Stan is a teacher whose “classroom” might be located almost anywhere in the world. Whether leading a workshop for pastors with almost no formal schooling or serving as a visiting professor with doctoral students in high-tech classrooms, Stan is passionate about helping church leaders become more effective servants of Christ, especially in the area of understanding and communicating the message of Scripture.
Stan writes – Thank you, thank you, thank you!! …Your gifts and prayers helped to make it possible for some forty students and university ministry leaders to have a deeper encounter with Jesus!
Your support enabled me to accept the invitation to teach in this year’s Leader Formation Encounter (EFL2018), organized by the Mexican affiliate of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (think: InterVarsity in the U.S.). This event is run on a shoestring and held in a rustic-but-beautiful camp, nestled in the mountains of south central Mexico. (You can find it with Google Maps: Campamento Citlali, Avandaro, Mexico.)
Our days have been filled with discovery and dialogue, as we explore Mark’s account of how Jesus began his ministry in Galilee. Digging into the text, participants have found unexpected treasures… and a fresh encounter with Jesus and his message. The excitement in the study room grew and grew during the week, so that small group conversation time got louder and louder—and harder to interrupt in order to have our whole-group conversation! As a facilitator, I just love it when study participants are so excited about what they are discovering, that they can’t stop talking about it with each other. I know how they feel. Not just because I have “been there” in the past, but because my own excitement about what God is saying to us grows as we share our discoveries.
Only the Lord knows all that will flow from this week’s investment in the lives of these students and campus missionaries. But I am grateful for the chance you and I have had to contribute to this piece of what God is doing in the world today. Please join me in giving thanks to God for what has happened this week, and in praying that God will bless and use it to touch many lives in the days and years to come.
May you be blessed with your own fresh encounters with Jesus this week!