How do you train leaders for ministry work in the city and what do they look like? They look like the men that came out for our leadership retreat this fall just outside of Wichita. The room was packed full of 140 men that came from all walks of life to be trained for the weekend on what it means to be a leader. A room full men who were eager to grow in their faith and be trained to be a representative of Christ!
For every individual who came out, their journey to faith and stepping into leadership looked different. One individual who came out was encouraged to lead in strength and confidence as he pioneered a new church plant in a difficult area of the city. He was able to step back from ministry and be built up and encouraged to fulfill his calling in the city.
Our neighbor who lived across the street and had struggled with addictions and incarceration came out to the retreat as well. His calling to leadership was to reunite with his wife and begin leading in his family first. He recently moved out of his apartment and moved back in with his family like he had been called to do at the retreat.
His story was one of many men who came out and where trained and encouraged to lead in three areas of their lives, family, community, and their church. If we are going to see the neighborhoods and cities we work in transformed we need to see men like this stand-up and lead for Christ. Men who have struggled with addictions, incarceration, poverty, and broken families are standing up and breaking cycles through the power of the gospel. Our goal is to empower and equip them as God gifts them to lead in His body.
