"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace." - Apostle Paul, Acts 20:24
In your opinion, are Paul’s words empowering or kind of scary? Many Christians are often caught between the struggle of longing to share the good news of the Gospel and not feeling confident enough to do so. Often, we see people gifted in evangelism and assume that because they’re especially gifted in it they are the only ones who can do it. But this doesn’t mean that everyone else stops evangelizing, everyone is able to share their faith. What I love about YWAM Salem and our Discipleship Training School (DTS) is that it provides a foundation for students to grow in their ability to share the good news.
One of our foundational values is “to know God” first, and then to respond by “making him known.” The first half of DTS is called “Lecture” phase; it’s all about bringing challenging teachings from missionaries, pastors, and Christians speakers all over the world for the purpose of helping each student understand God’s heart for him or her personally as a foundation for missional living. As we begin to understand the Lord more and spend time in study, worship, and prayer, we can then begin to look outside of ourselves and look to the work he invites us into.
YWAM Salem is home to Gospel Guy, a network which exists to equip believers with training and confidence to be obedient to the great commission in the city of Salem. Since starting in 2015, Gospel Guy participants have shared the good news with more than 6,000 people in the city of Salem. Our Gospel Guy leaders partner with our DTS to train students and give them an established ministry to work with to gain confidence in being intentional about conversations with non believers, and to share the Gospel with them. While this sounds intimidating, Gospel Guy provides a safe outlet for learning and growing. We often use big words to explain how to share the Gospel, but so much of sharing our faith is learning how to listen to people, relate to them, and have meaningful conversations with those we come in contact with.
It's easy to think of sharing our faith as a thing we are supposed to do as “real Christians.” If we want to see transformation in our communities, cities, countries, and the world, we have to ask God to give us a heart for the lost. Evangelism will feel impossible or scary when our motivation is out of an unhealthy sense of performance. What I love about our YWAM community is that we come back to the heart of it all; we seek God’s heart together, and we walk out the response together. Sharing our faith isn’t just an individual role, which is awesome because it means we don’t have to do it alone. During Jesus’ own ministry on earth, “he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two” (Mark 6:7). When we carry faith on our own, it’s difficult sometimes to keep going. I love being part of a community that encourages me, seeks the Lord with me, and responds to the Great Commission with me.
Do you want to see revival? Do you want to see more people coming to know God? Do you long to see God use your life? All of those things require a step of obedience. The thing about obedience is that God views our success not by the fruits of the call, but by the willingness to just take the step. If you are feeling ready to make that step, consider letting YWAM Salem walk with you as you become empowered to share the Gospel wherever you go!