International Newsletter April 2021
A spirit of repentance and brokenness swept the living room where 20 young adults from Minneapolis gathered, asking God to break their hearts for the lost and empower them to speak the truth boldly!
They were all part of a “local mission trip”, and our Steiger Minneapolis team, led by Cyrena Denniston, was equipping them on how to reach young people who would not walk into a church.
The next day, we took them out to the streets of the University of Minnesota for creative evangelism.
Using simple creative tools like “The Masterpiece,” which invites people to view a display of the greatest masterpiece - ultimately revealing a mirror that reflects their own image, or “The Typewriter,” offering an opportunity for them to type “a message that the whole world needs to hear” on an old school typewriter, these young people were able to spark gospel conversations with many university students.
They learned to listen, ask questions, challenge assumptions, and speak the truth boldly and in love. They prayed with many, some even receiving Jesus right there on the streets! They exchanged contact information, personally taking responsibility to begin discipleship relationships.
Afterward, as we debriefed, these young adults were beaming! Seeing that God could use them to reach people lit a fire in them that will go on long after the trip is over. Some have even felt led to go to the Steiger Missions School and join the Steiger Minneapolis team.
This local mission trip is a great example of Steiger’s passion to mobilize followers of Jesus to reach young people who would not walk into a church.
We continue to develop new resources, like the Provoke & Inspire podcast, our online apologetics event, Jesus in the Secular World workshops and online video series, local mission trips, and much more, because we want to see the Church mobilized to transform the Global Youth Culture with the message and hope of the Gospel.
Thank you for your prayers and support that make all of this possible!
Aaron Pierce
Steiger Local Mission Trips
If you typed a message that the whole world needs to hear, what would it be?
A Steiger Local Mission Trip brings together young adults from a church to reach their city. Over the course of 5 days, they live together in a community and learn biblical values, principles, and models for how to relevantly share Jesus and make disciples among young people who would not normally walk into a church. The trip includes passionate prayer and worship, relational presence in secular “scenes”, and bold and relevant outreach. Our goal is to inspire ongoing evangelism and discipleship long after the trip is over.
"Thank you for the training and teaching your team provided our church. This was hands down the easiest, most encouraging, and enjoyable evangelism experience of my life. The college students we met left encouraged and excited to meet us and our team felt the same. It was a beautiful thing. I love the creative ways and tools used to engage and start meaningful conversations!" - Alicia, Minneapolis
Watch this video to learn more: vimeo.com/steigerint/localmission
and if you’re interested in a local mission trip through your church, contact usa@steiger.org
We Can Relevantly Engage Our Culture With Biblical Truth!
John Lennox shared deep yet practical wisdom on engaging others with the truth
Steiger recently hosted its first-ever Apologetics for the Global Youth Culture event! It was a huge success!
We had over 2200 registrants from 70 countries!
The event included some of the leading voices in Christian apologetics, including John Lennox, Paul Copan, Julia Garshagen, and many others.
Together, we wrestled with very difficult questions like “Do I have to throw away my brain to follow Jesus?” “Is God anti-gay?” and “Does the Bible hold up to secular scrutiny?” Beyond just rational arguments, the emphasis was on how to reach real people in a loving and relevant way.
We were challenged to think about justice from a biblical perspective
This event was our response to the growing number of challenging questions confronting the Church today.
We live in the age of Secularism and Relativism. God is dead, and we are the center. Truth is no longer absolute but instead a matter of personal preference. Everyone gets to decide for themselves. In a culture dominated by this mindset, it is no wonder that Christianity, with its exclusive truth claims and absolutes, is incompatible.
In Steiger, we believe that we can no longer have a “the Bible says it, that settles approach” to the serious questions confronting Christianity today. We need to respond as Jesus would. He spoke the truth in love. He didn’t view people as projects or statistics. Jesus was patient in dealing with the questions and objections people had.
We aim to be like Him.
Following Jesus has always been counter-cultural, perhaps now more than ever. The Christian ethic is considered outdated at best, if not outright oppressive. Faced with this, we must resist the impulse to retreat or attack. Instead, we need to be like Jesus.
He demonstrated His love for people by sharing His life with them and speaking the truth and meeting every challenge and objection He encountered with clarity and love.
Our plan is to incorporate relevant apologetics training into all that we do, knowing that if we have broken hearts, bold faith, sharp minds, and are filled with the Holy Spirit, God will use us powerfully to reach the secular world!
The world is on fire and in desperate need of men and women who will boldly and relevantly share the Gospel! The Steiger Missions School is a ten-week missions training that will prepare you to change the world!
Space is limited, so APPLY NOW! www.steiger.org/sms