“You guys have a great team!” Was the phrase I kept hearing from our friends who had come from Westside Church in Bend, Oregon. These eight members of Westside’s annual mission team had come for two weeks of training our islanders on “Doing What Jesus Did”–a 7 part seminar that equips regular believers to lead people to Christ, baptize them in the Holy Spirit, heal the sick, hear from God, minister through revelation, cast out demons, and preach the full gospel.
They themselves were a great team, and with their specialized focus on putting ministry skills into the hands of the island believers, we all had our hands full with the great fruit coming from multiplied ministry in these released members of Jesus’ body.
My favorite testimony (among so many!) was one member of the worship team at Jaana Island’s Church of God who shared with great excitement that though she had been following Jesus for some time, she had never prayed with another soul for salvation…until that day. “I can do it!” She exclaimed with the joy characteristic of those who have discovered the simple secret of sharing their faith. The next day we baptized this same precious lady in Lake Victoria along with a long line of others, including members of Westside’s team who had been sprinkled as children, but never immersed in water.
Our great Bold Ventures team has been sharing this same material across the islands for the past two years and plan to move forward to other themes in the coming year. But I reckon this final event to be our most successful in terms of passing on the work of our Lord beyond the leaders of the Island Leadership Network and the local pastors, empowering everyday believers to work with the Holy Spirit in their neighborhoods and do just what Jesus modeled and sent his disciples out to do. I expect this fire to spread exponentially over the surface of the water as Jesus’ process of multiplication continues.
Please take three minutes to watch this summary from one of the team members from Westside:
