It sounds like a tragedy  in the making: A young African boy loses both parents at an early age. He and his brother end up in an orphanage, where they spend the rest of their growing-up years. Like most orphans, he has many obstacles to overcome, and he must do so in a third-world country.

But the reality of Anyway Mupesewa’s story is not tragic at all. Eden Children’s Village, the orphanage that became his home, had Christ at its center. Not only did Mupesewa receive Christ at an early age, but God also commissioned him to spread the gospel. From the time he was old enough to read the Bible, he took the Great Commission as his personal mandate. He became an avid soul-winner who earned the nickname of “Evangelist.”

Mupesewa earned his bachelor’s in youth ministry and preaching from Johnson University in Knoxville, Tennessee, and has recently earned his master’s as well. His education and discipleship by godly mentors have equipped him to pursue his passion of taking the gospel to his home country.

“Salvation is man’s greatest need, and I have been commissioned to fulfill this need beginning in Zimbabwe,” Mupesewa says.”Nothing can substitute for the calling God has placed on my heart. I dream of a day when Zimbabweans will not only make disciples among themselves, but send out missionaries to our neighboring countries, or rather to the ends of the world.”

At iGO 2019, Nov. 8-9 at Evergreen Baptist Church in Bixby, Oklahoma, you'll have the opportunity to experience Mupesewa’s powerful preaching as well as his teaching in workshop settings. Come and allow the Holy Spirit to help you “see the unseen” through the eyes of an African orphan with a soul on fire for God and for taking the gospel to the nations.

To learn more about iGO 2019, click here or call 1-800-AWE STAR.
To register for iGO 2019, click here. 

Where can you meet someone …

--who spent the first part of her growing-up years in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates)?

—who followed the Muslim religion for 35 years until she became a Christian when she saw the chapter about Isa (Jesus) in the Qran?

--who has a passion for seeing Muslims come to Christ?

--who loves to teach non-Muslims strategies to share the gospel with them?

You’ve no doubt guessed it by now: iGO2019, where Monah Saba will be one of our keynote speakers!

Muslims and the Muslim religion are often in the news these days. But what if we learned to see these followers of Islam not as a group but as individuals who need the hope of Jesus as much as we do?

What if we learned strategies, techniques and “best practices” for sharing the gospel with them in the most effective ways?

What if God laid it on your heart to minister to the Muslim next door, down the block, in your high school classroom or college dorm?

There are many reasons to attend iGO 2019, Nov. 8-9 at Evergreen Baptist Church in Bixby, Oklahoma. Having the opportunity to sit under Monah’s teaching is a big one.

The next time you hear about Muslims in the news, remember Monah and how the Lord changed her life.

​He may just want to use you to change someone else’s.
 
To learn more about iGO, click here or call 1-800-AWE-STAR.

To register for iGO, click here.
 
 

In today’s Instagram, social media world, real-life friendships have become an endangered species. Do you like your friend, or the image he or she has created for the world? Does your friend like you, or the snarky memes you post? What’s real and what’s—not?

But we can also apply this “real or fake” test to our faith. Does it last longer than Wednesday night youth group or Sunday morning services? Does it go beyond attending a Christian concert or showing up for See You At The Pole? Does it change our words? Our choices? Our futures?

At this year’s iGO Conference, we’ll focus on Seeing the Unseen. As we do this, we’ll hear from some of the realest people you’ve ever met. Each one has real-life stories about God breaking into their lives in supernatural ways.

We’ll hear about how God sends dreams and visions to those in Muslim cultures, dreams and visions that point to the One who reveals himself as the way, the truth, the life. We’ll learn how God has met seemingly impossible needs for those committed to follow Him to the ends of the earth. We’ll discover cultures and people groups we may never have known existed, and we’ll also learn how, in our real-life neighborhood, workplace, school or dorm, we can go beyond just inviting someone to church to becoming a real and radical witness for Christ.

A few years ago, a young Awe Star missionary named B.J. Higgins penned these words in one of his Global Passage journals:

      I will not be satisfied.
      I will not let my passion be held in a bottle.
      I will not let my light be hidden.
 
      I will stand up.
      I will let my voice be heard.
      I will lead. I will serve. I will fight.
      I will tell people about Christ.
      I will unsheathe my sword.
 
      It’s time to raise a revolution.
      God will give me the strength.
                          (BJ Higgins, martyr for Christ, 1989-2005)

If you’ve ever longed for a real, radical faith that would move you to raise a revolution—if you’ve ever wondered why some people seem to have a passion for Christ that, deep down, you know you lack, you need to join us for iGO.

Who knows? You just might discover that Seeing the Unseen offers the realest reality of all.

To learn more about iGO or to register, call 1-800-AWE-STAR or click here. 

What if:
—You could travel only a short distance and cross into a new world?
—You could experience a different culture, language and people group all at once?
—You could experience real-life discipleship from fellow believers who love you just as you are?
—You could impact the nations for eternity?
—You could build new and surprisingly close friendships as you worked together to carry out a significant task?
—You could hear God speak to you in fresh ways?
—You could witness firsthand varying degrees of poverty and its impact on family life?
—You could have a ringside seat to God changing lives through the power of the gospel?
—You could do all this and more with a week’s worth of your time and less than $700?

There is a way. Awe Star’s Mexico Christmas Break Trip or Spring Break Trip offers a full cross-cultural experience packed into just a week’s worth of service.

We know you have other options and other ways to spend your time. But where else can you do something so significant?

How else can you explore God’s call to “make disciples of all nations”? How else can you follow Him in obedience?

Is God calling you to give up most of your Christmas or spring break and follow Him to Mexico?

Pray—and respond in obedience.

                            “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” —Jim Elliot

For more information, call 1-800-AWE-STAR or check out this link! 

Theology.
Social justice.
Racism.
Gender concerns.
Identity.
Relationships.
Not only are these issues we read about online or hear discussed on our favorite podcast, but we come up against them daily at school, at work and pretty much, well, everywhere. But there’s another place where you can encounter them: iGO, Awe Star’s annual missions conference.

You see, the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) is also the great connector. Notice how it addresses each of these in multiple ways:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (theology).

“Go therefore” (identity).

“And make disciples” (relationships).

“Of all nations” (racism, social justice, relationships).

“Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (theology, racism, relationships).

“Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (theology, social justice, racism, gender issues, identity, relationships).

“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (theology, identity).

So yes, iGO 2019 focuses on missions. And no, it doesn’t. Our theme of “seeing the unseen” opens the door for truth yet to be mined from sources both new and familiar.

Check out our list of keynote speakers. Each has expertise in areas that matter. Each is committed to sharing that expertise--as well as vision and passion—with you.

Interested in missions? Join us.

Interested in contemporary issues? Join us.

Not sure, but willing to check us out? Join us.

There’s a place waiting for you.

Got issues? You'll be right at home. 
 

For many years, I served with an organization called Awe Star Missions. Every year, this ministry hosts a conference called iGO. Youth pastors, students, parents and missionaries from all around the world collide in one place for a time to focus on Christ’s commandment to go and make disciples of all nations. At this conference, God has spoken to many believers to engage with His plan of living out the lifestyle of a missionary. These conferences have been some of the highlights of my 46 years of ministry.
In the last couple of years, though, we have seen a shift in youth ministry. As our staff calls churches and talks to the person in charge of the youth, we keep hearing the same thing. “Well, our students are just not into missions.” “Missions is just not their thing.” And the quotes go on and on.

Words like these grieve my heart. I believe there are four reasons for this generation’s lack of response to missions:

1. We have the lost the funnel from which we moved children’s hearts and lives into an adult understanding of missions. I grew up as a Royal Ambassador (RA); my wife was in the Girls’ Auxiliary, or “GAs.” These organizations instilled in us early on that missions was the heart of Christ. There, we learned about the mission work of the past and what God was doing today. But before were even old enough to be in RAs or GAs, we were both in a program called Sunbeams. Sunbeams centered around three Scripture verses: “Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world’”(John 8: 12b); “Jesus said, ‘You are the light of the world’” (Matt. 5:14a). “Therefore, let your light so shine” (Matt. 5: 16a, KJV). As far back as I can remember, I knew I was to be a reflector of His light.
 
2. The Bible no longer has supremacy in our churches. I remember once as a child, someone told me I went to a “Bible Thumper” church. All we did was study, discuss, memorize and evaluate our lives in light of the Scriptures. Today. we are no longer called “Bible Thumpers”; instead, we are known as people of the program. As I travel from church to church across this country, I am often asked, “What program is successful today?” Churches are looking for a program, but there is only one program, and that is the Word of God. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom. 12:2). Where the Bible is truly taught and lies at the center of church activities, missions will be front and center.
 
3. We only teach a partial Jesus. If you embrace a Jesus who doesn’t call you to walk out His life, you need to see if you are following the right Jesus. Yes, Jesus is about love and the little children, but He has also called us to deny ourselves and go. I worked in the nursery once; during that hour, I prayed for Jesus to come back. But I got good at one thing. Anytime a baby started to cry, I stuck a pacifier into their mouth. It was a temporary fix. This culture wants a pacifier Jesus; they only need Him when they start crying. But if you truly understand the Scriptures, you will understand who Jesus really is: Lord of lords, King of kings. He doesn’t want to be your pacifier; he wants to consume every area of your life.
 
4. We no longer introduce our church to real missionaries. We have bulletin inserts; we have a video on the screen, but touching and talking with a real missionary doesn’t happen much anymore, and it is life-changing. Again, growing up, we had many missionaries come to our church. It there I heard about their challenges and how God’s mercy and grace met them as they walked out the Christ-life in a foreign country. I heard their plea to send more workers, for the fields were white unto harvest but the workers were few.  It was these people who walked away from families and comfort to invest in others so they might hear of the claims of Christ. They were and still are my heroes who brought to life everything I was learning about the Scriptures. These missionaries knew something I didn’t yet know: the joy of obedience.
 
The phrase I use now to sum up my life and why I do what I do is this: Two-thirds of “God” is “go.” And that trumps “not interested” every time. 

If you are interested in iGO, click this link or call 1-800-AWE-STAR.

Walker Moore is founder and president emeritus of Awe Star Missions. The author of several books, including his popular "Stories of Hope & Humor" series, Escape the Lie, Rite of Passage Parenting and the Rite of Passage Parenting Workbook, he continues traveling and speaking across the globe. Married to the most beautiful woman in the world and father of two amazing sons, he takes great delight in his role as Poppy to Titus, Cohen and River. 

You’re super-busy. We understand. Because we are, too.

But you always make time for what really matters to you. The homework you do, the movies and TV you watch, the activities you participate in, the friends and family you spend time with? Whether you realize it or not, those are your top priorities.

So where does God—and the things of God—fit into this list? Where would you want Him to fit?

If you need some clarity in your relationship with Him and how His life can make a difference in yours, we urge you to consider attending Awe Star’s annual missions conference, iGO, this Nov. 8-9, 2019, at Evergreen Baptist Church in Bixby, Oklahoma. Below are our Top 10 Reasons to Attend iGO 2019:

10. T-shirts: The annual iGO T-shirt is always a special part of the conference. Preorder online for just $20 or pick up one (limited supply available) at the conference. Make sure to check out our sales table with all sorts of Awe Star products, including books, hoodies and the ever-popular clearance section!

9. Lodging: From the Tulsa area? Get a good night’s sleep at home/at a friend’s home. From out of town? No problem. Bring your sleeping bag and pillow, and we’ll make room for you at the church for no extra charge!

8. Cost: Admit it: iGO is a bargain. Where else can you get fantastic food, great teaching, incredible worship, lodging (as needed) and more for the low (Early Bird) registration cost of $49? If you’re bringing a youth group, check out our group rates for an even greater discount!

7. Food: The servant-hearted people of Evergreen Baptist amaze us each year with their hospitality. No need to budget for off-campus meals when you can have food and fellowship right here!

6. Time With Missionaries: Don’t put those who “go and tell” on a pedestal. At iGO, you’ll have the chance to interact with them up close and personal. Ask the questions most on your heart. Find out their struggles as well as their joys. And see if mission service is something God has in store for you.

5. Breakout Sessions: So many choices, so little time. That’s one of the few complaints we hear about iGO, where we offer multiple breakouts with fantastic men and women of God. Their teaching is designed to meet you where you are, so come prepared to hear a word that goes deep.

4. Worship: Worship makes us stronger, and no one comes away fr/om iGO without having a huge dose of Spirit-powered strength. Worshipping the King with a fantastic praise band and like-hearted friends? You can’t get much closer to heaven.

3. Keynote Speakers: Every year, God brings us the best of the best. Our keynoters speak from their hearts and experiences to yours. No matter where you are in your walk with Christ, you’ll glean something from each one. Don’t miss out on what God has in store!

2. Challenges: This is where it gets real. Every year, Awe Star plans the conference, and then God carries out His plans. Don’t be surprised when He whispers (or shouts!) the same message to you from multiple speakers. Don’t wonder when you hear Him calling you to make a change in one or more areas of your life. And don’t be surprised when you find yourself never the same.

1. The Unseen: This year’s iGO theme is “Seeing the Unseen.” Scripture says that what’s unseen is eternal, and so many opportunities await you to embrace the unseen: at school, at work, in your home, in your community, around the world and within yourself. Yes, God has written eternity in your heart and in His plans for you. Come to iGo and join us in “Seeing the Unseen” everywhere we go.  
 
For More Information, check out this page, email us at awestar@awestar.org or call us at (918) 664-3500.
To Register, go here.

We hope to see you there! 

#TeamCanada spent the morning talking about all that God has done here in Canada so far and preparing to head home. God has moved here and worked in all of our lives.  

This afternoon, we met again with LEAF (a local ministry here in Canada) and did another community outreach where we played games, had conversations and shared the gospel with the people. 

God is moving here in Canada, and there are many people who are becoming more engaged with the gospel. The missionaries we are working with were able to set up several Bible studies due to God using this team to open doors! 

Be praying for the team as we head home. We have some driving and some flying, so please pray for safe travels. Also pray for us as we return home so we can share what God has done here and in our lives!

Praising Him,

#TeamCanada Leadership