From Russia, June 21st, 2010

For the third straight summer I find myself in the amazing country of Russia.

My team is currently resting and recovering from our flight at the apartment of a local Navigator by the name of Jim Conner. For the next few days we will be joining with a few Russian believers who we will be partnering with in this camp. Then on the 23rd, we will head to the Caucuses to begin our camp. The camp will run for two weeks. After the camp, we will return here to St. Petersburg, where we will spend a lot of time with our campers and see the city.


For some reason, I am more excited about this summer than I have been about the last two. I think I am encouraged by the excitement of our team. But we are in desperate need of prayer, since we are storming a stronghold of the enemy!

1. Pray for faith for us, that we would continue to believe in the power of God.

Sometimes, it is hard to believe that God can really change the lives of the students, many of whom seem so far from him and so uninterested in spiritual things. We want to have our fixed on the invisible things.

2. Pray for protection from the enemy.

Already some of have felt attacked with doubt, discouragement, etc. We need your prayers desperately in this area.

3. For open hearts for our Russian friends.

I believe the gospel is "the power of God for the salvation of all men," and that "he is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine." Would you pray for his Spirit to go before us WITH POWER?

4. Finally, a personal request: Every time I leave the comfort of my daily habits, I struggle to connect deeply with God. So far, he has shown me a lot of grace in this area. Would you pray for continued grace for me, and the endurance to move into the Word and prayer despite how I feel?

May 26th, 2010

Sorry a day late!!

Here is an urgent prayer request:

Would you pray that Jim (our Russia trip receiving staff) would be able to recruit about 15 more Russian students to the camp we are working at?

New Address

Hey Praying Friends--

Here is my new address:

4801 W. 21st Street #1
Los Angeles, CA 90815

Quick Update: I am now stand-in director for the second half of the STP. This is a sudden promotion coming off of some health concerns of the director's wife. Could you pray for me? I am not worried or stressed or anything, but still, it is a much higher degree of responsibility than what I was expecting.

May 19th, 2010

Special Announcement/Prayer Request


I got a call on Friday from the leader of our two-week regional summer training program. They were in need of another team leader for the STP and I was asked to consider it. After some prayer and pondering, I decided to do it. This will make my summer a bit more packed, but I am happy to help out with the STP and excited to see what God does with it.


Would you pray for the following things?


1. That I would be able to fund-raise while at the STP.


2. That God would give my team unity.


3. That God would give me adequate rest in preparation for my trip to Russia.

May 12th, 2010

Well, this is my last week with the guys here at Long Beach. It has been an amazing experience meeting with the Bereans, and I am really proud of all of them. This week I have been sharing with them some closing thoughts and encouragements. It has been bittersweet.

Would you be praying for their summers? All of them are doing different things, and my prayer for them is that they would continue to grow and prosper this summer. Summers can be difficult times, but they can also be opportunities. Here is what each of them is doing this summer:

1. Andrew-- Staying in Long Beach, helping to lead the Navigator summer Bible study, a short STP in June.

2. Jordan-- STP to start the summer, then summer school in Sacramento

3. Cavin-- Russia with me! And at home outside of Sacramento

4. Ben-- Boy Scout camp for most of the summer, he'll be an archery instructor (awesome!)

5. Jaime-- STP to start, then work in San Diego

6. Rudy-- STP in San Antonio/Mexico

Would you pray the following?

1. That they would remain close to Jesus this summer

2. That God would protect them from spiritual attack

3. That they would return in the fall excited and eager to grow!

I thought you might enjoy a truly awesome photo of us (minus Jordan)

May 5th, 2010

Just wanted to update you on how Men of the Beach went. 

I could tell that people were praying over it because of the sweet spirit of fellowship and earnestness that the guys showed throughout the month. Every Monday morning at 6 AM 25 tired but eager guys showed up, paid attention, and surprisingly, did not fall asleep. It was a joy to hear them not only listening, but later talking over what they had heard and applying it to their life.

I think a lot of the growth happened during the small groups. I gave them discussion questions to talk over, but they quickly moved beyond my suggestions to discuss every aspect of the talk. I heard about one group whose discussion time lasted 3.5 hours!

Another great thing was seeing God bring to the surface some deep sins that had never been shared. In week two, we talked a lot about hiddenness and the power of sin when it is not brought into the light. That week, lots of things came to light as the guys deeply shared with one another. Awesome!

Finally, our all-night closing ceremony was a great way to end things. We ended the night of introspection and fellowship by sharing communion.

Of course, the goal was to lay a foundation of Biblical Manhood in these men's life, not to once for all solve all their manhood related problems. I am continuing to pray that God would use the things that we discussed to build these men up into strong and might Men of God!

Praise God!

April 28th, 2010

Thank you again for your prayers.

Let me start to give you some insights into where God is leading with USC. I want my praying friends to know what God is telling me about this new season. I have some ideas of what God wants me to aim at.

I want my time at USC to be used to produce lasting fruit. That phrase ('lasting fruit') really resonates with me because I want the students I work with to be still walking with God 50 years from now. I want to influence students not just for the four years they are at the university, but for their whole life. I want them to be like the seed that produced a crop 30, 60, and 100 times what was sown.

Pray for USC:

Pray that through my work, God would raise up lifetime laborers for the kingdom.

Pray that God would produce lasting transformation through the Navigators at USC!