“Fun Runs and Football Games”

On November 17, 1979, I watched the Baylor Bears defeat the Rice Owls, 41-15 at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. I was 11 years old at the time, and although I eventually enrolled at Baylor seven years later, the reason I attended the game wasn’t because I was an avid Baylor fan. I attended the game that day with the Royal Ambassador group from my church.

It was “RA Day” at Baylor and my dad and several other men from the church who were RA leaders loaded us up on the church bus to attend all the RA festivities (and football 😊) that day. The RAs is a missions organization for boys in grades 1-6 that helps them develop a Biblical worldview with an emphasis on missions. I will always be grateful to God for the men He placed in my life…as early as six-years-old, who instilled a missional mindset in me!

Flash forward 46 years to this picture I received last week...

It was sent to me by Rosemary Ambokah, one of Reach Out Youth Solutions’ Eagle Leaders in Kenya. These boys and girls are just a few of the young people in whom she is currently investing her life. She is teaching them to have a Biblical worldview. She is inviting them to be engaged in missional living (at this event, these kids participated in a "Fun Run" in Mombasa that raised money to help with Bible translation).

Along with the Fun Run photo, Rosemary also sent me recent pictures of students making professions of faith in a local school. That day during school ministry, she presented the gospel, and also shared with the girls how they could grow deeper in their relationship with Christ. Subsequently, many of those young ladies made the decision to receive Jesus as their Savior!

It's really quite simple…when you invest in Reach Out Youth Solutions, you invest in leaders like Rosemary, who are investing their lives in the next generation. And God will use the next generation to make a difference in the world, for His glory!

I met Rosemary when I was in Kenya six years ago. Her exuberant faith and heart for the next generation was contagious! We not only interviewed her for our online training platform, but she also participated in a strategic planning session where we planned with and encouraged Eagle Leaders from every region of Kenya who are reaching and discipling the next generation.

Enock and Rosemary Ambokah’s family consists of four biological children, plus four orphaned children, plus twins abandoned by their parents when they were less than a year old. Enock and Rosemary have planted 16 churches and helped Reach Out Youth Solutions begin training in Tanzania, Burundi, and Zanzibar! They are inspirational examples of a couple living out Jesus’ command in Acts 1:8 empowered by the Spirit to be His witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Those kids in that “Fun Run” photo aren’t able to see all that God wants to do in their lives …and neither could I every Sunday afternoon at church as my dad and many other RA leaders were investing in my spiritual journey. As a matter of fact, I bet you can name a few people who took the time to spiritually invest in you! Maybe when you were a child? Or a teenager? Or throughout the course of your adult life? Would you take a minute to stop and just thank God for those individuals who helped cultivate your spiritual faith and missional heart?

In conclusion, I want to invite you to pray for our leaders around the world.

Would you take a moment to pray for the Ambokahs, as well as our other leaders serving across Africa? Many of them will be conducting youth leader training events this month, as well as events designed to reach young people with the gospel.

Would you pray for Pasha Koryakin and his family? Pasha is currently undergoing medical treatment and needs a kidney transplant. Will you pray for Pasha and his family as they walk through this time together?



Would you also pray for Mark and Susan Juma? Susan is currently undergoing cancer treatments, and they would greatly appreciate your prayers at this time.

Would you pray for our Reach Out Youth Solutions staff and board as we continue to follow God’s plans for this organization into the future. That we would seek out those who God is leading our way to financially partner with us as we continue to invest in leaders like Rosemary and Enock who are influencing the next generation for Christ?

And finally, would you prayerfully consider making an investment in these leaders’ lives, as they train and equip students AND OTHER LEADERS who are reaching the next generation for Christ?

Blessings!

Randy Riggins, President

Reach Out Youth Solutions