In the fall of 2013, I was ministering as a full-time children’s pastor, working part-time with L.I.T. (Leaders In Training), and attending seminary to earn my doctorate. I was overwhelmed, and I did not feel like I could take it much longer. I sought the Lord. There was so much pressure from all three sides, but I had peace and chose to stay right where I was.

I performed my responsibilities as expected. My pastor had expectations, and I did what he asked of me. I truly loved what I was doing. At the same time, the Lord was growing L.I.T. If you have ever heard anyone say, “I have been meeting myself coming and going,” that was me. I was at the point where I just could not give much more.

On Sunday evening, April 12, 2014, I was sitting in the back row of my church. Pastor Al said, “Read Psalm 27:4 and then write down the first things that come to your mind.” The Scripture says, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple” (Psalm 27:4).

The first thoughts that crossed my mind were, “Do you trust Me with your life? Do you believe I can do a mighty work? Are you willing to take a step of faith and fully submit to My authority?” I immediately prayed, “Lord, I am ready to step out of the boat in faith and fully trust You with my life. Lord, I commit myself, my resources, and everything I am to You in complete surrender.”

From that point on, something was different. Trusting Him was the challenge because it did not make sense to leave a full-time job with insurance and retirement and step into the unknown. I came up with every excuse not to do it. I talked with my pastor and shared my feelings with him. On the one hand, I felt ready; on the other, I wasn’t because the money was not there.

It finally came down to obedience. It was as if everything I read in my daily Bible study was on obedience. The last straw was the story of Saul and him making the sacrifice before Samuel arrived. I remember reading this passage in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 when Samuel confronted Saul:

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as

0155687647iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”

After reading this, I knew that I had disobeyed the Lord. It did not matter then whether the money was there or not; I knew my time was up. That morning, I went into the church office, sat down with my pastor, and told him that the Lord had made it clear for me to step down. On June 22, 2014, after our last mission trip, I gave my resignation to the church family.

Since then, there have been many steps of faith along the way. However, the Lord has blessed us beyond what we could have ever imagined. Pastor Al Meredith once said, “God will never call you to do something you can do.” That is so true. He has called me to do something beyond what I could do myself. I know who is doing it, and it isn’t me.

In 2017, the Lord called us to give our discipleship resources away for free to our brothers and sisters worldwide who could not afford them. We have trained thousands of leaders through our online training at no cost to them or their ministry. Since then, it has rapidly spread into 18 countries worldwide, including Africa, Asia, and South America. There are many more we are not even aware of at this point. It’s Him! He did it, not me.

You may not know this, but L.I.T. has only three staff members: one full-time (me) and two part-time (our financial secretary and our editor). My responsibilities include filling in the blanks between administration, website, church support, mission trips, training, newsletters, writing, blogging, and so much more. I am not complaining—I love what I do!

My dad told me years ago, “Work smarter, not harder.” You may be surprised to learn that I have not traveled to any of the overseas countries yet. Lord willing, I plan to do so in the spring of 2025. I have worked with many leaders online without ever leaving the U.S., from training more than 1,000 pastors and leaders in India to mentoring multiple leaders worldwide.

Isaac Mphande, for example, took what he had learned through our online training and personal mentoring from me and trained about 2,700 leaders in ten African countries. The training resulted in more than 22,000 children trusting Christ as their Savior and Lord. I could give many more examples of leaders who love their countries and faithfully carry the vision there.

Would you keep us in your daily prayers? The Lord is on the move. This is His ministry; however, He calls us to pray for His will to be done to raise up workers unto the harvest. He has heard our prayers. He is sending us children to fulfill the harvest. Our passion is to make disciples of children who then make disciples of other children.

We are at the point where we need additional staff. Our fundraiser goal this year is $100,800. If we could increase our monthly ministry support by $8,400, we could afford the additional staff we need. Our monthly support allows us consistent funds to operate as a ministry. All gifts are greatly appreciated.