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Introduction to Pastors


Thanks so much for your interest in our Jamaica trips. We have seen the Lord do great and mighty things on these trips. We have consistently been able to share Christ with several thousand people and have seen over 100 indicate decisions for Christ on each trip we take. On numerous occasions we have seen the Lord rearrange our schedule to meet with individuals that needed to know Him. It has truly been one of the most exciting experiences of my life and many of those who have gone would say the same thing.

Let me start by sharing a little philosophy behind our trip. Studies have shown that one of the greatest weaknesses in the universal church today is that people do not share their faith consistently or in a way that a person could accept the Lord, based upon their presentation. George Gallup did a poll a number of years ago and discovered that only 2% of the believers in America had ever led anyone to the Lord in their entire life. Denver Seminary has the largest data base of information on evangelical churches in the world. A study of this data base shows that it takes 100 laymen and 1 full time staff, one year to lead 1.75 persons to Christ. It's easy to see from this why the church in America has been in decline numerically since 1964. I believe this is also reflected in the direction America is moving morally and politically. In the early 1960's, 65% of Americans believed the Bible to be literally true. Today, only 32% believe the Bible to be true. As a result of this, it is the desire of Outreach Adventures to provide opportunities for people to be used of the Lord to see others come to Christ and become more effective disciples. As I am sure you know, there is nothing that builds our desire to serve the Lord as much as knowing God has used us. The Jesus Film is a tool that makes this possible as it attracts people in a way that they are anxious to hear about Christ. We have also found that being in another culture contributes greatly to both the opportunity for personal growth and sharing experiences. In short, the objective of these trips is to provide a cross cultural experience where people will have the opportunity to be trained and actually lead another person to Christ and to get a picture of what a disciple really is.

A couple of concluding thoughts, if the Lord is laying such a trip on your heart, don't allow problems and barriers alone to change your mind. I have found that almost every trip is nearly canceled for some reason. Those that persevere are greatly blessed and in many cases their lives will never be the same. Once you make a commitment to come, expect some opportunities to trust the Lord. We have found one of the biggest areas of growth is in trusting the Lord.

Let me also stress the importance of church leadership being involved in the trip, especially the pastor. The emphasis of the trips are on exploring Jesus' method of "turning the world upside down", namely, what Matthew 28:18-20 calls making disciples. It is past time that the Church in America "turn the world upside down". If we don't, someone else with unbiblical views will. For these trips to be of greatest benefit to your church and your people, the leadership must be involved. We spend time on each trip evaluating how we can apply some of the principles we have learned when we return home. Without leadership involved to keep the vision fresh, we have found most people will return to old habits in a few months. It is still an extremely valuable experience for the individual, but the long term benefits for the church and the individual are decreased without leadership being involved.

Recently I called a pastor that brought a group to Jamaica and asked him what he thought was the greatest benefit for his church. His response was, "The permanent change in the lives of those who came on the trip." If would be a great privilege for us to partnership with you to see this kind of change in your people's lives.

I hope this has been helpful. If I can be of any further help please call me at 800-500-6959.

Yours for helping to make disciples,

Stan Johnson