After a great summer at home in Pennsylvania and taking my church's youth group to Costa Rica, I returned to the University of the Nations' main campus to continue my commitment teaching the School of Biblical Studies. A lot of changes are happening here. God has opened the doors for new schools to begin, new classrooms and dorms are being built. A larger-than-ever influx of students from all over the world are arriving in just a few short days to receive training in evangelism, church planting, counseling, health-care, film-making, etc. and to be sent out into the nations with a message of peace, hope and love. I'm excited to be part of what God is going to do here in the coming months, to see his transformational power impact our campus, our community, and ultimately our world!
The fountain at the plaza of the nations, University of the Nations, Hawaii
Students represent their nations with flags at a welcome ceremonyUpdate from Nigeria
I recently shared a testimony in my home church about a revival that is taking place in Nigeria among militant rebel groups. I've just heard an update from YWAM's founder, Loren Cunningham, that I wanted to share with you. In a nutshell, last year the Lord put it on my heart to have the school I was leading commit to pray for Nigeria and the political and religious tension there. After a few weeks, we began to hear reports that our fellow YWAMmers in Nigeria were fearlessly going into rebel camps, preaching the gospel and casting out demons. Whole guerrilla armies were coming to Christ, renouncing violence and confessing Jesus as the only hope for peace in their nation. Hundreds came to the nearby YWAM bases to do basic discipleship schools. Since then, over 8,000 former militants have given their hearts to the Lord. The government of Nigeria has been so impressed by the transformation they have seen in these men that they have begun to offer amnesty to any and all former guerrillas from these groups, provided they complete YWAM's discipleship training school! God is truly using his people there to disciple and change the nation!
Students are commissioned as they leave Kona for outreach
Students are commissioned as they leave Kona for outreachMobile Word
This upcoming semester, I will be leading a ministry from YWAM's Bible department called "mobile word." Our goal is to incorporate Bible teaching and Bible study into our community of Kona, as well as the other schools happening on campus. Myself and a team of 5 staff from the School of Biblical Studies will be developing new cirriculum for weekly seminars, and for various audiences in an effort to integrate and emphasize God's word in everything our staff and students do here at the UofN. I'm really excited for this project, as it will be an amazing way to invest in and bless our local mission field (Kona, Hawaii) and I believe it will also add a richness and depth to some of the courses we have been running here on campus. Please pray for wisdom and guidance as we pioneer this project in the next few months.
Loren Cunningham dedicates a new building to God's purposes on campus
Loren Cunningham dedicates a new building to God's purposes on campusPrayer for Nations: Hawaii.
No part of the United States is as unique and different, both culturally and geographically, than Hawaii. A chain of Islands still being formed by volcanic forces of the earth, Hawaii is the most remote land mass on the planet. The University of the Nations was established here on the big Island of Hawaii as a strategic campus for training and launching missionaries into the Pacific Islands and Asia. While this dream is realized every three months, as hundreds are sent out to those mission fields, another purpose I believe we are located here for is to see God's transformational power come to the Hawaiian Islands. In the last year or two we have begun to see this purpose be realized in new and amazing ways. Evangelism and ministry teams sent out into our community are seeing God move in healing, words of knowledge and salvation We don't want it to end there, but for God to break through in full fledged revival! Would you pray with me this month for God's presence to break through in Hawaii? His touch is greatly needed. Hawaii has some of the biggest drug, abuse, education and teen pregnancy problems in the Nation. New programs aren't going to be the answer, God's presence is the answer!
