Ryan Latham

here are 2 of our interns leading worship at AVC .

I spoke at AV Christian. We talked about Authority. It was a great day. @Daisyeileen said this, “your an amazing pastor & a blessing..God definitely created you to do what you do…i just wanted you to know that.”

Dear Friends and Family,

This year is soon coming to a close and I’m looking forward to all that I’ll learn and be a part of in 2010. This past year God has done so many amazing things. One of which is that we were able to grow our youth ministry from 120 to over 230 students. Thank you for your support whether in prayer, finances, or friendship that made 2009 a great year of ministry!

In January I am going to Mexico on a mission trip to work with orphans and to build homes in a community that has been overlooked by most. The people there are seen as less than or equal to animals because they are native Indians, but God gave us a vision for these people. He said He is going to “Restore a People.” God wants to heal the sick and the broken hearted. He sees their pain, and He wants to use us. I have been able to go back to this same village for the last 10 years. In those 10 years we have been able to take over 300 people, most of them going on their first mission’s trip ever. Many of you have supported me for many of these trips. We have been able to build homes, schools, churches, and even an orphanage. Over the last 10 years with your help we have been able to literally change the lives of generations of people forever.

Also this summer I will be going to Haiti. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. 80% of the nation is unemployed living in poverty. Schools are often closed and there is a severe shortage of skilled labor. Two thirds of Haitians rely on agriculture for their living, but in 2008 four tropical storms severely damaged Haiti’s agriculture and infrastructure, adding to the nation’s hopelessness. Most of Haitians cling to witchcraft and voodoo in the midst of their pain. Haitians are stuck in bondage and poverty, economically and spiritually, and need Jesus, a real hope!

Global Passions, which is the missions organization that we work with, has asked us to go on a special (extreme) trip for them to Fiji. There is a missionary out there who has wanted to start a new church in a village that has never been reached with the gospel. The problem that this missionary has had is that it is a 4 day hike to get to the village. So Global passion felt that with the highly trained team of interns that we have here we where their top choice for team to be sent. The team and I will be flying in and then spending 4 days hiking into the village, where we will spend 5 days doing relational ministry, and then hiking back for 4 days. This will be a very hard 2 weeks, but I am sure it will be very fruit full as well. I am very excited about this opportunity, and am honored to have been trusted with this mission. I will send out more information about this as we get closer. The training for this trip will be long, and intense. We will go through survival training as well as major hiking training as well. There is also talk about running a marathon (for training).

Whether or not you’re able to go on a mission trip this year, there are three ways you can be a part of what God is doing in Mexico and in my life:

1. Prayer – I can be as prepared as possible and have everything on the packing list, but if I am not covered in prayer, I won’t be ready for this trip. Prayer makes a difference. If you will pray for me as I am getting ready to go, we will see God answer those prayers and lives will be changed! Please let me know if you will commit to pray for me!

2. Financial Support – The total cost for the ministry opportunities above is will be about $4,250. All contributions of any amount, small or great, are helpful. If you are willing to help make this financially possible for me, it will be greatly appreciated! Your donation is tax deductible and our Tax ID # is 95-2805975. If you would like to write a check, they can be made out to First Assembly of God of Lancaster with Youth Mission Trip on the memo line.

3. Donations – If you have old clothes just lying in your closet, consider donating them to us to give to very appreciative people! Also, toys and school supplies are very useful at the orphanage. Your donations help us show the people that we care for both their physical and spiritual needs!

We will be holding a banquet for all those who have supported us over this past year on the evening of Jan. 22nd. At the banquet you will hear testimonies, watch videos, and hear about the great vision that God has placed before us for 2010. It would be an honor to have you join us if you would like to hear about the things that we have done this year, and what we will be doing next year.

Thank you so much! Your support, whether in prayer, finances or donations is a great blessing to me and to the people all over the world!

Sincerely,

Ryan Latham

I had a good time speaking out at the Las Vegas Dream center and helping them with their thanksgiving banquet. We gave out 10,000 meals that day. There was a lot of people in need. God blessed us and showed his love to all.
Thanks to God for the chance to be out there to share.

This morning we had the great honor of speaking Hope for the Homeless youth ministry team at the Dream Center. What a great time. The team there are so inspiring and challenge me to view the church and ministry so much bigger. It was fun eating the cafe’ at the Dream center and getting tour of the place. Thanks to the team there for letting us come out and share.

Caitlyn and the team did a great job of leading us in a time of worship.

Me and the leaders for Hope for the Homeless youth. Sharing vision and dreams. It’s a great place to expand your expectations of yourself and your ministry.

I got this the other morning and I thought it was tight, “leadership is investment, if you invest enough you will reap of great harvest.”

Zig Ziggler says this, “you can have anything you want if you help enough people get what they want.”

“death in me is life in them”

Our lives are about giving them away. The more we give away the more God provides for us. It is so great. Thanks God for the selflessness that you are.

The Lord woke me up this morning with this thought, “the greater the resistance the greater the strength.”

It is like when we workout in the GYM. If you want to grow and get bigger you must tare and rip your muscles by lifting a heaver amount of resistance (weight). This hurts and in painful that is way we get sore after a “good workout”. After the workout the body brings in extra amount of nutrients to help heal the tares and rips in the muscles, resulting in growth, size.

Our job as Christians is to make sure that we are spiritually putting ourselves in the GYM, and increasing the amount of resistance that we are dealing with. So that we can grow. When we face spiritual resistance and we are ripped, and torn by the resistance (or pruned) God sends the Holy Spirit in to heal the hurting areas so that we can grow. Just like the GYM God picks those areas that need to be grown. He knows which areas that need the resistance, pride, patience, purity, your thought life, those areas He will send resistance to grow you where you need it.

If we decide that we don’t want to go through the resistance then we will never grow.

When your in the physical GYM and you are lifting an amount of resistance more than that of which you normally lift you use a spotter. The spotters job is to help you keep “good form” and to talk you through the pain, so that you focus on the positive encouragement of your spotter and not the pain of your muscles ripping, and tarring. Also the spotter often helps carry a little bit of the weight, just enough for you to lift it, but not too much to hinder the ripping process. A good spotter knows how much pain is good for you and when you are going too far.

In the Spiritual GYM we need a spotter as well. One that encourages us to get through the pain, one that at times helps carry the burden, but most often helps us to focus not on the resistance but the goal. A spiritual spotter knows when the tears are tears of growth, and when it is to much.

When you “do life together” you know when someone is in the GYM lifting a burden bigger then they have lifted before. Just like in the GYM go and help them get through and PUSH through so that God can come in and help heal the pain and hurt.
As Christians we are called to go through hard times of resistance…”it’s for your own good”.

What resistance are you going through today? What areas is God working on you? Do you have a “spotter”? Let’s face resistance with a positive mindset so that we can grow and take over the world for God!!!!

I am booking dates for the next school year. If you are interested please let me know. I’d love to come out and do some leadership development, a youth service, camp/retreat, a chapel. Lets talk and see if we can make something happen for this up coming year.

3000 Passionate World Changers Part 2 051309 from Crossroads Christian Church on Vimeo.