Changed Lives Change Lives

Posted on November 11, 2020

A few weeks ago, Global Action president Rick Thompson shared about “the secret sauce” of our program—what makes us unique. Today, I’d like to illustrate that secret sauce by introducing you to Mauricio, a student in the first Global Action class I ever taught back in 2011.

Covered with tattoos in a class full of pastors in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Mauricio did not fit the mold. Recently converted from a tough background in gangs and the drug culture, his life was being transformed by God’s grace. God was using our program to prepare him to impact his country with the gospel. After graduating, he set up a residential drug rehabilitation home near the Guatemala border, where he now pastors a thriving church in the mountains. The old adage is true: changed lives change lives.

The Psalmist described how God often works in Psalm 77:19—“your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.” Just as God dramatically but mysteriously divided the Red Sea, so He works dramatically in our students’ lives—through His Word, empowered by the Holy Spirit, in the context of redeemed community, with godly mentors and teachers guiding the process over time to transform our students to becoming disciples that live, love, and serve like Jesus lived, loved, and served. That’s our secret sauce.

Mauricio’s story continues to be repeated throughout the world where our program is taught—through pastor Robby, a converted Roma pastor who ministers to the basic needs of his gypsy community near the Ukraine/Hungary border; through pastor Abraham in a hot, dusty village near Hyderabad, India, who provides medical supplies and shares the gospel with Hindus; and through thousands more like them! Changed lives change lives. We are so grateful for your support that makes this possible!

So thankful for what God is doing,

R.J. Koerper
Dean of International Faculty