 December 2021 Serving In Iowa Merry Christmas Luke 2: 8-12“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”Back in this time period shepherds were not considered part of the in crowd. No one thought they were all that important and often they were men of questionable character. I think Luke wants to make sure we all know that the shepherds were told first, to remind us that the Kingdom of God is for all people, noblemen, poor, rich, wise, unwise, insiders, and outsiders. Jesus came for all men and women, from all walks of life in order to provide a way to restore all people into a right relationship with the Father. In Young Life we are always encouraging our areas to reach the furthest out, the shepherd of our day with the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.  This group consists of our current staff associates (first and second year staff) and they represent ministry in Orange City, Peoria, Rockford, Decatur, and Iowa City. Orange City is our brand new area that just started a few months ago! This is a 2 year program that seeks to train someone up in all things Young Life. We cover Contact Work (meeting students and developing relationships with them), Club (party with a purpose where Jesus is proclaimed), Campaigners (leading a Bible study for students that want to know more), Camp (best week of your life where Jesus is clearly presented) and many other aspects of Young Life. Please pray for this group as they continue in their training of “introducing students to adolescents and helping them to grow in their faith” (Mission Statement of Young Life)  Last month we had a combined banquet with Orange City and Sioux Center (Northwest Iowa). The people in the front facing the tables represent some of the leaders from these 2 areas. Many days of the week, these leaders show up at their high school ready be in the lives of students earning the right to be heard.  The 3 people (Zane, Trevor, Alexis) in the light green shirts are our Student Staff that currently help to lead in Orange City and Sioux Center. Each of these college students raise money in order to join Young Life as a part time staff person while in college. I work with them weekly to help keep our focus on running after students that don’t know Jesus. Brady (blue shirt) is our full time staff person in Orange City, we have forged a great relationship as we seek to build a strong foundation in Northwest Iowa. While I was at the Young Life Banquet in Sioux Center last month, I met a man named Adam Timmerman. He currently is in a similar role to mine but with Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In talking to him I discovered he used to own a John Deere dealer and before that “played a little football”. I discovered that “a little football” meant he was an offensive linemen for the Green Bay Packers from 1995-1999 and the St. Louis Rams from 1999-2006. He went to 4 Super Bowl’s, 2 with the Packers and 2 with the Rams and a Pro Bowl. He shared how Reggie White led him to faith in Christ during his time with the Packers. Even though I am a Bears Fan I was taken in by this very humble Jesus follower and was proud to take my very first picture with a Green Bay Packer. 🙂 I was very encouraged by his desire to share Jesus with High school students in North West Iowa! Let’s pray for Adam as he shares Christ with students.   |
All posts by sislersinkenya
Fall 2021
 Fall 2021 Serving In Iowa |
 We have been praying for the new school year and are anticipating great things in store for the Heartland region as we get back to meeting students on their turf at school functions. Please join us in praying that God would lead many students into a saving relationship with Him this year. Urbandale Iowa Update:  Our committee in Urbandale, Iowa has been working hard at developing the foundation for a new Young Life area. We are launching WyldLife (Jr High ministry) this fall in Urbandale and are so thrilled to be reaching students with the gospel. Currently we are a volunteer led area but we are praying for God to lead a full-time person to us! The Urbandale committee had their first launch fundraiser where we shared the vision of Young Life and invited people to become financial partners. We had a great turn out (the socially distanced tables don’t really show it!) Please continue to pray for God to raise up more people to be involved in this new ministry.Iowa City Update: Beginning in August of last year we started praying for a new staff person in Iowa City. We were pretty specific in our prayers because of the circumstances involved. I am grateful to announce that Paul Delashaw has answered the call to lead the charge of Young Life College on the campus of the University of Iowa. I have been working with Paul for a little over 6 months and have seen Gods hand throughout this entire process.Orange City is our newest Area! A year ago we began building a new area in Orange City Iowa (North West corner of Iowa) to reach the students at MOC Floyd Valley High school. After much prayer God brought Brady Mackey to be our new staff person in Orange City. Brady was on student staff (college student that is employed part-time) last year. I am thankful that I can continue working alongside Brady by providing as much help and training to him as possible. Please pray for him as we build a team together and look to reach students with the gospel. Many of the staff from our region enjoyed some time bonding, learning and painting a landscape together at a recent conference. This was definitely a bit out of my wheel house! Each of these staff members mean so much to me and represent a different town in our region that are running after students with the gospel. Please pray for our team this fall as we look towards God to direct our areas.YoungLives of Greater Des Moines Update: Thank you to those of you who helped provide LyfePact supplies! We have been able to distribute some LyfePacts and they have been a blessing. The above picture is a teen mom (and her sister) who are originally from the Congo. We’ve had the opportunity to meet with them multiple times and connect her with a mentor. We are continuing to pray for God to use us in the lives of those He connects us with.Family Update We had a wonderful summer and were so thankful that we had the opportunity to connect with many of you! The school year is off to a good start and both boys are enjoying Cross Country!    Please join us in continuing to pray for: Gods direction on our leadership That God would bring a full-time staff person to lead Urbandale Young Life That God would continue to connect us with teen moms for our YoungLives ministry.We are grateful for your prayers and financial support that allows us to serve with Young Life here in the Heartland Region. |
Spring 2021
 It’s been quite a school year of prayer, perseverance, and continuing to seek God’s desire on the ministry He has entrusted us with. Through prayer we continue to see God working mightily in our region. We are grateful for your partnership as we seek to reach more students with the gospel! Area Development Update:  We have been praying for over a year that God would bring Young Life to Urbandale, IA. As of January 2021, we now have an adult committee in Urbandale! (This picture represents some of our new committee!) This is a big step towards opening a new Young Life area. We will have a launch fundraiser in May to be able to share the mission of Young Life and invite other people from Urbandale to join us in reaching students in their town with the gospel! Please pray that God would continue to bring more adults to join this area. New Young Life Area:  I am very excited to introduce you to Marlin Baker. He is our new staff person in our new Young Life Area in Decatur IL. Over the last 2 years many have worked hard and prayed for new ministry in the town of Decatur. This is big news as it represents another town in our region that is reaching students that don’t know Jesus! Coaching New Staff:  This is the group of new staff (Year 1 and 2) that I work with regularly to help become the best Area Director that they can be. This group represents ministry in Bettendorf -Jeff, Moline -Kyle, Rockford -Jared, Decatur -Marlin, Davenport- Luke. Please pray for Gods direction on each of these men as they seek to reach students. We are excited that there should be at least 1 lady joining this group for next year and we are praying for more! YoungLives of Greater Des Moines Update:  I (Liz) have recently learned about a program called LYFEPACTS that Young Lives in NYC began as a way to meet new teen moms and help meet their physical needs as well. It is a care box filled with items such as diapers, formula, personal hygiene items, and non-perishable food. There is a google form that teen moms can fill out to request a LYFEPACT, then we will deliver it to their residence. We are going to begin this program here in Des Moines and are praying that God would use LYFEPACTS to introduce us to the teen moms who need help.  These are the 3 women I’ve been meeting with this year and that I have done mentor training with. I’m grateful that they are willing to be “Mentor Moms” for YoungLives. We have been praying about how to start meeting teen moms in the Des Moines area and we are hopeful that LYFEPACTS will be the doorway to do just that! Our goal is to make each LYFEPACT more than a box but a way to connect each teen mom with a YoungLives mentor who will pursue a relationship with her and her child, demonstrate the love of Christ, and act as a bridge to a relationship with Jesus. Family Update  Our family is doing well. We were able to get away to Branson, MO for a few nights over Spring Break. We are very thankful that both boys were able to be in person this entire school year and are now enjoying both Track and Soccer this Spring.  Please join us in continuing to pray for: *A deeper reliance on prayer. God has continually nudged Liz and I to continually bring everything before Him. *The new Young Life areas that are in the beginning steps of starting, that God would stir people’s hearts towards desiring to reach the lost youth in their communities. *That God would use LYFEPACTS as an effective way to connect with teen moms for our YoungLives ministry. We are grateful for your prayers and financial support that allows us to serve with Young Life here in the Heartland Region. We look forward to seeing many of you this summer when we are in the Chicago area the first week of August! |
Merry Christmas
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| December 2019 Serving In Iowa |
| Merry Christmas Years ago we were given The Advent Book. This is a very unique book containing 25 doors that open and reveal part of the Christmas story directly from scripture each day. As I was reflecting this week on Gabriel announcing the news to Mary that she would give birth to the Messiah I was struck by her response.   Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High….“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin? The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. Luke 1:29-38   Like many of us, Mary asks a question, but once Gabriel answers, she stops questioning and acknowledges that she is the Lords servant. Such a faithful and mature response for a young teenage girl! There have been many times in 2020 when I wish I would have responded like that to God when difficult or trying times came my way. As we move forward through the advent season, let us pause and reflect on the goodness of God. Let us dwell on His grace, His sovereignty and His oversight. As we do these things, let us also take the posture of being the Lords servant in all things that come our way. We have so much to be thankful for as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!As we reflect on 2020 we wanted to share a few things we are truly thankful for. *A deeper reliance on prayer. God has continually nudged Liz and I to continually bring everything before Him. *There were 3 new Young Life areas started in the Heartland Region in 2020. What a praise during this year! *God has brought 2 local organizations into our life that have connections with teen moms who also are willing to partner with YoungLives. *There are currently 4 women that have gone through the mentor training to be YoungLives mentor moms.  We are thankful that our Young Life staff have been able to meet in person all fall as we strategize how to reach students for Jesus in the Heartland region. This is a picture of some of our staff from our November meeting.Financial Update: |
Fall 2020
| In 1 Kings 17 Elijah meets a widow and she and her son are down to their last bit of flour and oil. He tells them not to worry, the Lord says “the jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.” |
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| Every day they were supposed to use the last remaining oil and flour and every day the Lord would supply enough for the next day. Over the last 6 months I feel like God has been teaching me to rely on Him daily. Each day I am to come to Him, with no plans, nothing that I am holding on to, just open palms releasing my wants and desires to Him, daily depending on the Lord. Certainly, the first couple of months I was kicking and screaming about all of my cancelled plans, but as time went on, our family started to shift to daily plans and began to pray specifically for things for that day or the next. As months went on, we looked back and saw God answering our daily prayers in amazing ways. God wants us to go Him daily and ask Him to supply our needs. He wants us to look to Him to guide our families as we seek to live our lives daily to glorify Him! |
| Young Life Area Development |
 Over the last 6 months we were able to start Young Life ministry in both Moline, IL and Bettendorf, Iowa. This is so exciting as we seek to reach more students with the gospel. We are currently praying and working to develop ministry in:IL- Decatur Iowa–Orange City, Waukee, Urbandale, & Clear Lake Join us as we pray and ask the Lord to lead us! |
| In August we had a person that applied for the Area Director position in Waukee. There is a lot of development that needs to take place in Waukee, but this person was originally up for the 1 year ramp up (praying, building a group of adults, gathering donors). We interviewed him in August and were excited but at the same time we were praying for Gods leading and not wanting to make a quick decision. |
 Following the interview ( socially distanced!), God clearly showed he was not the person for our area which was hard news to hear. We continue to pray and look to God to lead us in developing Waukee. Please pray for more adults to help reach students for Jesus in Waukee. |
| YoungLives of Greater Des Moines |
 In August I (Liz) finished going through the YoungLives Mentor Training Handbook with three women. So we are now ready to start meeting with teen moms when God brings them our way. We all have been reaching out to local ministries and organizations around Des Moines and are hoping to partner with an organization that is already working with teen moms. We are encouraged as things are moving forward and are continuing to pray for God’s timing and God’s leading.Please pray for God to bring more women for mentors and teen moms who are open to mentoring. |
| Family Update |
Jaden has embraced running Cross Country this year and is doing great!
Josiah continues to enjoy soccer and plays well with enthusiasm!
We appreciate all the amenities of living near Des Moines and yet are thankful to also live close enough to watch harvesting on our way to Cross Country meets!:)
We met with many of you during our week long trip back to IL in August. Thank you for your hospitality, generosity, and overall care. We are grateful to God for all of you and could not be here without you! We pray for you often and love when we get a chance to sit down and hear what God is doing in your life. Please reach out with ways we can pray for you or give us a call to chat some time.
Mark 515-336-4749, Liz 515-443-2938.
Items for prayer:
Please pray for more adults who love Jesus, love students, and want to see students reached in the towns we are currently working in *Orange City, Clear Lake, Waukee, Urbandale and Decatur.
Please pray that we would continue to trust God daily for all things as we serve here.
Pray for more women that desire to be mentors and ministries to partner with as Liz seeks to lead YoungLives here in Des Moines.
Spring 2020 Update
As I sit in my house today I am reminded that despite what seems like chaos around us, God is in control the same as He was a month ago, a year ago, and 1000 years ago.
In John 16:33 we read “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Jesus is still sitting on His throne! A great reminder that He is in control and always will be. We have been praying that you would draw close to Jesus during this time. Let’s all press in and seek to listen to what Jesus is calling us to during this time of change. We are thankful for new life springing up around us and hopeful for all that God is doing!
Over the last few months we have been working hard at meeting new people and being connected with others that have a desire to see students reached in their community with the Gospel. We have seen good traction with some new areas (Urbandale, and Ft. Dodge) and continue to pray that God would help us to reach more students with the Gospel. In March we had our regional interviews and are looking to bringing some new staff into region starting in the near future. I am looking forward to working with each of them and will share more about them in the months to come.
Jaden and Josiah are doing well and they are trying to make the best of online school and more time at home. We are thankful for technology during this season of social distancing.
Items for prayer:
New areas: Please pray that God would continue to raise up new adults that want to be a part of helping to reach students with the gospel all over our region.
Pandemic: Please pray with us as we seek an end to the virus and that we would look use this time to share the gospel with those around us boldly!
YoungLives: Please pray for the Holy Spirits leading as Liz seeks to develop a team to run after teen moms.
Christmas 2019
Over the last 5 months that we have lived in Iowa, we have seen a lot of things, none bigger than the Iowa State Fair pig champion named Captain. Captain, tipped the scales at 1254 pounds! He was huge. Pigs are a big thing in Iowa, they raise more pigs (22.7 million) than any other state (2ndplace is NC with 8.6 million). In Iowa that means pigs outnumber people 7-1. On my (Mark) many drives around Iowa I have seen many pig farms and also many of the 3 million plus people that call this great state home.
2 Cor 5-18-20
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Alex Vasquez is our Area Director in Sioux Center (NW Iowa). Marcus DeWeerd is our new church partner that we just hired to start a WyldLife club (Jr. High ministry). I meet with both of these guys regularly as we seek to strategize how best to reach students that don’t know Jesus. Marcus is currently raising support and hopes to be done in a couple of months. Please pray that God would help Alex and Marcus reach students for Jesus in Northwest Iowa. In the coming newsletters I will introduce you to more of the people that I work with to reach students in the Heartland Region.
Potential new places for ministry with Young Life:
We have been praying that God would connect us with people that love Him and love students so that we can begin to establish new Young Life areas in Iowa and Illinois. Some of the cities we are currently praying for are Ft. Dodge, Cedar Falls, Decatur, Springfield, Pella, Moline, and Bettendorf. Please join us in prayer for these cities!
YoungLives Update:
I (Liz) have been meeting with people over the past few months and sharing the vision for YoungLives. I’ve been taking a Field Leadership Training course for YoungLives along with other YoungLives Coordinators and learning a lot in preparation for this role. I will be starting a prayer team in January with a group of women as we seek God’s guidance in reaching out to teen moms in Des Moines.
We are thankful that Jaden and Josiah are continuing to adjust well to our new home. This month has been fun re-introducing them to some American Christmas traditions again. We are truly grateful for each of you in our lives and the friendships that you represent. Merry Christmas!
Items for prayer:
Family: Praising God for how well all 4 of us have transitioned so far. Please continue too pray as we seek to build friendships and relationships with those around us.
Potential new places for ministry with Young Life:
Please join us as we pray for God to move in these cities to establish Young Life: Ft. Dodge, Cedar Falls, Decatur, Springfield, Pella, Moline, and Bettendorf. Please join us in prayer for these cities!
YoungLives: Pray for God to stir women’s hearts towards mentoring teen moms. Provide avenues for us to meet with teen moms. That God would already begin softening hearts of teen moms towards Himself.
Move to Iowa–Fall 2019
A little over 3 months ago we stepped off the airplane in Chicago and began a new adventure! Even though we had been back to the US each of the 4 summers that we lived in Kenya, this felt different. This was the start of a something new.
We have new contact info!
Mark cell: 515-336-4749 & marksisler4@gmail.com
Liz cell: 515-443-2938 & lizsisler2@gmail.com
Its amazing the feelings and emotions that you go through as you try to think through starting life over 8000 miles away from where you currently live.
Ever since God began to show us His direction for this change, our family started to pray about all the unknowns. We prayed for all of the details in moving our family, all the different transitions and logistics, even the extra bags that would need to be taken back with us! We laid before the Lord our boys and prayed for new friendships, we prayed that God would graciously bring kids into their lives so that they would feel welcome in their new home. We prayed that Liz and I would make new friends, that we would be known in Des Moines. We asked God for His guidance and direction with all the unknown decisions that faced us.
We want to share that God in His infinite kindness, answered each of our prayers in some unique way. We want to share some of them here.
We had been praying for God to lead us to a new church:
Friends of ours in Kenya used to be on staff at Valley church in West Des Moines. This church would send out teams to Kenya in past years to help lead a women’s conference for missionary women. They sent a team in May for one of these trips. When this church heard that we were moving to the area (Des Moines) they offered to take back our extra bags (saving us a lot of money). We also had the privilege of meeting some of their team while we were still living in Kenya. This gave us an immediate connection to a few people as well as this church. We went from being completely unknown to this new city, to having a few familiar faces. Both Jaden and Josiah had a midweek morning program at Valley church for their ages that they attended the week we moved. Jaden made some instant connections and asked if this could be our new church. Coming in as a 7th grader, his reaction was indeed an answer to prayer. This was the final nudging that God gave us that this was the church he was leading us to.
We had prayed for new friends, and to be known:
In our first week in Iowa, a family invited us out for lunch after church to a brick oven pizza restaurant. For those of you that don’t know we love pizza, and we had just said goodbye to our own brick oven that we had used so many times in Kenya to provide pizza for so many. A few days later a family we had just met invited us to their house for “outdoor pizza”. When we showed up we walked around back to see a brick oven getting fired up! Liz and I both sensed Gods humor in using pizza to show us that he was helping us to be known. This was just the beginning of God using our new church to help us to feel welcome and cared for.
We had prayed for new friends for Jaden & Josiah: After a few days of moving in we discovered some neighborhood kids that were similar in age to our boys. Within a few weeks our boys were making new friends and getting invited to a birthday party and getting together with kids their age from church. We kept reminding them that God was answering our prayers in very clear ways! They have also adjusted well to their new school, Des Moines Christian School, for which we are extremely thankful!
We were pleasantly surprised to find so much green space, creeks, and bike paths around our new home. God’s beauty is everywhere, we just have to look for it!
These are just a few examples of Gods faithfulness to our family. We have been so grateful for all of your prayers for our family as we have begun to settle in to live here in Iowa.
Mark presenting to some of the Young Life staff in the region.
The last month I (Mark) have begun to travel all over Iowa to survey the current Young Life areas and pray that God would reveal to me His plans for new areas in the years ahead. I have met most of the Young Life staff in our region and went on a fall retreat with them a few weeks ago. I have put over 3000 miles on my car going to “the ends” of Iowa since Aug 1. It has been a blessing to begin ministry here start the process of reaching more students for Christ.
Praising God for His faithfulness and kindness to our family through these past 4 months of transition.
Please continue to pray for Gods leading as we seek His direction and leading for the ministry He has called us to.
Liz’s Role with YoungLives–April 2019
What is YoungLives?
More than 20 years ago, Young Life answered God’s call to run headfirst into the chaos of teenage motherhood with the hope of Jesus … and YoungLives was born.
YoungLives vision: To reach teen moms by entering their world, modeling the unconditional love of Christ, and encouraging them to become the women and mothers God created them to be. Through Young Life’s time-tested methods and life-on-life mentoring, teen moms are empowered to make positive choices, set and achieve goals, and live a future rooted in Christ.
Liz’s role:
YoungLives of Des Moines Coordinator
Liz will be building and training a team of women to be leaders and mentors to teenage moms. Through the mentor relationships during the week and monthly “Club” time the teen moms will be able to experience the care and love of Christ. 
On April 13, we had the opportunity to visit Chicago’s Northside YoungLives Club. The above picture represents a room full of loving adults and teen moms and their babies all from different backgrounds and stories. YoungLives brings them together once a month to share a meal, play games, and so much more, all so these girls can learn about Jesus.
Please pray for our family, that we would finish our time in Kenya well and that we would have wisdom for all the decisions coming up as we begin our transition.
Mark’s role with YoungLife–March 2019
During the summer before my junior year of high school I (Mark) was challenged by my youth pastor, on the stairs of the Wheaton College football stadium, to prayerfully consider if God was calling me into a life of student discipleship for my future. After a few weeks of prayer, I felt God’s leading towards student ministry. This call led to a 9 month stint at Christ Home for Children, a year and a half at Gull Lake Bible Conference, 13 years at Western Springs Baptist Church, 4 years in Kenya, and now our next position with Young Life.
Liz and I have felt it has been a privilege to represent Christ to students in these past roles and look forward to our next opportunity that God is directing us to in Iowa. We want to use this newsletter to share what my role will be with Young Life. 
Here are some definitions that might be helpful in understanding our new roles.
Young Life: Young Life is a global parachuch ministry that seeks to reach non-churched non-Christian students with the Gospel. When I was a youth pastor, we did a pretty good job of reaching non-Christian churched students but we were not as good at reaching students that did not attend church. Young Life is designed and focused towards sharing the gospel with students that are disinterested in spiritual things.
Young Life’s purpose: To introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith.
Heartland Region: The heartland region is made up of all of Iowa and all of Illinois, outside of the Chicago suburbs. I will be working with Dave Goy who is the Regional Director for the Heartland Region. Dave used to be the Area Director for the Lyons Township Area (his office was across the street from the church I used to be a youth pastor at).
Area Director: An area director is a youth professional that leads weekly youth meetings in local homes in order to share the gospel. They function in many ways similar to a youth pastor as they build a team of volunteers that will help them to reach students for Christ. An area normally is connected to a local high school and starts with a ministry to high school students. As the area grows the ministry will often expand to Jr. High as well. Depending on the demographics of the area Capernaum (ministry to special needs students) and YoungLives (ministry to teenage moms) can also be started in the area.
Mark’s position with Young Life:
I will be the Regional Initiatives Coordinator for Iowa.
My 3 main objectives will be:
1. To develop new Young Life areas throughout the state of Iowa:
Since Young Life began in 1941, Iowa has been an underdeveloped state for Young Life compared to other states. One of my objectives is to help develop new areas and then to mentor and disciple new Area Directors in order to reach more students for Jesus Christ. I am very excited about the opportunity to bring the gospel to students in new towns throughout Iowa and also to help develop the next generation of youth leaders that will reach students for the cause of Christ.
2. To Form relationships with churches and Young Life:
Young Life has begun to forge partnerships/collaborations with churches in order to bring more effective youth ministry to places that may not be able to afford a full time youth professional. For over seventy years Young Life has been involved in specialized ministry to adolescents. The partnership is a way to link Young Life’s expertise and a local congregation’s resources together. The institutional church needs the enthusiasm and skills Young Life brings to youth ministry. Young Life needs the stability and ongoing sense of community that the church offers to young people. I will be helping to develop these new church partnerships as well as mentoring the youth leaders that will be serving both in the church and in their community.
3. To help make discipleship a priority in the lives of the staff, leaders and students in the Heartland Region:
Over the years Young Life has done a tremendous job of reaching students with the gospel but they have at times struggled to really disciple these students that have come to faith. In recent years there has been a new emphasis within Young Life to put more time and energy into the discipleship process. My role is to help raise the level of discipleship in the lives of the Young Life staff members in our region as well as helping them to strategize how to best disciple their leaders and students. This will be more of a pastoral role as I seek to help leaders grow in their faith so that they will in turn disciple students that will become mature believers that are growing in their faith and assimilated into a local church.
Please pray for our family, that we would finish our time in Kenya well and that we would have wisdom for all the decisions coming up soon as we begin our transition.
Sislers in Iowa 