October 2002 Prayer Letter

Tuesday October 29, 2002

Greetings in the name of the Lord,

I am very excited to be able to tell you about a new ministry that I have the privilege to be a part of.

International Teams (IT) has launched a new Missions internship program called Encounter Teams. It is targeted at young adults (18-30) who have participated in short-term cross-cultural ministries, and are seriously considering some sort of full-time ministry. It is currently an 8-month program that takes these people to 5 different countries in which IT has work going on. It gives them an opportunity to get involved in a number of different ministries in a bunch of different cultures, and get to work along side quite a few established missionaries. Participants of the first team came back talking about all the ways they had been stretched, and how much they had learned about themselves and about God. It was an excellent opportunity for them to take part in advancing the kingdom, grow much deeper in their understanding of God, themselves, the world, and where God might be taking them in the future. After the first team, one of the team members commented, “Tell them they'll never be the same! Tell them to 'go for-it' and be ready for God to do amazing things!” I’ve included a portion of the Encounter Teams brochure on the following page that gives some more information on what this program is about.

International Teams is bringing me on staff to be a team leader for upcoming Encounter Teams groups. This is an exciting opportunity for me to have a part in the development of young adults who feel God’s call on their lives to ministry. My role will be overall care of the team, mentoring team members as they seek to learn more about God, themselves, the world, and their future. In each of the locations we go to, we will be working along side career missionaries, who will be leading the various types of ministries we are involved in.

It has been exciting to see how God has been directing and preparing me over this past year. Receiving and confirming God’s call has been an interesting process, one in which I have seen His hand at work all the way through. The coming months will likely also be quite interesting. Please be praying for me as I begin raising the prayer and financial support that I will need in order to do this work He’s called me to. If you feel called to partner with me in this ministry, I’d love to hear from you! Included is a response card in which you can indicate if you’d like to be a part of my prayer team, financial support team, or if you’d like to get involved in some other way. Tax receipts are available for any financial gifts.

Lord willing, in January, I will be at IT’s missionary training school in Elgin, near Chicago, for 4 months. Please be praying for me in this as well, that I would be open to all God has to teach me, and that the training would better prepare me for what I have to do in the coming years.

If you could be praying that God would continue to guide and direct those making decisions about the future of this ministry, we would greatly appreciate it. Pray that God would be glorified, and lives would continue to be changed – both the lives of those involved in the teams, and all the people we have the privilege of ministering to.

I wait with great anticipation to see what God will do in my life, and the lives I have the privilege to come in contact with. We serve an awesome God, and I know that through His strength and His power, He can do great things.

I would love to connect with you either before Christmas, or after I get back from training this summer. Please feel free to contact me regarding anything I’ve talked about here.

May God richly bless you,

Steve Van Bruwaene