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students to reach their world.
Helping youth leaders empower
students to reach their world.

The Greg Stier Youth ministry Podcast

episode 28 | September 2023

Your Programs Reflect Your Priorities Featuring Stephen Bahago

AreĀ  your programs and events reflecting your true priorities?

Stephen Bahago is a Missionary with Word of Life in Nigeria, with a passion for sharing the Gospel and equipping young leaders for discipleship.

In this podcast, Stephen Bahago and Greg Stier emphasize the importance of spreading the gospel among young people. They stress that evangelism is not just an event but a relationship with a purpose. They discuss how in Nigeria, despite the challenges of extreme poverty and persecution, young people are motivated and emboldened to share their faith, and how ongoing programs like Lead THE Cause and Go Share Day have played a crucial role in mobilizing students for evangelism in a volatile environment. Stephen emphasizes that young people find their identity in the gospel, which propels them to prioritize evangelism over comfort and safety.Ā 

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

0:00:00.0 Greg Stier: Welcome to the Greg Stier Youth Ministry podcast. I believe in the power of the gospel and potential of young people. I believe the best way to get our teens to grow is to get them to go. I really, really encourage you, subscribe to the podcast. Rate it, review it, spread the word about it, because we need to make sure there’s a revolution in youth ministry, and that every teen everywhere hears the gospel from a friend. And I’m super excited about today’s guest, Stephen Bahago, because he’s super passionate about making sure every teen in Nigeria hears the gospel from a friend. He’s a missionary with Word of Life. He’s a trained youth ministry coach. He’s been in ministry for over 24 years. Currently the field director for Word of Life, Nigeria. He’s passionate about sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and equipping young leaders for discipleship. He’s married to his wife, Eglah Bahago, and together they have four children that span age of 19 to 7. So it’s a full span of, children. So excited. Stephen, thank you so much for being a part of the podcast.

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0:01:08.8 Stephen Bahago: So excited to be here, Greg. And thank you also for in the What did you do for the Kingdom?

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0:01:14.6 GS: Love it. How did you first hear about Dare 2 Share?

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0:01:19.6 SB: The first encounter I had with Dare 2 Share was, Googling and reading materials from Dare 2 Share, Deep and Wide. And then later on I bought a book Outbreak in 2013.

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0:01:33.6 GS: Wow.

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0:01:33.9 SB: That’s when I started, coming alongside with reading and also being impacted by that, by the work of Dare 2 Share.

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0:01:42.4 GS: So Deep and Wide man, meant. I remember that paper, it was like a mini book, talking about how we can go deep into theology in the Bible and wide into evangelism at the same time. It doesn’t have to be either or. We don’t have to be an inch wide and an inch deep. We can be a mile wide and a mile deep. Yeah. At the same time. And then an outbreak. My very first book On Viral Evangelism, I’m so glad I did not write that book three years ago before Covid, I wrote it 20 plus years ago. But it’s still, those principles are still true today. The gospel is viral.

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0:02:22.4 SB: Yes. And at the point that I read it, that was what we needed at that time.

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0:02:26.8 GS: That’s great.

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0:02:27.3 SB: Yes. Because it was very invigorating. It was very directing in terms of what we can do with young people.

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0:02:36.4 GS: Yeah. Amen. Well, I wanna ask you another question. You had the opportunity to attend some gatherings we’ve hosted, in the US for international ministry leaders. How did that impact the way that you do and view youth ministry?

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0:02:53.0 SB: It helps in mostly, priority. Prioritizing the gospel, prioritizing young people, and prioritizing ongoing programs.

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0:03:05.0 GS: Yeah.

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0:03:05.7 SB: How can that reflect this mandate that both Christians and the church and I say said Christians as individual, the church as an organization. How can that really replicate itself? And so that very prioritization was really a very huge impact to me, because one can really be overtaken by many of the activities, can be overtaken by many informations. And they’re all there. But that was a very, very big game changer for me.

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0:03:38.6 GS: Well, and it’s really important because as we kind of come to this particular, value, we have the seven values of a gospel advancing ministry, which I know you’re very familiar with.

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0:03:49.3 SB: Yeah.

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0:03:49.3 GS: But for those listening, intercessory prayer fuels it, is number one, and we need to really focus on prayer for the lost to be saved and the saved to be sent. Relational evangelism drives it. That’s the second value that teens need to know how to share the gospel relationally, to those they meet and those they know to reach their own circle of friends. Leaders fully embrace and model it. In other words, if you and I are not modeling, a gospel advancing lifestyle, how can we expect our students to too. The fourth value is a disciple multiplication strategy guides it. So it’s not just making converts, but making disciples that make disciples.

0:04:34.5 GS: The fifth one is a bold vision, focuses it. We need to have a bold vision across the street and across the tracks, the different parts of our cities that are broken and then across the world, biblical outcomes measures. So we need to measure the right things. Not just attendance, but new conversion, growth, baptism, spiritual maturation. And finally, this is what we’re gonna be talking about today in the seventh value ongoing programs reflected. Why do you believe this value is so important to build a gospel advancing ministry effectively?

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0:05:10.3 SB: Because there are distractions everywhere. We have a lot of distractions. There could be human destruction, there could also be distraction from the devil. But equally, there could be also be existential issues that people could find within them that can actually distract people. And so the ongoing program will not reflect, but even for us to be able to even, check the biblical outcomes that are there. So ongoing programs helps us reprioritize, ongoing programs helps everyone to be able to now know, okay, this is the best way that I can reach out to my community. And so it is so key for people to also understand that program is a product of a principle and philosophies. Where are they coming from? Why should I do what I’m doing?

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0:06:03.7 GS: So think of, I love that, Stephen, because when you think of youth ministry… I know what comes to my mind, I think of fun and games, I think of food, I think of fellowship, and I think of faith.

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0:06:22.4 SB: Yes.

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0:06:23.1 GS: That there’s a time in the word, which is, all that stuff is fine. But we’re missing some things out of that. And evangelism is generally one of those prayer, spending time in prayer for each other and for the lost, tends not to be on that list. And so when you program your priorities, you put it on the calendar, it’s almost like nailing something into the wood and saying okay, this is gonna be a hook that we put our ministry philosophy on this is gonna be something we do on an ongoing basis.

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0:07:08.4 SB: Again, and that’s why we remind ourselves most times that evangelism accompanied with all of these things that you said, fellowship, which in itself can actually be evangelism. If only ongoing program and biblical measures are really taken into account with that, you could do fellowship, but it’s actually evangelism in a way.

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0:07:41.8 GS: Yes.

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0:07:42.3 SB: That it’s proclaimed is converse.

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0:07:44.7 GS: Yes.

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0:07:45.6 SB: And even in eating food, people would see that. But when it becomes one off, it becomes segmented. And then the gospel now, or the evangelism becomes just an event. That is praxis then you will literally find many things shrouded around evangelism, and evangelism will lose essence in the ongoing program. And so in the a essence of it, evangelism in itself, it’s a relationship. But relationship with a purpose.

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0:08:17.6 GS: Yes.

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0:08:17.6 SB: That in everything, it’s not just that I’m gonna to pray, I’m gonna to do discipleship, I’m gonna to do this, no. Everything is encapsulated in this evangelism, that it is done with that a purpose.

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0:08:30.6 GS: Because when, I mean, just to build on what you’re saying, when you are actively sharing your faith with your friends, like you’re together as a crew, reaching your friends that brings you together closer.

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0:08:43.7 SB: Yes.

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0:08:44.2 GS: The food tastes better.

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0:08:45.3 SB: Yes.

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0:08:45.9 GS: Everything, the fun is you have more fun. My daughter she told me, she’s part of a gospel advancing youth ministry. She said Dad, I’ve been in youth groups where it’s just fun and games and relationship building. And we still have fun, and we still play games, but I have a lot more fun because now I’m powered to do ministry and make disciples and spread the gospel. It’s more fun.

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0:09:11.1 SB: Yes. There is a transcendent reason. There is reason beyond food, reason beyond coming together. And that reason if it is found on an enduring value and enduring principles or I will say principle that lives over time. Which is the gospel, which is Christ, then it makes everything even sometimes affliction. It makes them sweeter. It’s not sweet to get through the affliction, but it makes it better. The one it’s able to move on with all of those.

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0:09:44.6 GS: So let’s talk about that, affliction in Nigeria, there’s a lot of affliction. There’s in some cases, extreme poverty. But there’s also extreme persecution.

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0:09:56.3 SB: Yes, it is.

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0:09:57.2 GS: So when you prioritize evangelism in a culture that’s primarily Muslim, there’s affliction that comes with that.

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0:10:06.1 SB: Yes.

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0:10:06.9 GS: And so that doesn’t sound like fun and games anymore. That sounds like pain and strain. But what does that affliction do in the hearts of your students that are actively sharing their faith? Does it make them shrink back or does it make them become more bold?

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0:10:26.1 SB: For over the years that we’ve been practicing and actually going out with young people, we’ve never seen intimidation deterred in the young people from going out. Instead, we’ve seen them being refueled for that, because one of the greatest treasure of the gospel is people now begin to have the their identity, which is a key thing to young people, identity in the gospel. And that becomes a propelling force for how they live their lives.

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0:10:52.0 GS: Amen.

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0:10:53.7 SB: And with that, young people are actually more energized, they are more motivated. They are focused to be living for that. Over the time, but scripturally if you see from the Old Testament, when young people are living, they live out for the name of Yahweh. And when you come into the New Testament, you’ll see that younger people who have believed, they live passionately, willing to even lay their lives, to lay their lives for that very gospel, for the gospel of Christ. And so it has never been a point, people worry, people cry when something happened you find, but you don’t find young people being intimidated. Instead, the intimidation and fear comes from parents, more than the young persons that are there.

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0:11:47.4 GS: Well and as we talk about ongoing programs reflecting it, when you make evangelism a priority, and you Stephen, you’ve done that. You come from Word of Life, which are great partners with Dare 2 Share in this ministry to reach every teen everywhere, right? And making sure they hear the gospel from a friend. But you predate our relationship with Word of Life because you found our stuff online, started putting into practice, and then you came out to our full week training, Lead THE Cause, which is a full week kind of student, leadership, evangelism training and mobilization. I went to the international training that went along with that. And then you heard about Go Share Days, where once a month, teenagers going out across the United States, and increasingly around the world, and you took those two things, Lead THE Cause. And Go Share Day. And you made it an ongoing program.

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0:12:46.6 SB: Yeah.

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0:12:47.2 GS: In Nigeria?

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0:12:48.2 SB: Yes.

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0:12:48.8 GS: So tell us about that. How many Lead THE Cause, events do you do?

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0:12:54.1 SB: I can’t remember, but every year we do the least of four.

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0:12:57.7 GS: Okay.

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0:12:58.3 SB: Yeah. We do the least of four in.

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0:13:00.3 GS: You do at least four in one.

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0:13:02.4 SB: Yeah.

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0:13:02.6 GS: Different parts of the country.

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0:13:03.9 SB: The country, yes.

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0:13:04.7 GS: Okay.

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0:13:05.1 SB: That is the least.

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0:13:05.9 GS: Yes.

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0:13:06.0 SB: But mostly it’s seven.

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0:13:07.5 GS: Okay.

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0:13:08.2 SB: Or 10. It depends with the condition of the year. When I say the condition, it’s like volatile nature of the cities. But if the cities are calmer enough that people can go out and do stuff, it’s mostly seven to 10 every year.

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0:13:24.9 GS: Because many people die in Nigeria, from Islamic attacks.

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0:13:31.0 SB: Yes.

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0:13:31.7 GS: And you guys have to wait till it calm downs a little bit so that you can mobilize your students.

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0:13:36.5 SB: Yes.

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0:13:36.8 GS: And so, I just wanna just say this to any youth leaders that are watching [chuckle] from the United States, yes. Your students can be mocked for sharing the gospel, and yes, they may be marginalized by some of their peers, but in Nigeria, where Stephen is at, I mean literally, the students can be hacked to death, killed, murdered, for sharing the gospel. But he is not deterred and they are not deterred from doing that because it is an ongoing program that is reflecting their priority of making disciples in evangelism.

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0:14:15.2 SB: Yeah.

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0:14:15.6 GS: And so you do that with Lead THE Cause, you also do Go Share Day.

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0:14:19.3 SB: Yes.

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0:14:20.3 GS: Tell us a little bit about how that goes.

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0:14:21.9 SB: Again. Go Share Day was, again a very, very, I wanted to say the best word to describe it. It’s like when we started Go Share Day, we now began to know that there are more hungry, spiritually hungry young people who now want to share their faith, come and sit down, listen, learn, and then immediately go out and start practicing it.

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0:14:46.8 GS: Yes.

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0:14:47.7 SB: When we started that, we now find young people that is like, “Hey, we want to do that. We want to go out”, literally like in the city of Kaduna where we do it every month.

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0:14:58.2 SB: Now if you Google in Nigeria, check Kaduna State, Kaduna state, it’s highly, especially in the city, it’s like highly populated with the Muslim. And that is there. And, but again, you find young people willing to go out to be able to share with us.

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0:15:13.9 GS: Share the gospel.

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0:15:14.9 SB: Let’s talk about fear, let’s talk about danger and all of those things that could stop people to go out or go share their faith. Honestly, all of us will live to die and to die for something.

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0:15:29.2 GS: Yes.

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0:15:29.8 SB: We only need to choose what we can die for. And for some people will choose to die for convenience. To die for safety.

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0:15:40.2 GS: Yes.

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0:15:41.1 SB: What they describe themself, they define themselves called safety. Many young people who are believe and they’re going out and they’re growing, they never define all of those things are as safety. They define their identity, they define what they believe as safety.

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0:15:57.0 GS: Wow.

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0:15:57.4 SB: And that is why they can do everything. And just helping them believe is able to help them do that.

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0:16:05.7 GS: I love that. And just for those youth leaders listening, Go Share Day is just, you know, we typically do it the last Saturday of every month where teenagers go and they pray, they care, and they share the gospel out loud with words. It really doesn’t matter when you do it, it matters that you do it. And it’s a simple way for ongoing programs, to reflect our priority of evangelism. I know, I take my daughter out once a month to the, inner city of Denver with her group of her friends. We pray, we care, we share the gospel, and it really has helped them, grow in their faith.

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0:16:43.7 SB: Yeah.

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0:16:44.1 GS: And it’s a way, one way to make sure that our ongoing programs reflect our priorities. And it’s not just evangelism, it’s prayer, it’s disciple multiplication. We wanna make sure that our calendars, reflect our priorities.

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0:17:01.1 SB: Yeah.

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0:17:01.9 GS: And if we really believe in prayer and evangelism and discipleship, then our ministry calendars must reflect that. What would you, what advice would you give to a youth leader who’s trying to implement gospel advancing on an ongoing basis?

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0:17:18.2 SB: Number one, you don’t have to get it perfect.

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0:17:21.0 GS: Yeah.

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0:17:21.4 SB: Start from somewhere and accept that you also will be growing from the process. Because the idea of having a perfect picture is different from the idea of literally taking a baby step and allowing yourself to grow into it. Remember, they’re not just principle, they’re actually life. So if one, it’s being able to understand, of okay, I wanna grow in this.

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0:17:48.0 GS: Yes.

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0:17:48.4 SB: Then you come back to the drawing board and said, let me grow with it.

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0:17:52.0 GS: Yes.

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0:17:52.7 SB: It’s not that you are walking, you’re just sitting down as a doctor, or a surgical doctor and trying to just stitch it. No.

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0:18:02.4 GS: Yeah.

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0:18:04.0 SB: You are in need a patient and in need also a doctor as well.

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0:18:08.0 GS: Yes.

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0:18:08.2 SB: If I may use that word. And then so you are going with both walls to be able to do that. And if, for us youth leaders, and youth workers, if we can understand that this is a place of humility to not saying that it’s not about the information I go to, I go with, but how I am being formed.

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0:18:28.0 GS: Yes.

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0:18:28.8 SB: By this biblical principle…

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0:18:30.3 GS: Yes.

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0:18:30.7 SB: Of advancing the gospel. How am I becoming?

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0:18:33.5 GS: ’cause it does form you.

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0:18:35.1 SB: Yeah.

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0:18:35.1 GS: Because, there’s a lot of theory about evangelism.

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0:18:38.7 SB: Yes.

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0:18:39.0 GS: And a lot of talk about it.

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0:18:40.5 SB: Yeah.

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0:18:41.1 GS: But I find very few leaders actually doing it. And it’s not just gonna form your students, it’s gonna form you.

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0:18:48.4 SB: Yeah.

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0:18:49.2 GS: And it puts your faith on the line and it strengthens your faith in the Lord. So, why I praise the Lord Stephen, for how God is using you to lead the way in Nigeria and set the pace for Gospel Advancing Ministry. And we have a guest, it’s called the Greg Stier Youth Ministry podcast, where we bring in actual youth leaders.

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0:19:13.9 GS: To interact with our guests. And so we have a great youth leader with us today, Eric Groezinger. Eric has served in youth ministry as a volunteer full-time for 25 years. Served two churches in the suburbs of Chicago’s, currently pastor of student Ministries at Faith Bible Church, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He’s a passion for helping to raise up train, equip students for gospel-centered disciple makers and also for equipping other leaders to build gospel advancing ministries and networks. He first got connected with Dare 2 Share back in 2008 at our Survive conference tour and is bringing students to Dare 2 Share events ever since. Eric, thank you so much for being on the podcast.

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0:19:55.7 Eric Groezinger: Yeah, thanks guys for having me. This has been a treat, man, Stephen, it’s been so encouraging just to sit here and to listen to you guys interact just on this whole concept of how programs we program our priorities and to hear how you’re doing that in Nigeria. It’s an encouragement to me, first of all, and a couple things that kind of stick out to me. You made a statement early on that I thought was phenomenal how the program is the product of a principle or a priority, and I was like, “Man, that’s some great alliteration”. I think Greg’s probably gonna steal that for a future blog article, but programming is the product of a principle. And that’s exactly what we’re talking about, I think in this value number seven. And how you got to have that focus and it’s the principle that drives the program, how you program.

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0:20:55.8 EG: And it makes me think just recently, I just heard and love to hear your input on this, of people who have a bullseye in their office. And that bullseye is a physical visible reminder for them of what are we doing in our programs to make sure we hit that bullseye. And that bullseye, as we know in student ministry, obviously we want to equip our students to be disciple makers. We want to equip them to be able to know the gospel and share the gospel. And so as they gather as a staff, they’re looking at that bullseye and they’re asking themselves the question, What programs are gonna help us best hit the bullseye? Because our time is short and our time is limited. We don’t want to be off the mark. We want try to get as close as we can to that bullseye. What are your thoughts on that? I mean, obviously you’re doing that with Nigeria. I’d love to just hear your, have you… Yeah. How’s that happened with you?

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0:21:55.5 SB: Yeah, if I might get you very well again, the point of actually understanding that that program is an expression of priority and for every youth worker or youth leader or even youth themselves, if they are made and also they are expressing priority, it’ll show in the program. Again, and everybody believes in the Christian and also in the church, that our priority is witnessing to people and witnessing in the name of Christ. Everywhere we go, if you are a carpenter student or whatever the person is, is being able to work witness as they go. That is why also the key principles of gospel conversation plays in here. Because it’s not just presentation, but it’s conversation where you now find out that they are playing it out daily. We are living it out daily to be able to do that.

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0:22:56.3 SB: That priority is found, is expressed in the program. When a program becomes ownership that we don’t trust the young people and their leaders can actually take the gospel out, you’ll find out now we begin to plan all the existential issues like, Oh, maybe how to be able to protect yourself of these, how to be able to run a program of maybe goat for a retreat, meditation retreat. All of those little program or little activities that I call them, the accompany, they’re just like friends of evangelism. They are not the actual act and they’re not even to even, pardon me to even make this assertion that they’re not even the youth ministry. Because the youth ministry is youth reaching their friends. That is what literally what youth ministry is. Youth ministry, it’s not choking information on young people.

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0:23:58.4 SB: The more information we choke upon them, the more confused they become. More clarity it’s when they have it in the ongoing program, week in, week out is emphasizing them sharing their faith as little as it is. Them becoming the Timothy’s. Them becoming, not even growing like the John Mark them becoming just like the woman with Jesus Christ by the well, not knowing so much. Them becoming just a lifeline for their friends to understand that we believe beyond who we are, we believe beyond what we are going through. When ongoing program reflects this it becomes easier for the young person to express that.

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0:24:43.7 GS: I’m just jumping in here ’cause I’m all pumped up. I love the idea of youth ministry actually being youth doing ministry, as opposed to us just ministering to youth. I mean that’s part of it. But we’re ministering to them coaching them so that they can do, the youth can do ministry and the ultimate expression of that is when teenagers evangelize and make disciples. The ultimate expression of that. Sorry, I commandeered it from you, Eric, but I was excited.

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0:25:15.8 EG: No you’re good. And you’re talking about, and I was gonna hit on that too, Stephen, you’re talking about the ownership of the ministry is students. And you talked earlier about how you implemented Lead THE Cause in Nigeria. I’m crazy to hear how many of those you’re doing, but I just think of my own experience when I brought my group to Lead THE Cause number of years ago, our very first lead, the cause and the outcomes of that was very much this value number seven, where we sat down and we made our game plan. We had our strategic action plan by the end of that week.

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0:25:51.2 EG: And we had prayer targets in there. We had gospel conversation targets in there. We defined our Cause Turf. And it begins to slowly revolutionize the ownership of our ministry from being something that I owned or that my adult leaders were responsible for, to something that this small core group of students who went to Lead THE Cause came back, fired up, and pulled in other students to join them in the ranks to make it really truly about youth ministering to youth. Youth ministry, right? So I was just really encouraging to hear you talk about that and how you’ve done that in Nigeria. And I can echo the same thing in my own experience here in Cedar Rapids of the transformational impact of ministry transferring from the adult to the student and the multiplication effect that that’s had in the generations after that and their friends who invite their friends, who invite their friends, and now how those students are now in college and beyond still living out these priorities through their own quote “programs”, meaning their life. So I just really appreciate what Lead THE Cause has done for us, but to see it now go worldwide in Nigeria is pretty awesome.

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0:27:09.2 SB: Yeah. I mean, to even put that on, because you remember, we always talked about in youth ministry that youth learn what they observe or see people do, right? Program, it’s an expression of this very statement in youth ministry. You know, when they say they caught you, if they caught you doing what you are doing and then they learn from what you are doing, if literally ongoing program is that of a priority of what is going on in church and what is going on at home, if that is a big priority, young people ordinarily and naturally just pick it up from there and make it a practice. But if our ongoing program de-prioritize the gospel, de-prioritize the mandate, literally you could see young people, they will profess it just as adults would do, but then they will now leave out different things altogether. So again, it’s still in our value number three.

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0:28:15.8 EG: That’s good. Another final question, I guess I’m thinking about a youth worker who maybe has just recently thought to apply these values into their ministry. And specifically with this value number seven, and they’re starting to make that pivot with their programs to reflect their priority, like we’re talking about. But they’re struggling with seeing traction. They’re struggling with getting buy-in from their leaders or seeing the results with their students. And they’re becoming discouraged by that. They’re becoming, boy, this is becoming a laborious effort, if you will. What encouragement, what support would you give them as they look to their former way of ministry. Produced a lot of energy, a lot of excitement, maybe short-term gain, but what encouragement would you give someone who is really choosing to intentionally move toward this value number seven, but hasn’t quite yet seen the fruit of that? And they’re just becoming struggle. They’re struggling through that.

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0:29:22.3 SB: Yeah, well, that would be very difficult question to answer, knowing that there are different contexts to those issues that are there. But on our own side, again, number one, it’s the presence of whoever that is in our team, making the teamwork around that is to be able to understand that number one, it’s never gonna be easy. It’s a battle. It’s a battle against convenience. It’s a battle against trending issues in youth ministry. And it’s a battle against existential cultural issues that are there. Understand that that is the battle. Again, the devil also is there as a very main factor to make those things looks like ministry. That’s number one. Number two, if one, is able to understand also that my first responsibility of making ongoing program reflects our value is to also make these team members that I’m working with, they become a people that I would minister to them. Understand that they become your prayer, prayer people that you are praying for them, you are sharing with them, and you are also making sure that you are making them go out and care with them. When people understand that you are coming with these changes, not because they are just, they are just an idea you have, but they are in themselves transformative ongoing program, they find it easier because they now trust you.

Ā 

0:30:58.8 SB: But if they become… You see, Gospel Advancing Ministry, it’s not just an idea. It’s not just a principle over there that you pluck from the head. It is actually an incarnation ministry. And because it’s incarnate, when you read Gospelize, you understand what we’re saying. And if you haven’t gotten the book, go find Gospelize. Go to dare2share.com, or.org, you’ll find it. It’s an incarnation ministry. When people trust what it’s going on in your life and seeing that practicalize and in a relational manner, it becomes acceptable, it becomes receptible. And then gradually you take baby steps to be able to do that. So no one answer fits for all. But one answer that I believe, let them trust that that principle is working in your life. But also let them see that you are passionate about it. But also let them also find out that you are inviting them in in it. Example number one, let them see that you are praying for all of the kids together. Let them also feel that you are sitting down, all of them, and then you are advancing to share with them. Take them out, the leaders themselves, the very big teams, say, Do you know what? Let’s go downtown between me and you. And then I share, you listen. So it’s literally not making it be like it’s a board game, but make it be a practical thing that is happening in your life and the life of your team. It becomes easier. It becomes acceptable.

Ā 

0:32:34.6 GS: Amen. Great. Hey, I hate to cut this conversation short. It’s so good, so rich. And Eric, thank you so much for being a part of the Gospel Advancing Movement in the United States and be praying for Eric. Wanna thank you, Stephen Bahago for leading the way in Nigeria with Word of Life for this Gospel Advancing. Those listening, I really challenge you to pray for Stephen and his team because the devil doesn’t like what you’re doing in Nigeria, but God is advancing. So thank you so much for your commitment, both of you, to Gospel Advancing Ministry philosophy. And thank you for your commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ā 

0:33:16.9 SB: Yeah, thank you, Greg. And thank you so much for your ministry. And thank you for allowing the Lord to use you to bless our lives with this enduring, re-integrating principles as well. And thank you, Eric, for sharing what’s going on in the US. We’re so happy about that. It’s good to see ourselves in that partnership.

Ā 

0:33:35.5 EG: Amen.

Ā 

0:33:36.1 GS: Amen, thank you guys so much for tuning in. I challenge you, pick up Gospelize Your Youth Ministry. You can get a digital version online for free. Just Google Gospelize Greg Stier. It’ll pop up, S-T-I-E-R. If you listen to Audible, it’s also available on Audible, not for free, but if you’d like, rather listen to it, you can do that. If you want a hard copy, just again, go to dare2share.org and you can order one there. Thank you guys so much. Remember that a thriving youth ministry is a Gospel advancing one.

Ā 

0:34:04.9 SB: Amen.