Jan. 12, 2004 issue
RAD-ical disciples called to a high-voltage ministry
By Josh Stevens Mennonite Mission NetworkFORT WAYNE, Ind. — Four Reaching and Discipling teams of young adults, having completed an intense three-month training, are entering seven-month outreach assignments in locations around the world, including Macau, Sweden, Mexico and North America.
Some are leaving on faith: They have had difficulty gathering financial support, but they are trusting that God will provide.
Fourteen new RAD team members from Spain, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma and Georgia were commissioned Dec. 20 at Maplewood Mennonite Church.
The team members had just completed three months of training at Great Lakes Discipleship Center in New Haven.
They were encouraged by the message of Roger Andrews, pastor of Pine Hills Church in Fort Wayne, to be “high-voltage witnesses for Jesus Christ.”
“You are about to embark on one of the greatest adventures of your life,” Andrews said.
The commissioning added more than a dozen participants to the 92 young adults who have had their spiritual journeys shaped during the RAD program’s five-year history.
The fall training session was RAD’s eighth. Twenty-four teams have gone through the program since 1998.
RAD allows young adults, ages 18 to 30, a short-term opportunity of intense discipleship training followed by a six- to eight-month outreach assignment.
RAD is supported by partnerships with area churches and ministries, the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches (formerly Evangelical Mennonite Church) and Mennonite Mission Network.
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