Great Start to 2023

Last summer, God stirred my heart with a new message relevant for our times from Isaiah 1-2. In January, I finished sharing this new message series “Who Influences You?” with about 100 students of Open Door Christian Academy.

Then on Feb. 17-19, I had the joy of returning to speak to 300 students of the Western Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Convention and again shared the message on influences. There were several public decisions in the final invitation: one profession of faith in Jesus Christ, one young man who answered the call of God to the ministry, and about 18-20 decisions by Christians who needed to repent and rededicate their lives to the Lord. It is always a joy to be in the midst people responding to the moving of the Holy Spirit. This year, we also had a number of refugees from war torn Ukraine that were at the conference. Many of them spoke little to no English. The messages were translated for them. Many of these refugees heard the gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time.

God opened the door for me to preach two breakout sessions on "Who Influences You?" at the Standing Firm Christian Youth Summit on Mar. 17-18 in Bend, OR. Between the two sessions, more than 100 students heard the message. God is at work purifying students from among this generation. One student shared, “I loved the topic ... it was very relatable to the younger generation.” Another noted, “Convicted me in areas I needed to be convicted in. Christianity is a lifestyle and you can’t have a foot in both worlds.” An adult youth worker stated, “I have a more accurate/biblical way to look at the influences in my life and pass that understanding to the students.”

Next, in Richland, WA, on April 21-23, I preached a youth conference on influences at Richland Baptist Church. We had 27-32 students. There were three students who made public professions of faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. In addition, many students made a public decision of repentance or renewal over the weekend. On Sunday morning, I closed the retreat by preaching at RBC’s worship service. During the invitation, approximately a dozen adults responded (including senior adults), acknowledging publicly their desire to be used of the Lord to reach the next generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

 

On May 3rd, I preached the influence message to 32 students at Valley Christian Fellowship in Longview, WA and again to about 41 students at breakout sessions for the Northwest Baptist Convention Student Conference in Gresham, OR. Grateful to God for great things He has done!! Praise Him.

Shepherd to Shepherd Pastors Meetings

On May 9-11, I had a very special opportunity to travel with Rob Walker, Church Planting / Church Health & Evangelism Catalyst for Region 4 of the NW Baptist Convention, to three pastors meetings in Medford, Bend, and Creswell Oregon. Rob invited me along to share with a couple dozen pastors about the Men of Simplicity (MOS) discipleship journey and extend an invitation to those interested to participate in MOS this fall. These Shepherd to Shepherd meetings focused this year on helping pastors create or hone discipleship pathways within their churches. Rob saw the value of MOS and wanted pastors to see it as well. 

There are already 3 churches from this region planning to participate this fall and several others discussing the possibility. It was a joy to spend a few hours on the road each day getting to know Rob, hearing and seeing his heart for the local church. Please join with me in prayer for these pastors as they consider participating in MOS and continue to develop effective discipleship in their churches.   

Training Locally and Globally

From my office to Kigali, Rwanda, I am training and discipling a church planting team of three Rwandan pastors via Zoom. I conducted eight Zoom meetings between January and June of 2023, each focusing on different aspects of discipleship, evangelism, church leadership, and the importance of an organized pathway of discipleship. These Rwandan pastors will be planting a church at the Hope Vocational Training Center in Kigali, Rwanda. More training sessions are being planned. Please pray for these pastors. 

I had a great time at the NW Baptist Disaster Relief (DR) round table event on April 29 training 12 DR volunteers for evangelism during times of disaster and crisis. They learned five key evangelism skills: 1. Dependency on the Holy Spirit through prayer for His enablement, 2. Demonstrating compassion like Jesus, 3. Connecting the “crisis question” to the metanarrative of the gospel, 4. Building trust with people with three types of questions that open doors for personal, spiritual, and gospel conversations, and 5. Sharing one’s salvation story using a John 16:8 outline.

2023

• June 11 & 14 - Open Door Baptist Church - Evangelism Training: "Sharing Your Story"
• June 30 - Zoom Meeting - Discipleship Training with Rwandan Pastors
• July 17-21 - Columbia Basin Baptist Association Youth Camp - Preaching
• July 31-Aug 4 - Ochoco Christian Conference Center High School Camp - Preaching
• August 28 - Men of Simplicity (MOS) Vision and Intro Meeting
• September 11 - Weekly Monday MOS Discipleship resumes

Booking for 2023 & 2024

Mike Thibodeaux, Speaker, Evangelist, Disciple Maker

Calling generations of all nations to the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ!

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