Report from India

Dear friends,

The last 2 months have brought great encouragement & what seems like an ‘explosion’ of ministry possibilities, after a long time of ‘plugging away’, seeking to be faithful to God’s call to build relationships of trust within the Catholic world and bridges of friendship & trust between YWAM & the Catholic ‘world’ in India. My wife described it like when you’re squeezing a plastic ketchup bottle and all you’re getting is air & suddenly you have a big ‘plop’ of ketchup squirting out!

There have been new openings in 3 places, but this month, I want to focus especially on Indore - a city in the northern state of ‘Madhya Pradesh’.

Indore

Mid-September brought some new open doors of ministry , with opportunities for KT to partner with YWAM in Indore (a city in the central Indian state of M.P. or Madhya Pradesh) to minister to Catholics there. 2 of our YWAM Indore leaders met with 2 Catholic pastors (priests) of the Indore diocese together with me and we had a great time of sharing about how each of us are involved in building God’s Kingdom. As I shared stories of how Christian from different churches are coming together in a spirit of unity in different places, it sparked a conversation about doing something in similar. There was talk of having an ecumenical games event in Indore, at the end of December, involving the different Christian communities in Indore.

The week after I returned, even more things started moving. Fr. Anand, who provides leadership for the Catholic youth of the diocese, took a few of his youth & visited a YWAM orphanage of more than 100 kids, who are children of Christians who have undergone tremendous persecution in Orissa & lost their homes. Fr. Anand & his youth, led the children in charismatic praise & worship; the Holy Spirit moved & the children were weeping. This amazed the YWAM staff of the orphanage, who had never witnessed a Catholic priest being used by the Holy Spirit in this way before. Am sure God has used this experience to build a new bridge in the hearts of all those invovled..

Fr. Anand also called me to invite me to conduct some ‘leadership training’ sessions for the animators of all the ‘youth groups’ of his diocese in early November. However, I was already booked to teach on our ‘School of Worship’ in Lonavala. So I suggested to Fr. Anand that our YWAM Indore guys could conduct the training instead, for which he was very open. The YWAM Indore guys in turn, suggested that it would be good that someone from KT work together with them, since this was the first time, they would be training Catholics & they didn’t want to inadvertently do anything that would cause offence. It ended up that Freddy & Monique travelled to Indore and conducted the sessions, with Sushil, a YWAM leader from Indore, helping translate the sessions into Hindi. It was so encouraging to see God bring this together & the openness on all sides to this new venture.

Other doors of opportunity have also opened up to write articles in the diocesan youth magazine and conduct a ‘Bible camp’ in May next year, for the youth of the diocese.

Next month our ‘Kerygma Network DTS’ from Slovakia will also be in Indore, from Dec.5th till around Christmas. They will be working with Fr. Anand for part of their outreach there & I look forward to this partnership, which God has opened up, deepening further.

Please do pray for this partnership for God’s Kingdom - that it will continue to grow & bear fruit

Pune

In Pune, the ICYM here had 2 wonderful events in October. The first, unfortunately, I was not able to be a part of, as I was travelling to Bangalore that day. But it was quite remarkable to see youth all over the railway station, with brooms, mops, scrubbers & all kinds of cleaning implements. They mobilised 300 Catholic youth to clean the Pune Railway Station. Such ‘Service Days’ have great ecumenical potential as well. I tried to get the word out among other churches, but am not sure if any participated. Would love to see this become an ecumenical venture, in future.

The second - the Christian Youth Games (CYG) - which was an ecumenical event, drew almost 1000 participants from a number of churches & of course, even more who cheered & supported them.

It was a great initiative - a first of it’s kind - and was a huge success.

I was able to contribute it, by running a ‘prayer stations’ area, to offer the opportunity for the youth, to use various activities, to engage with God. Had only about a dozen people come through on each of the 2 days, but it was worth it.

Lonavala

At the beginning of November I was invited to teach at the ‘School of Worship’ in Lonavala, where I got to share on topics, which I have explored a lot in ‘Kerygma Teams’: ‘The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last century through the Pentecostal-charismatic movement’; ‘Worship & Religion’; ‘Worship & Liturgy’; ‘Worship & Suffering’ & ‘Praising God for all things’.

I enjoyed sharing on this topic & got very positive feedback. A highlight were the times of application in worship at the end of each class.

Worship is a great way to build ecumenical understanding and I was able tohelp participants understand how to meet with God through both - charismatic as well as liturgical worship.

Catholics to the outreach at the Olympics in London next year

We have started the process of recruiting Catholics from India, to travel to London for the outreach at the Olympics next August. Please do pray for this and pass the word on. I have taken on the responsibility as the ‘India Co-ordinator’ for this outreach; so if anyone from India is interested, please ask them to contact me at: india@kteams.org .

Blessings!

Cassius.

KT Australia Report

WYD 2013 Rio:

Kerygma Australia will be taking an outreach geared towards YWAMers. 
We are aiming for at least 100 participants. 
Already we have 3 YWAM Australia bases keen to join in, but we would like some more. 
The outreach will be 3 weeks long and will involve input on the Catholic World, Mercy Ministries and serving World Youth Day as volunteers. 
For more information please do not hesitate to contact us at: wave@kteams.org 

Olympics 2012:
2012 is drawing scarily close and we are also aiming for at least 50-100 Catholic Australian’s to join us for the Joshua Camp in London in August. 

MA12:
We’re also preparing for our 2-week Mission Adventures programme here on base; this is the one project a year that the whole base pitches in for. With 4 days of preparation and staff training, 3 days of input and 7 days of outreach, it looks like we’ll get 2012 off to an energetic start.

2012 London, England, Olympics Evangelization

Kerygma Texas works within the framework and experience of Youth With a Mission. We have a 50-year history of urban and street ministry around the world. YWAM has led teams every year to major urban hubs of America like Houston and Chicago. 

At the next Summer Olympics, London 2012, Kerygma has been asked to bring ministry teams. As Kerygma, this will be an ecumenical group of both Catholics and Protestants working together “proclaiming the Gospel.” Throughout the history of YWAM there have always been teams at the Olympics, but this will be the first time to have the brethren united there in a joint effort.

The 13-day outreach August 1-13, 2012, will give you the opportunity to share the love of Christ when the world comes to London for the Olympics.

Before and during outreach we will teach and demonstrate principles and perspectives to prepare you to be used by God to show His love to others and extend His kingdom on earth! 

You will be able to deliver the message of His life and hope that brings healing to the nations. And the nations will be there all assembled in one location for us! You will share Christ’s love in various ways: 

•  child evangelization
•  street evangelization
•  prayer ministry
•  drama
•  music
•  sharing testimonies
•  church ministry
•  practical help for the visitors, athletes and residents.

This will be a first time experience to many of you. We have found when we step out in faith like this God prepares “Divine Appointments,” specific people for us to connect with. 
 
Whenever possible, teams work alongside an existing fellowship, usually referring new believers to that church. After the outreach, the team returns to our base for a time of sharing what God has done.

You may sign up now online for this outreach. Our first Regional Orientation and signup weekend will be in March at the YWAM Twin Oaks base in Lindale, TX. Exact dates and times to be announced. We will have special orientation training, worship, prayer, and fellowship among potential Olympic outreach teammates. 

Save the date: August 1-13, 2012. Tell your friends, tell your church. International ministry opportunity at the Summer Olympics in London!

Who: YWAM Kerygma Texas
What: Summer Olympics Outreach
When: Aug 1-13, 2012
Where: London, England, United Kingdom
Why: Share the Love of Christ
How: Street ministry, drama and dance, friendship evangelizaton

If you are interested in going with us to the Olympics, please email us info@kerygmatexas.com or call 903-343-3567

Kerygma Texas gearing up for 10 day Urban Mission training and outreach

YWAM SST

Spring Break Outreach

March 8-18, 2012

 5 Days Discipleship Training in Tyler

 5 Days Urban Missions in Houston

 Dance Ministry

 Drama Ministry

 Homeless Ministry

Serving in Houston

SST Spring Break is ten days of getting to know God that will change your life forever. In just five days, SST will kindle the flame you already have, and then send you off to Houston, TX to spread that fire. The SST program emphasizes heart transformation and character development, not the accumulation of knowledge. It’s a journey to discover the heart of God and learn His ways. In SST, knowing God personally and intimately is the bottom line. This intense, two week, spiritual “boot camp” is designed to lay a foundation in your life, which will equip you to make a dynamic difference in your world! 

This March SST adventure is geared towards Catholic youth who are ready to go deeper for God. You’ll put your faith in action and get a taste of what it’s like to be a missionary. 

http://kerygmatexas.com/SST-Spring-Break.php  

see the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV-xfPTafRM&feature=channel_video_title 

Belgium DTS

Discipleship Training School

A Discipleship Training School (DTS) is a practical Christian training of six months, focussed on missions. The first three months will consist of intensive lecture, followed by three months of outreach. The focus of the DTS is knowing God and making God known.

The DTS aims to give participants a deep discipleship challenge to follow Christ more closely, improving their relationship with God and identifying their unique gifts and callings. The DTS will sharpen the skills and understanding of evangelisation, missions and reaching out in all areas of society. Emphasis is not so much on knowledge gained as on principles applied; not on information but transformation; not on heads filled with facts but hearts filled with faith.

The DTS is designed to give a real experience of working with YWAM and is a doorway to effective future service for God. Tens of thousands of people have completed the course as a foundation of Christian practice for their lives.

What is it like?
A DTS is full-time. All the DTS participants live together for the whole six months. The DTS lives, cooks, eats and learns together. This allows good friendships and challenges everyone to work on our personalities. An excellent opportunity to practice a Jesus-like lifestyle!

The school will be full of worship, intercession, evangelisation, discussions, assignments and Bible study. Speakers (national and international) will come each week to encourage and teach, share their testimonies and challenge us to go deeper with God. You will meet with a small group weekly to process what you are learning and grow together.

With the city on the doorstep, every week there will be opportunity for evangelisation.

During the outreach phase, we will travel abroad to show and share God’s love in another part of the world. This will be a cultural experience, as well as a God-experience, where you will put all that you have learned into practice and see that ‘nothing is impossible for those who believe’ (Matthew 17:20). You will be preaching, share your life story, take on leadership and serve the local people. These are wonderful and crazy times; expect to be living outside of your comfort zone!

The destination(s) for the outreach will be confirmed during the first month of the DTS lecture phase.

Is it for me?
Worldwide, YWAM offers the DTS to a wide variety of ages and interests. It is for you if you have six months or more to offer, an interest in reaching the world for Jesus and desire for more of God. There is no academic criteria for the DTS. The DTS is about life change and growth. It is not restricted by age or church background. Youth With A Mission, the organization of which Kerygma Teams are part, is interdenominational and interconfessional and as such welcomes Christians from all traditions: Protestants, Pentecostals, as well as Catholics, Copts and folks from other historic churches.  This DTS will be run in association with the Kerygma Network.

So, if you are imperfect, flawed, find it hard to pray, sometimes insecure, sinful, forget where you put your Bible, a bit grumpy or scared at times, then the DTS is for you! It is not for extra-ordinary people but for regular people of an extra-ordinary God.

Who is running it?
We are still forming the team, but the following people will definitely be in:

– Frankwin Colijn (DTS Leader)
26 years old, Dutch, singer/songwriter, married to Marieke <3, radical heart, gets excited about evangelisation and miracles, speaks Dutch, English, understands most French and is learning Chinese.

– Steve Philipp (DTS Leader)
too old, Luxembourgish, D.J., married to Helene, wants to globally ban Mondays, gets excited about festivals, speaks Luxembourgish, German, French, English and understands most Dutch.

Dates
Start: 15 January 2012
End: 25 June 2012
Applications close on 14^th January!

Language
English as the main language with interpreting into French

Costs
– The registration fee is 35 Euro
– 2000 Euro for the lecture phase (this includes a 175 Euro non-refundable deposit before final acceptance)
– Outreach costs will range between 2000 and 3000 Euro, depending on the destination and will be clarified as early as possible.

How to apply?
You can start the process by sending an email to dts@ywambrussels.be requesting the application forms.

Do not hesitate to call or e-mail us with any question, big or small:
+32 2736 3363, dts@ywambrussels.be

You can connect with us on Facebook through: http://www.facebook.com/BrusselsDTS2012

hedwig.devisser@gmail.com

Read Rob’s Blog on our facebook page

For an easy way to get the latest news from KT, check out our Kerygma Teams International Facebook page. Recently Rob Clarke has been blogging on the KT Facebook page. 

Our latest news, website posts and updates from our KT leaders, all in one place at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kerygma-Teams-International/141673296867 

The 2012 Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner

The 2012 Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner is here! Join a 32-year legacy, a powerful prayer chain that extends around the globe!
 
Over 40,000 Christians worldwide use the Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner to organize their schedules, journal their prayer times and Bible reading, and systematically pray for the nations - all in one easy-to-use format.

Available in four popular colors: 
Navy blue linen
Burgundy linen
Green linen
Black linen

YWAM PRICES:
 
1-29 prayer diaries: $5.00 each
30+ prayer diaries: $4.00 each
 
List Price: $16.99
 
Shipping costs are additional.

The Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner is a unique prayer and scheduling tool designed to help you live an intentional, integrated life connected to God’s kingdom. This multifaceted resource is far more than an effective organizer. For more than 30 years, believers have joined in God’s work in the world through vital intercession for the nations using this comprehensive resource.
 
The Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner is designed to assist you in integrating three vital areas of your daily life:  
Intercessory prayer 
Bible reading and meditation
Planning your daily, weekly, monthly, and annual schedules 
The 2012 edition provides many opportunities for you to live and pray intentionally throughout the year. 
Mini-library of relevant Christian teaching
Monthly articles exploring places of brokenness and redemption around the world
Daily thematic prayer guide
Bible meditation and memorization guide
Weekly guide to praying for the nations, including new country flags and statistics
Two-track Bible-reading program, including a checkoff system to read the Scriptures in your own order and at your own pace
Calendars for planning your day, week, month, and year
Personal notes and contacts pages
Reference helps
As you use the Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner, you will be encouraged and emboldened in the knowledge that you are one of thousands of Christians using this diary worldwide who are united in vital intercession.
 
The 2012 Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner unites thousands of Christians worldwide in vital prayer for nations in crisis, and they are great to use
as gifts for your donors and supporters!

Sincerely,

YWAM Publishing
(800) 922-2143
E-mail: books@ywampublishing.com 
Visit our website at www.ywampublishing.com

Relay Conference in Ireland

Dear friends,

I want to let you know about an exciting leadership conference coming up in Europe in February next year. The theme is ‘Courageous Leadership’. Below, I am including some information from the brochure. You can find out more at www.relay-network.org 

Throughout the history, God has done extraordinary things through ordinary people – people who may or may not have had official positions or titles, who for the most part did not see themselves as especially bold, but who nevertheless were willing to act on what they felt God wanted them to do, no matter what the cost. In some cases the course of entire nations was altered for the better when other people became inspired to follow the example of those men and women of God.

How can we too become leaders who remain faithful to the call of God in the face of resistance? Who are today’s ‘courageous leaders’? What are some of the pressing issues facing Christian leaders today and how can we best deal with them? What are some keys for raising up a new generation of Christian leaders?

During the conference we will be examining these and other leadership-related topics. Through teaching sessions, special interest groups, Eucharistic celebrations, times of praise and worship, prayer ministry, and networking with hundreds of other like-minded leaders from across Europe, you will be equipped with new leadership tools and become ‘en-couraged’ to carry out the task God has entrusted to you.

 

Speakers 
The plenary speakers for this conference for Christian leaders are living examples of ‘courageous leaders’: Rev. Nicky Gumbel, Fr. Bernard Murphy & Lynn Green.
The conference will include seminar tracks which deal with issues in an interactive environment, equipping leaders with both practical principles and useful tools.

The Conference Hosts
This conference is being jointly hosted by the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services (ICCRS), the Tine Network and RELaY.

Please pray about joining this conference. For more information, visit www.relay-network.org. There will be special rates for those from economically poorer nations. Please write to the organizers directly for more information on this. Even though this conference is mainly directed toward Europeans, it is open to those from other nations as well and would be of great benefit to anyone who participates. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Nicky Gumbel, Fr Bernard Murphy, and Lynn Green. 
Rub shoulders with leaders from across Europe to share ideas and develop new partnerships.
Hear testimonies of what God is doing in Europe today.
Take part in seminars where you can seek answers to questions from like-minded leaders. 
Blessings!

Cassius.

Report from India

Dear friends,

August & September have been very full months of ministry for us. Below is a brief update: 

1-30 August brought around this year’s Ramzaan (Ramadan) and the 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim world. We continue to promote this prayer event each year, to see God’s heart for Muslims stirred up among Catholics.

My heart’s desire is to eventually see Catholics getting further training with our ‘School of Islamic Studies’ and forming teams to plant churches among Muslims. Wouldn’t that be wonderful!

This month I will be taking our South Asia leader of YWAM’s work among Muslims to meet our bishop, to talk together about collaboration in this area.

I am also excited that a Catholic girl who is from a MBB family, will be volunteering with a YWAM team working among Muslims starting this month.

In mid-August, we had a GXP camp for 30 youth who are studying in Year 10 (around 15 years old). We ran this camp in partnership with ICYM (Indian Catholic Youth Movement), which is an organisation of all the Catholic youth groups in the country. We managed to pull it off at the last minute, thanks to a great team of 20 youth from ICYM, who took care of all the logistics. I look forward to doing more with them in the coming days. The team had great unity and were very prayerful too. The camp went well & the feedback from the participants was quite encouraging.

Mid-September brought some new open doors of ministry, with opportunities for KT to partner with YWAM in Indore ( a city in the central Indian state of M.P. or Madhya Pradesh) to minister to Catholics there.
We have been invited to write articles in their diocesan youth magazine, conduct a ‘leadership training’ for the leaders of the youth groups of the diocese in November, partner with them to run an ecumenical youth event at the end of December and run a ‘Bible Camp’ in May next year for the youth of the diocese.

Also in Bhopal (the capital city of the same state of M.P. or Madhya Pradesh), we have been invited to run ecumenical youth and leadership programs for a state-wide ecumenical association of Christians. This association has come together as a result of persecution, but they are now looking to deepen their relationships with each other and also share a vision for the youth to be involved in all spheres of society - especially the public arena.

Please pray for a good connection between YWAM and the Catholic Church in Indore. 

Blessings!

Cassius

Kerygma Teams - Pondicherry

I am sending a short up date about our slum ministry. We had started the slum ministry with the intention of bringing God‘s glory and His light to the slum inhabitants. The action plan is to go to different homes every week and share with them the basic kerygma of the Gospel, worshiping, praying with them followed by a short message from the word of God. 

Earlier we had felt to do a ‘prayer walk’ around the slum. During that time, God gave us some specific words, to confirm that He wanted to bring His light and glory to those people. One of our YWAM friends from Bangalore also joined us for the prayer walk. We did not know many details about the slum before we started to work there, but once we started to go regularly, we discovered the nature of the place and people. Most of them are Catholics but very nominal. Almost 50% of them - both men and women - are involved in illegal actives or sins such as kidnapping, murdering, fornicating, adultery, idolatry, fighting for power and position and so on. We understood more about why God wants to bring His light into that area. It was also confirmed to us through spiritual warfare like disturbances in the night, accidents and fears, but we felt God assuring us that He is with us. God gave us encouraging words from time to time. Also testimonies from the people about healing, receiving God’s love and blessing of provision. Now we are planning a weekly prayer cell - 3 weeks in different houses. We also have a special meeting for people of different house groups to gather in our place to worship and pray. We want to invite some special guests for those meetings.

We wish we could post some pictures of the slum and the people, but we decided not to take pictures, because we have heard that these people had some problems with other groups misusing it. So we want to first build a strong relationship; then we can take some pictures to send to you. On October 13, when we plan for the special meeting, we can take some pictures. 

Please stand with us in prayer, as we are standing in the front row of the battle. The victory belongs to God.   

God bless you!
Kerygma Teams - Pondicherry .

Slovakia’s 4th DTS gets underway!

Our fourth Kerygma Associate DTS is on its way! See the picture above. We are having Reona Joly Peterson speak this week, very powerful. She is one of the first YWAMers, did her SOE in Switzerland, was Loren’s secretary for a while and pioneered YWAM England.
We’ll have several other (prophetic) speakers including our wonderful Bruce.
The students are 2 from Canada, 4 from the US, 1 from Holland and three from Slovakia. Half protestant, half Catholic.


In Slovakia we are in the second week of our KT network DTS, our fourth such school. In the photo you see our AMAZING students & staff from the Netherlands, Slovakia, Czech Republic, USA, and Canada!


This morning started at 7AM with morning prayers, breakfast and quiet time, followed by lectures on the fear of the Lord, taught by Reona, a New Zealand lady who used to smuggle Bibles into Slovakia during the Communist years. The car she drove had hidden panels stuffed with Bibles, but when the border guards asked her if she had any “literature”, she said YES, and showed them her copies of Time magazine. When the surprised guards saw this banned Western publication, they shrugged and waved her through!


In 2 weeks the DTS will pack up our van and set off for Rome, where we will join the Papal audience on the first morning of our “Heritage Tour”, a 5000-km, 10-day journey of inspiration where we will stand in places where God’s people changed the continent of Europe and the world with the message of Jesus. Besides Rome & Assisi, we also visit communities and YWAM bases in Switzerland, Germany and the Czech Republic before returning home to our base in Banska Bystrica.


If you or a friend would like to join our 7-month DTS as a student or staff, please get in touch! steve@ywam.sk
 

Report from Kerygma Teams Australia

YWAM Southlands Melbourne:
God has been speaking to us with fresh vision for YWAM Australia and we believe we are in a unique season of favour and growth. 
Here at YWAM Melbourne God spoke to us to join with YWAM South Australia, and YWAM Tasmania to become one. 
In early May at our National Leaders’ Meeting we were commissioned as a new region in YWAM Australia. The leaders of YWAM Australia named us because we felt that children do not give themselves a name that is the role of the parents. We are now called YWAM Southlands.

Edwin & Emma: 
Not only did Edwin and Emma become part of the Kerygma Executive in June, this past Thursday, they became the base leaders for YWAM Southlands Melbourne. In 1 Timothy 1:10 it says “I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he has considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry”. Let’s pray for Edwin & Emma as they embark on this new season of greater responsibility and leadership. May God be their guide and strength and give them wisdom, grace and joy.

World Youth Day Outreach:
It was a great privilege to take part in WYD 2011 in Madrid. 
We played a small but very significant role within the Diocese of Gibraltar’s trip. 
A DTS outreach team from Newcastle, Australia, came to Gibraltar to serve the Roman Catholic Diocese with much love, enthusiasm and dedication.

One of Kerygma Teams strengths is “building bridges” between different Christian denominations and the Catholic Church. In fact it is one of our priorities to facilitate different ways to do so. 
This team outreach to Gibraltar and Madrid opened the youngsters’ eyes to the beauty of the Catholic Church and the diverse nature of different Protestant churches. It showed us that if we serve and pray for each other, love will grow and opportunities to share about God will come to great fruition.

Sarah: 
Sarah is back in Melbourne serving Kerygma and the Southlands Melbourne base. As from next week, she will be taking on the administrative role of Registrar for the base as well as continuing to work with the Mainly Music ministry, and helping to staff the April 2012 Justice & Mercy DTS amongst other things.


Aims for the coming year:
We would like to see at least two Catholic youth groups participate in our January Mission Adventures programme here in Melbourne.
We want 100 young Catholic Australians to join us in London for the Joshua Project.
KT GO TEAM: We would like to take a group of university students on outreach to South Korea.
 

KT Executive member Cassius Soares shares about coaching

Dear friends,
At our recent international gathering in Rostrevor, we had an introductory session on ‘coaching’ as well as opportunities to sample ‘coaching’. Our KT Exec believes that this is a very important resource that God is providing us at this time, in order to equip and encourage us, as we seek to serve Him in our various locations.  So, I want to focus this article on ‘coaching’.

Living your destiny, fulfilling God’s purpose

You want to make a difference. You want to transform nations, build the Kingdom, and bring glory to God in your life, your home, your relationships and your work. You want to be faithful to the call God has given you; in the small things, and in the big ones. You want your organization and your leaders to grow.
There are many demands on you and your leaders’ time and energy. There are so many needs! How can you build a ministry and organization that consistently reflects godly values, models Christ-like leadership, and empowers emerging leaders? How can you build a healthy balance between family and ministry? How can you focus on the truly important and eternal in the midst of the urgent? 
Many times in my own journey, I found myself stuck, not knowing how to move forward toward the dream that God had laid on my heart. At other times I have found myself puzzled, confused and overwhelmed by the challenges along the way.

How can leadership coaching help? 

Leadership coaching is a growth-centered relationship that provides the support, accountability, perspective and challenge that you and your leaders need to reach your God-given vision and dreams. A coach will walk alongside you as you identify the goals and action steps you want to work on, and will help you learn through the challenges of life and ministry on the way. 
Leaders who have the kind of growth-producing relationship coaching provides are more successful in ministry, grow faster, and are more likely to fulfill their destiny than those who don’t. In the business world, coaching has demonstrated a 750% return on investment! In one study in the church arena, the single most important indicator of ‘small group’ success was the quality of the coaching the leader received.
Coaching creates a respectful atmosphere in which you can reach your goals in a self-directed way. Rather than tell you what to do, your coach will facilitate the change process while you set the agenda. 

How can I find out more?

If you have specific questions and would like to find out more about ‘coaching’, please feel free to write to me at the e-mail address below.  I was first introduced to ‘coaching’ almost 4 years ago - in November 2007, when 50 leaders in YWAM South Asia were selected for a ‘pilot project’ to receive coaching from CMI, with their trained coaches over Skype. At that time, there were several areas where I would often get stuck or trip up; either because of personality weaknesses/blind spots, not knowing how to apply what I’ve learnt, internal issues, and areas where I need healing or growth - which produced unhealthy habit patterns in my life, and not knowing how to implement some of the vision God has given me. I also needed help with discernment about taking on a major role in YWAM locally. Looking back over the these last 4 years, coaching has been one of the most significant resources for me in growing in my relationship with God, in relationships with my family members and others, and in equipping me to be a better leader.
The online coaching can be related to personal issues, marriage issues, leadership issues, dreams in ministry etc. - you get to choose in what area you have the most pressing need for help. 

How can I sign up for coaching with C.M.I.?

If you are ready to sign up for coaching with CMI, you can do so directly at their web site: http://www.coachingmission.com. Click on “Bridges Program – Coaching for Individual Missionaries” in the left column for more information on the program and in order to apply.
I want to encourage you to take a few moments to think and pray about this and perhaps explore this further. CMI (Coaching Missionaries International) offers the kind of consistent ongoing support that is often needed by leaders and which unfortunately we cannot offer as ‘Kerygma Teams’ at this stage, because of our small number of leaders and our various responsibilities. This might be a provision from God to you, to bridge the gap.

Blessings!
Cassius Soares