Johnny and I are writing to you to tell you about an opportunity we have been offered, and also to request your support. Over the summer while Johnny and I were in Asia visiting our outreach teams, we got an email from one of the leaders of the Kona YWAM base, Judy Orred, inviting us to participate in Slingshot this fall, which will be held in Townsville, Australia. The Slingshot seminar will be from October 17-November 5, and is focused on leadership development, particularly for those who are presently carrying leadership responsibility.

Currently, Johnny is one of the team who lead the entire DTS program in Kona, and I am one of a team who lead all aspects of the community life. We feel very strongly that the Lord has asked us to continue seeking out opportunities for development, and we are currently in roles that allow us to immediately apply the things we are learning. As we prayed about the possibility of going, we felt that this would be a pivotal time for us in our development, as we endeavor to put the things we learn straight to use in our roles in Kona.

We would like to ask for your prayers as we endeavor to prepare for this financially. The seminar fee is $585 per person (which covers our housing, food, seminar materials, etc…), and we anticipate a cost of approximately a $2000 in airfare per person. That is potentially a total cost of $5,170. Please join us in praying for the finances required for this exciting opportunity. We are definitely excited to trust the Lord for his provision and watch what he does as we step out in faith. We haven’t yet purchased our tickets!

If you would like to give toward the cost of our trip, you can donate through the University on the link below, and you will receive a tax-deductible receipt! Thank you for praying with us and partnering with us!

This music video is a little less than four minutes in length and is positively worth the time, in my humble opinion… so I hope you enjoy watching it! Johnny’s brother, Josiah, has just released his first single from his album, The Ache and Answer. We just bought the album ourselves and have enjoyed listening to it so much. I find myself constantly singing this song, Say Anything, as I go about my day. We hope you’ll agree that Josiah is a talented musician with a unique style and thoughtful lyrics. Enjoy!

You can buy his music on iTunes.

You can also go to these sites to find out more about Josiah and his music: Tumblr, MySpace.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcDYrEOudqk]

Throughout the DTS we have challenged the students with the question of how to make lasting fruit in the nations. This is actually a question that has been burning in my heart for a while – how do we really leave lasting fruit, and not just go looking for salvations, leaving behind believers with no idea how to grow.

I asked Dan Shannon to speak to our school in the last week of DTS. He spoke for just an hour over Skype, blasting us about the importance of planting simple indigenous-led expressions of church, giving us concrete ways to pursue that, and inspiring us with stories of what can happen. We were all excited and challenged, and Jenni and I were praying that the Lord would make an opportunity for our students to do this on outreach.

Needless to say, we were so blessed to visit Cambodia and find that Nate and the Cambodia team were doing just that! Nate had started a Bible discovery group, and quickly handed over leadership to a great young guy called Behab. Behab began inviting his friends, then leading them in simple Bible studies where they focused on how to obey the teachings of Jesus. While we were there youth were getting saved in the group and it was starting to grow like wildfire! It was such a privilege to witness the simplicity of the Gospel impacting the people of Cambodia in such a real way, and to see Nate and the Holy Spirit making it happen!

PS. Nate is going to be joining us on staff in Kona in the coming months! Follow his progress here.

PS. we’re going to get you guys back just when you least expect it!!! Jake Kennedy we love you!

Check out more over at BardwellBlog.

I had the privilege of traveling to Haiti with my good friend Jeremy Bardwell in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake of January 12th, 2010. While there God’s heart for that nation was so clear, and we put out the call for the workers to come, meet with Jesus, and be sent out to a lost and broken world!