Since our move to Denver, we've been asked by several friends and acquaintances back home and around the country, "What exactly is it that you do at Dare 2 Share?" That's a fair question, considering it has been the biggest adjustment we've ever made. My family and I moved 1,200 miles from the town I grew up in to take on the most unique role I've ever had in ministry. I'm no longer serving as a pastor in a local church (after 17 years of serving in local church ministry). So, what is it that I do that's important enough for God to call us so far away, to serve Him in such a different way? Well, let me start by explaining what we do as a ministry. At Dare 2 Share we function as a tight-knit team in a fast-paced environment as the spearhead of a global gospel advancing movement. And no, COVID-19 has not slowed us down any, although we are all obviously working from home. If anything, we have picked up the pace!
Our mission at Dare 2 Share is to energize the church, to mobilize youth, to gospelize their world! We have this bold, God-given vision of every teen everywhere hearing the gospel from a friend. There are 1 billion teens worldwide (over 25 million in the United States alone). Gen Z is the largest generation, and the first post-Christian generation, in the history of our nation. If we want to see this generation reached with the gospel, we must equip and mobilize them to share the Good News of Jesus. Studies show us that 77% of all people who come to faith in Christ do so by age 18, and the best age group to reach teenagers is, of course, teenagers!
I have the great honor of leading the Resource/Training Team in the Mobilization Division at Dare 2 Share (known as "The MOB" 😊). Our assignment is to create content and develop resources to help youth leaders equip and mobilize their students with gospel urgency, fluency, and strategy. And when we say "every teen everywhere", we literally mean everywhere. Since I've come on board as the Director of Mobilization at Dare 2 Share, I've had the awesome privilege (through technology) to interact with international leaders from all over the world to train and coach them how to launch a gospel advancing movement in their country. We are seeing God do things across the nation and world that is blowing our minds and bracing our hearts for what we believe is the next Great Awakening!
When the Coronvirus pandemic began to sweep through our world, we prayerfully moved into "rapid response mode" to help youth leaders and partners lead youth group online. Our goal was to quickly create high quality content for leaders to use as they lead youth group meetings through technology. This consisted of daily video devotions from our founder, Greg Stier, a 3 week online youth group resource called "You Can't Quarantine the Gospel", and offering some of our best digital resources for free. We also recently added a new "pandemic proof" feature to our Life in 6 Words app, so that you can personally share the gospel visually and verbally by sending audio files to friends from your phone! Check it out!
Sure, this massive and immediate shift of doing all ministry online has been a challenge for all leaders, but we are overjoyed with some of the amazing stories we are hearing from the trenches. The first Wednesday night our friend Ben Phillips (Nebraska) led youth group online, he had a student who "attended" for the first time in several months and trusted Christ as his Savior that night! My good friend and former student, Jesse Wright (yeah I'm getting old) who serves as youth pastor in my hometown (Mt. Vernon, KY) shared some exciting news with us last week as well. With the stay at home order in place, he had a student lead their friend to Christ over the phone! God is up to something really amazing in the midst of this crisis, and we are grateful that He is using us to help youth leaders, our heroes on the front lines, during this crazy time!
So, with all these changes in my role as a minster of the gospel, do I ever miss being a pastor? Absolutely. I miss serving as a youth pastor and lead pastor...those were sweet times of ministry for sure. And as much as we love Colorado, we certainly miss the great state of Kentucky, and we've been homesick since we got here. We've also experienced more spiritual warfare in this role than ever before, so much that Satan contradicts himself with his tactics and lies. He fights dirty with us every day, while telling us lies that we came all this way to make very little impact, because we can't always "see" it. He tries to deceive us by offering us a dozen reasons why being here is too hard. BUT, then we get to "see" God move in ways that we have never experienced or even imagined. Sure, we miss seeing some of that immediate impact and fruit you can experience as leaders in a youth room or sanctuary. But then we also realize that God has given us a wonderful opportunity to make an impact in youth rooms, sanctuaries, and ministries across our country, and across the world! Wow, how humbling that is! How unworthy we feel to be a part of God's mighty work in this way, but we are thankful that we get to do what He has called us to do.
Without a doubt, we will always miss our old Kentucky home. But being here...being a part this ministry, and being a small part of the big things God is doing even in the midst of this pandemic has reminded us of something paramount. We are reminded that, as believers, none of us are actually "home" yet. Every day we wake up in Colorado we feel like we're on a mission trip, far away from our home. And guess what? We are on a mission trip. Not because we live in Colorado, but because our citizenship is in heaven! As believers, we are ALL on a mission trip, far from our real home. So with that in mind, let's get to work, sharing the gospel and making and multiplying disciples. Yes, with today's technology you can do this even from under your own roof...and we've just placed a new tool in your hand to help!
As long as we're on this planet, let's live our lives on mission for Jesus. Life here on earth is tough, and if you're like me you often get homesick for heaven. But we are here, right now, in this unique, crazy time in the history of our world for a purpose. I challenge us all to pray, care, and share to advance the gospel like never before. Yes, I am ready to go home, but I want to take as many people with me as possible. One day, we will stand before Jesus face to face, fall at his feet, and we will worship Him forever without pain or distraction. Jesus is our Gospel Advancing Leader...He is the Leader of leaders, the Preacher of preachers, and the King of kings!! So until that Day, let's keep serving, shining, and sharing!
