Prayer Letters

Refresh and Renew :: U.S. Staff Conference

July 8, 2022 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

Dr. Tariku Fufa is the Global Church Movements leader for the Africa region. Kay and I work with Tariku and Buze, his wife, as they lead in Africa. We give strategic support.

We recently completed the first face-to-face conference for the entire African region. We called it Addis22 meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

During this conference, we strategized and planned a massive church-planting focus for the month of May this year. The results of this 30-day focus were staggering and humbling. Through diverse strategies like personal evangelism, mass media and digital outreach, Jesus Film shows, compassionate outreaches distributing clothing and food, Bible distributions and follow-up of new believers, we saw God do amazing things.

256 trainings equipped 22,357 trainees for church planting.
1,672 new churches and groups planted.
863,145 people heard the gospel of Jesus through personal and mass evangelism.
101,566 people prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.

This fruit came through 30 days of prayer and fasting, training, evangelism, discipleship and intentional group and church formation. The Addis22 conference was a significant time to pray and plan, to refresh and reconnect with God’s mission, and to prepare for this 30-day church planting focus.

Conferences can be very helpful in reconnecting us with God and his heart for the lost. They are times of peer learning and iron-on-iron sharpening.

Next week, Kay and I will join 5,000 staff at Cru’s U.S. staff training in July. This time together refreshes our vision, renews our call, and prepares us for our next year of ministry.

Measuring Multiplication – A Webinar

July 3, 2018 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

Collecting and understanding data from the field allows us to see God at work and helps identify next steps. Such information is vital to our goals of one healthy, multiplying expression of the Church for every 1000 people.
On June 26, 2018, I and colleague Mike Waid met with leaders from over 25 other organizations to discuss measuring our mission. We discussed the iShare platform, a tool we developed along with an outside engineering firm.

Bold Responses

March 16, 2018 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

As I review my notes on the Bold Moves Summit, things have become clearer to me. I am increasingly excited to be used by the Lord for His Kingdom come. Thanks to you, Keith and Kay, to Bekele and to your team for a conference that will produce eternal rewards. [from a participant]

Some came from far. Others were nearby. As the Bold Moves conference began in late February in Manila, 229 people from 89 countries gathered to explore Bold Moves: Boldly Multiplying, Boldly Expanding, Boldly Partnering and Boldly Leading. Directing a global conference with visas, around-the-clock arrivals and departures, establishing a meaningful agenda and executing it in atimely manner is in itself a bold move!

My prayer for weeks before the conference was from Luke 19 as Jesus expresses his love for Jerusalem. He laments that “you did not recognize the time when God visited you.” I felt God wanted to visit Bold Moves participants with a fresh breath of the Holy Spirit, a renewed vision and tools to overcome barriers. He wanted to invite us to closely follow our God who is boldly moving towards “this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)

My prayer was that we each would recognize the time when God visited us in Manila.

My prayer was overwhelmingly answered. There is a renewed dependence, vision and commitment. We have identified the big challenges. We have discussed the barriers. We have developed pathways to success. Participants departed saying, “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.” (Acts 4:29)

Resource

Reflections on the Bold Moves Conference

A Voice from the Past

October 7, 2017 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

Isaac Abijade

Please, are you the Mr Seabourn who taught Electronics when I was a young boy at Government Technical College, Bukuru, Nigeria? If you are, thank you for helping me learn how to be a committed Christian as a young man with very little experience of life. Many thanks. ~Isaac Ajibade

So began a conversation through Facebook Messenger.

I currently pastor a small parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God here in the United Kingdom in a town called Gillingham, Kent. I am also a Professional Environmental Health Practitioner to support the work of the ministry.

Later, Isaac shared more.

On the 21st April 1979 during a Fellowship meeting where you spoke, I felt the need to make a better faith commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ. I pleaded with Him to take away the sin of anger towards others which I often demonstrated while playing football, often injuring others. Jesus took the anger away and I made peace with God. The change continues today with fellowship with Jesus and love for fellow men. God used you to be a source of the help that I needed as a young person seeking. I fell in love with Jesus.

It’s exciting to hear stories of God’s faithfulness almost 40 years later. I was a teacher of electronics for the government in Nigeria. Part of the joy of walking with God is that we never know when a conversation will be life-changing for someone.

On a trip this week, I handed Heath my phone opened to the Knowing God Personally section of the God Tools app. Heath read through the gospel. We discussed it. Although Heath is comfortable as a childhood-Catholic attending a Unitarian fellowship, seeds were planted.

Success in witnessing is taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.

Who knows, maybe Heath will have an Isaac story in the future.

Living an adventure

December 30, 2016 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

What an adventure Kay and I are living!

This year we both celebrated 65 years of life, 40 years of fulltime ministry with Cru and in a few days, we will celebrate 45 years of life together in marriage. Who would have thought that high school sweethearts from a (then) small town on the edge of Dallas would be on their sixth passport filled with amazing ministry engagements, would have friends and ministry in over a hundred countries (we haven’t visited that many but we’ve made friends and enabled ministry through conferences and communications) and would have a powerful team of ministry partners who have enabled it all!

And we are not ready to retire, but feel that God is blessing and leveraging our gifts, skills and experiences in additional opportunities.

As Kay and I move around the world helping advance the good news through trainings or leadership conferences or even personal evangelism opportunities, I am reminded of what the angels said on that first Christmas, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” Everywhere the good news goes, there is great joy. As people realize that this good news is for them, joy settles and often erupts.

This is why Kay and I train church planters to connect with the lost and to plant churches that multiply. This is why we develop training curriculum. This is why we develop digital technology tools to expand the scope and engage more people in the Great Commission.

Kay and I are honored to be a part of this with a team of ministry partners. Undergirding with prayer is important. I invite you to pray for every village, every neighborhood, and every high-rise apartment. Click on the Shine link and watch the Shine video while praying. In 2017, we want to train and plant and engage even more so that the good news which brings great joy will come so that no place is left behind.