This week, we had our Speed The Light missionary, Kent Smith come and speak with our students about missions, STL, and chasing the right lions. Kent and his family are missionaries to Rwanda. The students gave their hearts out to be a part through Speed The Light to help the work in Rwanda, as well as giving $206 to STL. Along with money we have collected over the last year, we are partnering with Kent to refurbish his STL vehicle for their next term or two. We are proud to partner with Kent and Michelle Smith and the work God is doing in Africa.
In 1994, Rwanda was devastated by civil war, in which during a period of 100 days, over 1 million people were killed. Today, God is using missionaries like the Smiths to raise up new churches and ministries throughout the country and help rebuild a country that has lost so much.
What is Speed The Light?
The concept is simple: we give so others can speed the light of the gospel to a world in darkness. This is accomplished by providing the “essential transportation and creative communication” equipment for missionary evangelism. Through modern transportation, radio, television, the printed word, and equipment for mass evangelism, our missionaries can better fulfill the Great Commission.
Speed the Light (STL) is the student-initiated, volunteer, charitable program that provides much-needed equipment to missionaries across the nation and in over 180 countries around the world. Since its beginning, STL has raised over $220 million for missionary equipment around the world.
Speed the Light is one of the most effective youth missions ministries in the church world. Assemblies of God students have accepted a great responsibility to voluntarily sacrifice and raise funds to purchase the equipment. STL operates with one guiding principle: All assistance must go to purchase equipment directly related to evangelism (“evangelism” is defined as propagating the gospel and instructing converts). STL equipment has not been nor is presently given for promotion, solicitation, or normal administrative functions.
If our missionaries are going to get to where the lost live, it will be because of Speed the Light. Every missionary in the Assemblies of God will at some point fly, drive, or float to their destination in transportation that has been provided to them by our churches and students through Speed the Light. Airplanes, cars, vans, motorcycles, bicycles, trucks, buses, boats, horses, camels, donkeys, wheel barrows, etc., if it has wheels or hooves and can carry a missionary to a country, city, town, village, or under a card board box where someone is waiting to hear about Jesus, Speed the Light has provided it.
We give so our missionaries can travel faster, preach clearer, and be heard louder, in order that that Heaven might be a bigger place…filled with people from every nationality, color, and tribe who have accepted Him as their Savior.
There is a contest if our students raise $1500 by December 8, then I will dye my hair a bright pink through the rest of the month of December.
*Excerpt on Speed The Light taken from the National Speed The Light website.
