April Update
What a full but productive and strategic month. In April we saw young leaders trained, students come to Christ, campuses covered in prayer, the church working in unity, and church plant leaders encouraged and strengthened. It’s a blessing to pour into these leaders and churches and be able to focus on what matters! Prayer and making disciples are still what Jesus modeled for us and told us to be about. I’m blessed to not only do this ministry but also to remind others about the main thing---Jesus!
LOCAL
Our involvement in the Five Oaks missional portion of our Declaration Church DiscipleNow was rewarding. During our campus missionary group leading, one of our students shared the gospel, while others assisted with activities and relationship building. Taylor Johnson, our small group co-leader, facilitated mission work engagement. Our Portland Mission team, including participants from our campus missionary group and Declaration leaders, will assist two church plants in Portland. At the Fields of Faith event in Willis, working with our regional FCA and Willis Network, our students prayed, encouraged, and counseled peers. Over 150 decisions were made.
STATE
We hosted the first Accelerate Texas regional event in Waco, collaborating with Students Standing Strong, 10xten, and Texans on Mission. Olivia and Kyle Williamson’s national “Claim Your Campus” tour promoted prayer, including prayer-walking schools, and building relationships with ministries. We also found favor with school superintendents who were excited and supportive of our efforts. It was exciting to have them share at Declaration Church. In Dallas, we engaged in prayer initiatives, including a meeting with DFW leaders from First Priority, Decision Point, Texans on Mission, and Movement DFW. I also met with Carol Livingston, planning a youth and prayer outreach in Johnson County. Congresso, a youth evangelistic conference in Waco, reached over 3500 students, fostering connections with Hispanic leaders such as Abel Lopez (who networks 1600 leaders) to reach this demographic in Texas.
NATIONAL
In Oakland, California, at the Acts 2 Network, I led a breakout session on movements and shared our Texas plan at the Dare2Share Gospel Advancing Summit, encouraging and challenging young leaders in strategy and vision casting. Our Campus Connections book, nearing completion, aims to equip youth leaders for campus outreach. The Williamsons, Billy Beacham, Kevin Miles, Doug Clark, and I met in Burleson at Student Discipleship Ministries, planning this year’s See You at the Pole.
GLOBAL
We convened Dare2Share focus groups at our Reach Out global office in Southlake,
gathering insights to shape evangelistic training for youth leaders worldwide. Reach Out Youth Solutions continues impactful work globally:
Cuba: Developing leaders and activating young people for peer outreach.
Russia/Ukraine: Missionary Doug Landro trains youth leaders on both sides of the border.
South Asia: Manuals for youth ministry training are in production.
Kenya: 3000 youth attended a Reach Out conference, focusing on living for Christ.
Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo: Notable achievements in training, church planting, and student outreach.
Zimbabwe: Sharing testimonies from recent forums. Africa 2023 Stats: 3,346 leaders trained, 1,311 mentored, 17,250 students saved, and 85 churches planted.
In Christ’s love,
Rick
Thank you all again for your love and support.
