No Place Left!
First and foremost, I wanted to wish everyone a happy New Year, and I hope that things are going well for you! I can’t believe that 2019 is over and gone. However, the LORD has a lot in store for next year. Although the trip departs in 7 months, there is a lot of preparation that is taking place. First, I am now in the support raising phase of the trip and am working towards raising all needed funds for the trip. Please continue to pray about this and that the LORD will provide the appropriate funds in His ways. Second, this is a time that I am making key decisions that will impact what takes place during the World Race and also what will happen beyond. This is a time of overcoming fear, making sacrifices, and overcome distractions that can interfere serving His kingdom. Please pray about this, and that the LORD will use the upcoming semester to advance His kingdom at Lenoir Rhyne University. Finally, I wanted to write this blog post about what has taken place since the summer as the LORD has ushered me into a “training phase” before graduation and the next chapter in life. This has been a very interesting yet fulfilling time period as I begin to learn about what makes global outreach possible. I still have a long way to go, but He is moving in mighty ways…
After the trip to Asia during May, I was very much rejuvenated and excited to serve the Lord. During the summer (2019), I travelled to a convention in Tennessee with some friends. While there, I prayed very much for people there to know the LORD, and multiple opportunities opened up to talk about the Gospel and God. The LORD also put some believers randomly in my path over the week; which was very much a blessing. It was a terrific time of building relationships and getting to actively outreach to communities that I was a part of. When I look back on this time, I had no set strategy or “game plan” as to how the mission would be lived out during this time. A strong prayer life and fire from the Spirit led the way, and I need to continue to remember that today. I look back on this event fondly; a time of strong prayer life and seeking to impact others for the LORD. Sure, I wasn’t perfect. But ultimately, there is nothing like relying on God for the next steps and seeing what doors open to advance His kingdom. After the event was over, God began to show me what living “on mission” during all parts of my life was like. Later, I learned that catalyzing and sustaining Gospel movements was much different from anything I had ever known.
No Place Left is a worldwide Gospel movement network that does evangelism and outreach. They utilize a strategy known as the “Four Fields”, which is derived from Mark 4: 26 – 29. The Four Fields is a model for planting churches and discipling believers in order to produce fruitful spiritual multiplication that changes communities. This way of evangelism is being practiced in missions movements throughout Asia and Africa; and it is gradually spreading to North America as well. The Lord opened the door for me to get involved with this movement throughout the summer, and a friend put me in touch with a local community. And so, training began. I started to engage my local community (Boone, NC) with the Gospel deliberately and regularly for the first time. Although there are many different ways to communicate the Gospel to people, we often use the Three Circles illustration, which simplistically pictures the Gospel into an illustration that people can take with them. One of the goals with No Place Left is to use easy and reproducible tools that communicate the Gospel message (along with Discipleship) from Christian to Christian in order to sow the seeds for a Gospel movement. It has also been a blessing to be part of an intensely vibrant Gospel-centered community in Boone that disciples one another and sends people out into the harvest regularly. However, I also learned that it took over three years to get this off the ground, and it can take a lot of brunt pioneering work in order to bear fruit and get sustainable multiplication. It does take effort.
In August, I started my last year of college at Lenoir-Rhyne (Hickory, NC) studying engineering. Meanwhile, it became a goal to help start the No Place Left (NPL) movement in Hickory. Although there are many Christians in the Hickory area, I was beginning to put some of this training into practice with a vision to bring about an evangelistic movement in the city. At the university, I began to talk about evangelism in some of the ministry groups on campus and pray for laborers to go out into the harvest. Most of the fall semester was spent pioneering and finding people who would be willing to anchor a core group of believers that want to impact the Hickory community. Meanwhile, I partnered with a group of No Place Left evangelists from the Charlotte area that were helping to get groups established in the greater Hickory community. By the end of the semester, a few groups were identified on campus that expressed interest in active evangelism, and a couple No Place Left groups were established in Hickory; praise the Lord! Yet I also dealt with a ton of distractions over the semester as God taught much from this experience. College gets busy. How can I cut out time to abide with the Lord and be able to go out in the harvest? It is tough. How I spent time in a big semester became a challenge for both myself and other dedicated Christians at the University. Yet despite challenges over the semester, the LORD and His will endures. Doing long term Gospel outreach in Hickory, NC is still a work in progress. I am praying for new laborers to be raised up and evangelism to take place throughout the spring semester.
Being involved in No Place Left opened the door to be involved with a large network of laborers globally who are seeking to change communities for the Lord. This is a beautiful thing. There are people from Texas, England, India, Nigeria, New York, and all over the world passionately on mission. It is humbling to think how the Lord brought me out of a little corner in North Carolina and into this global network in a matter of months. The door opened over the fall semester to visit groups in the Lake Norman and Asheville areas. Yet whenever I visited a new place, it became important for me to walk alongside and minister with those who are serving there and not charge in with a “command and control” montra. In NC, the Charlotte area is beginning to see a small gospel movement; please pray that this continues to grow. Charlotte Awake is active and wants to grow Gospel outreach throughout the city of Charlotte, NC. I am not involved with them yet but heard good things from those who live in that area. Meanwhile, in Asheville we have come across a lot of homeless and many who are battling drug addictions. Doing outreach can be challenging, but the Lord has taught me a lot on letting go of fear and stepping out to share the Good News. It is not an easy task; yet it is encouraging to do it with other passionate believers who want to help change the city. Are we willing to step out and serve Him?
2020 is going to be a big year for us. No Place Left will continue to do outreach throughout the world, and I am praying for our impact in Western North Carolina as well. As we gathered near the end of the year, we cast a 2020 vision for the group. We are planning to have Gospel training in Charlotte and Raleigh this spring with many chances to outreach- praise the LORD! We are also planning to be intentional about discipleship and address ministry challenges as they come up. The New Year is here. 2020 will have its ups and downs, but it will be a very transformational year. It is crazy to look back in 2019 and see what the LORD has accomplished- both through this ministry and in my own personal life as well. Yet the season of preparation continues. I will be mentored and participating in evangelism through this group up until the Race. Please continue to pray about this throughout the year. During January, we are in a period of prayer and fasting to open up the New Year and lift up the Unreached People Groups of the world. There are many who do not know Jesus, and I am also lifting up those who our group will impact while on the Expedition. Furthermore, I am continuing to lift up the No Place Left Workers who are around the world doing kingdom outreach. Finally, we are praying for laborers to be raised up- workers who will take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Just 6 months from now, we plan to be at the No Place Left Global Summit (just a few days before the Expedition Launch) gathering with believers from around the world. It will be a time of remembrance of what has occurred and looking forward to what will occur. Will I look back on this last semester fondly knowing that I ran the Gospel Race hard and lived a life on mission? Again, I wanted to wish everyone a happy New Year, and thank you very much for praying about this. I am excited to see what will come to pass this next semester…
FINALLY, here are some resources for you all to take a look at and think about. Please feel free to reference these and use them for your benefit. I hope this knowledge benefits you as you continue to pursue ministry and seek to change this world for the Kingdom…
https://www.sentergy.us/post/leadership-from-the-harvest-a-upg-church-in-north-america
https://sites.google.com/view/chuckdeb/modules
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7mURm-8cOI
https://e3partners.org/training/
The Four Fields of Discipleship (www.4fields.net)
