and tells me

Your teaching has relieved a giant burden I’ve been carrying. . ..

It’s Not Our Job

Maria had heard teaching on evangelism over many years that could be summarized like this

• Here is a script to memorize.
• Share that script with as many people as possible.
• Rejoice with those that pray a prayer.

This is a common teaching paradigm that focuses exclusively on the skills of sharing your faith and in many cases has divorced ongoing discipleship from evangelism.

For years, Maria had faithfully obeyed this teaching. She grew confident in talking to strangers, using gospel tracts, and fine tuning her presentation.

Yet in all her years of energetically “working the program” she hardly ever saw a conversion experience.

In spite of all her confident theology about God working mysteriously, she experienced

• the mounting feelings of disappointment,
• the growing pain of continued personal rejection, and
• the mental energy drained in trying to fight self-criticism.

Her desire to share her faith was diminishing.

She felt totally responsible for all the outcomes.

Evangelism had become a human work.

• If they don’t repent, I’m doing evangelism wrong.
• If they don’t accept Christ, it’s my fault.
• If they don’t repent now, it must be because of some problem in my life.

Evangelism becomes a burden after repeated failures and rejection.

Nobody wants to do that all the time.

There are better ways to enjoy life than experiencing rejection every time you talk about faith.

Finding Freedom

Maria heard me teach on How the How the Holy Spirit draws people to faith.

She saw how God works through a process of bringing people to faith — a conversion to Christ is often at the end of series of key events that God uses.

Watching her respond through the teaching, her face showed evidence of the proverbial “light bulbs” going off.

The emotional burdens that had grown on her from all her rejection experiences in evangelism were fading.

What was building in it’s place was a confidence in God’s sovereignty and a joy that comes with relief from burdens.

She pulled me aside and said

Your teaching has relieved a giant burden I’ve been carrying. . .

She proceeded to tell me how this teaching had

• transformed her view of evangelism,
• helped her to see God’s responsibility
• given her a new fearless freedom to be a vessel in God’s work.

What a joy

There is a profound joy in watching people accept and apply this teaching.

For our ministry partners, this is the fruit of your work — people finding liberty to be more effective witnesses for Christ.  You enable us to fulfill our vision for 2010 of impacting churches in the Americas to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the work of missions and evangelism.