EQUIP::Vancouver
Donation protected
Hi! My name is Colton Key. I'm a worship leader from Granbury, Texas, and I am working toward a B.A. in Music Business at Dallas Baptist University, with dual emphases in Worship Leader and Songwriting. I am currently working part-time for EQUIP Worship, a non-profit organization "dedicated to helping churches find and develop leaders for worship." You can read all about what that entails by clicking on the link above - but the short version is that there is a HUGE need for worship leaders outside of the Bible Belt.
I first heard about EQUIP through a friend, who invited me to come to a two-day worship conference a few weeks before I started my first semester at DBU. I didn't have anything to do that weekend, and for some reason I had an undeniable desire to go, so I went.
And the Lord changed my life dramatically.
I had known before EQUIP Conference that I was being called both to missions and to lead worship, but that confused me because, in my mind, they didn't go together. God has given me giftings in both languages and music, and I didn't see how those things would work side-by-side. However, the Lord began revealing His purpose in those giftings to me at the Conference when Larry Tardy (the worship leader who started EQUIP) shared about the MOBILIZE mission of EQUIP. He started talking about his vision to pair willing (and competent) worship leaders from the Bible Belt with pastors and church plants in Vancouver. I was blown away, completely speechless, to find out that many of these churches are not English-speaking congregations, and that about half of them were without worship leaders of any sort. Half! As Larry explained further about the purpose of EQUIP, it quickly became clear that EQUIP Conference was not focused only on the worship leaders at the conference, but also the ones who weren't - the ones who still need to be trained.
Thus, EQUIP::Vancouver was born. In the six or so months since the Fort Worth EQUIP Conference, Larry has brought another DBU student and I on board, along with many other beneficiaries and helpers and prayer warriors and worship leaders, to help plan, market, and fund a conference in Vancouver, British Columbia - the southwest corner of Canada, just north of Seattle, Washington. The city is a multicultural melting pot, in which less than 3% of the population (3 in every 100 people) is claiming to be Evangelical Christian. What Larry discovered in the few churches that exist within the city shocked him: Around half had no worship leader of any kind. The churches that did have worship leaders, he found, were thriving and growing; the ones that lacked leadership in the area of worship were dying, their congregations stagnant in growth.
EQUIP::MOBILIZE aims to change that.
God’s call on Larry’s life has led to EQUIP partnering with church plants in the Vancouver and Seattle area to put on a conference in Vancouver on May 22-23, and Dallas Baptist University is partnering with EQUIP by sending students along with Larry - a worship and church planting mission trip. What a blessing!
And I have the opportunity to go.
However, the trip is expensive, as I will be spending 10 days traveling abroad. The cost of the trip is $2,500. I do not have the resources to pay this kind of price out of pocket, but I am praying and trusting that the Lord will provide the way for me to fulfill this part of my calling. All I ask is that you pray about whether He would use you to help send me to Vancouver. If He does not move you to give, please do not. If he does, please, please strongly consider what that would mean. I am not asking you to give me $2,500. I am asking you to prayerfully consider whether God would have you help me fulfill my calling as a worship leader and missionary to the unchurched of Vancouver, British Columbia, and the surrounding areas.
Lastly, and most importantly, I ask you to pray for us, the team going on the trip. Pray that those who are supposed to be on the team will be, and that the Lord will clearly reveal what role each of us should take on in order that the gospel may be presented in the most accurate, relevant manner. Pray for courage and faith and wisdom, that we may pour ourselves out to the faithful church plants of Vancouver with sincerity and tremendous love. Above all, the team needs your prayers.
Thank you so much for taking the time to look into this. I pray that the Lord be faithful to you, as ever he has been, and give you the faith to sacrifice whatever he would have you do - be it lifting me up in prayer, or helping me get to where the Lord is taking me. May the Lord be with you and bless you!
Love and thanks,
Colton Key
I first heard about EQUIP through a friend, who invited me to come to a two-day worship conference a few weeks before I started my first semester at DBU. I didn't have anything to do that weekend, and for some reason I had an undeniable desire to go, so I went.
And the Lord changed my life dramatically.
I had known before EQUIP Conference that I was being called both to missions and to lead worship, but that confused me because, in my mind, they didn't go together. God has given me giftings in both languages and music, and I didn't see how those things would work side-by-side. However, the Lord began revealing His purpose in those giftings to me at the Conference when Larry Tardy (the worship leader who started EQUIP) shared about the MOBILIZE mission of EQUIP. He started talking about his vision to pair willing (and competent) worship leaders from the Bible Belt with pastors and church plants in Vancouver. I was blown away, completely speechless, to find out that many of these churches are not English-speaking congregations, and that about half of them were without worship leaders of any sort. Half! As Larry explained further about the purpose of EQUIP, it quickly became clear that EQUIP Conference was not focused only on the worship leaders at the conference, but also the ones who weren't - the ones who still need to be trained.
Thus, EQUIP::Vancouver was born. In the six or so months since the Fort Worth EQUIP Conference, Larry has brought another DBU student and I on board, along with many other beneficiaries and helpers and prayer warriors and worship leaders, to help plan, market, and fund a conference in Vancouver, British Columbia - the southwest corner of Canada, just north of Seattle, Washington. The city is a multicultural melting pot, in which less than 3% of the population (3 in every 100 people) is claiming to be Evangelical Christian. What Larry discovered in the few churches that exist within the city shocked him: Around half had no worship leader of any kind. The churches that did have worship leaders, he found, were thriving and growing; the ones that lacked leadership in the area of worship were dying, their congregations stagnant in growth.
EQUIP::MOBILIZE aims to change that.
God’s call on Larry’s life has led to EQUIP partnering with church plants in the Vancouver and Seattle area to put on a conference in Vancouver on May 22-23, and Dallas Baptist University is partnering with EQUIP by sending students along with Larry - a worship and church planting mission trip. What a blessing!
And I have the opportunity to go.
However, the trip is expensive, as I will be spending 10 days traveling abroad. The cost of the trip is $2,500. I do not have the resources to pay this kind of price out of pocket, but I am praying and trusting that the Lord will provide the way for me to fulfill this part of my calling. All I ask is that you pray about whether He would use you to help send me to Vancouver. If He does not move you to give, please do not. If he does, please, please strongly consider what that would mean. I am not asking you to give me $2,500. I am asking you to prayerfully consider whether God would have you help me fulfill my calling as a worship leader and missionary to the unchurched of Vancouver, British Columbia, and the surrounding areas.
Lastly, and most importantly, I ask you to pray for us, the team going on the trip. Pray that those who are supposed to be on the team will be, and that the Lord will clearly reveal what role each of us should take on in order that the gospel may be presented in the most accurate, relevant manner. Pray for courage and faith and wisdom, that we may pour ourselves out to the faithful church plants of Vancouver with sincerity and tremendous love. Above all, the team needs your prayers.
Thank you so much for taking the time to look into this. I pray that the Lord be faithful to you, as ever he has been, and give you the faith to sacrifice whatever he would have you do - be it lifting me up in prayer, or helping me get to where the Lord is taking me. May the Lord be with you and bless you!
Love and thanks,
Colton Key
Organiser
Colton Key
Organiser
Granbury, TX
