I received an email last night. It was a testimony of a young teenage gang member who finally saw the destructive ways of his drug habit and encountered the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
In December, I heard this same story repeated several times with different variants such as:
I was a street thief, a robber to support my drug habit.
I hated my mom for ignoring me, and my dad for abandoning me.
But then a friend invited me to camp where I heard about Jesus. I encountered His forgiveness and something in me changed.
From the Orphanage to the Mission Field
One young man, who grew up in a humble orphanage, gave a talk to 750 leaders gathered. Michael came to faith in Christ in 2005.
A few years ago, he and his wife left Nicaragua to serve as pioneer missionaries in Honduras.
Listening Evangelism in Action
Michael shared his story of leading a young man to Christ a few weeks earlier as he followed the promptings of the Holy Spirit. It was a case study of Listening Evangelism.
Michael challenged those leaders to grow deeper in their own relationship to Christ so that out of the overflow they, too, can lead other young men and women to Christ.
He called them to trust Jesus for the greater things John talks about in John 14:12-14:
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
How to Do the “Greater Works”
Michael’s talk raises the question of how to do the greater works. In the Gateways Dunamis training, we cover how to receive the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in order to accomplish those works.
Our Dunamis team spent 3 classes with about 70 of these leaders introducing them to the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
Real Life Examples of Dunamis Principles
Michael’s talk gave real life examples of Listening Evangelism and our Dunamis team spent 3 classes with another batch of 70 or so leaders with examples from the Listening Evangelism Dunamis.
Michael’s talk also gave real life examples of how to hear and discern the voice of God in prayer, which gave the Dunamis team the opportunity to teach nearly 150 new converts the basics on how to hear the voice of God in prayer (from the In the Spirit’s Power Dunamis).
A New Generation
Dunamis teams started going to Nicaragua in 2001 to walk alongside Young Life. We’ve watched leaders in Young Life Central America learn how to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in all aspects of ministry:
- Hearing the voice of God
- Discerning God’s leading
- Dunamis style of prayer ministry
- Stepping into the dance of cooperation.
This year marks a transition in many ways.
Most of the leaders we have worked with over the last several years now oversee ministry leaders or pioneer new missions into new areas.
They live the ministry DNA of Young Life and ministry DNA of Dunamis.
Dunamis Bearing Fruit in the Lives of Leaders
As these leaders gave talks and led times of ministry, we saw how they have learned to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and step into the dance of cooperation.
We listened to personal stories of how Dunamis has helped them cooperate with the Holy Spirit. As Dunamis teachers, there is tremendous joy in watching others live into the teaching.
Impacting the Third Generations of Leaders
We also saw that our Dunamis Team was beginning to reach into a 3rd generation of Young Life leaders. Because of the massive missionary growth, many of the students in our classes have no prior interaction with Dunamis.
Many have little theological understanding of the Holy Spirit.
Many have been walking with the Lord for under 2 years.
Our time with them was limited because of the nature of the camp.
We Can’t Do it All – The Need for Mobile Dunamis
Young Life Central America has undergone a significant missionary expansion in cooperation with the Holy Spirit.
Since 2001, Dunamis teams have walked alongside Young Life’s growth, sharing elements of Dunamis with many of the leaders who now oversee 94 ministry expressions in 8 Central American countries, influencing the lives of 20,000+ teens and young adults.
(As a benchmark of growth, in 2009 it was 46 ministries, reaching under 5,000). Projections indicate the possibility of impacting over 47,000 lives in just a few more years.
Because of its growth, there is no camp available to host everyone for training. This means more leadership training camps in multiple nations with more leaders needing access to Dunamis training to help them grow as the prior generations of leadership have done.
There is no way to physically do it all, but one solution is the Mobile Dunamis in Spanish. Dunamis Project 1: Gateways is now in Spanish, and Dunamis Project 2: In the Spirit’s Power is in the translation process.
Help Us Train These Young Teachers, Ministers, and Missionaries
What if the videos and manuals could be ready to give away in December 2017 when 750 leaders gather?
You can help make that happen with your gift to PRMI marked “Spanish Mobile Dunamis” by clicking the image below.
2018 Update
Tragically, Michael was killed in Honduras a few months after this article was published. He was killed in a motorcycle accident, on his way home from a Vida Joven meeting. Micahel leaves behind his wife, Dani.
