2020 JULY NEWSLETTER

Beloved, Greetings in the Mighty Name of our Lord Jesus Christ! 

We trust you are all well and thriving, even during this time of on-going pandemic. The Lord has blessed us here in Keystone, SD, protecting all of us and providing for our every need. 

This has been a busy time for us. On July 3, the President of the United States came to Keystone to celebrate the Fourth of July. Thousands of people crowded into our small town to watch the fireworks display at Mt Rushmore. The Lord led us to conduct a fund-raising BBQ and parking promotion. We had about twenty volunteers from Texas and some from the immediate area helping us park cars, grill burgers, chicken, dogs, and brats, and serve our guests and friends. While it was a lot of work, it was a special time with hundreds of people being exposed to The Keystone Project. Our volunteers and staff are the very best!

Recently, I was meditating on the beauty of faith. Many people tend to disparage faith, thinking it is a sign of a lack of intelligence or weakness. Yet, I see in faith the matchless wisdom of God. God has chosen a way to make Himself known that all people throughout history can equally access – through simple faith. In fact, there is a law of faith woven into creation, as God has determined to make Himself known to every human being through this law: “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law” (Romans 3:27-28).

How does the Law of Faith Work?

First, it is by the law of faith that we are justified and have peace with God (Romans 5:1). We cannot “see” our salvation or our justification, but we know we have it by believing in Christ and what God has spoken about us. The law of faith enables us to have what we cannot see. Jesus told the sinful woman who washed His feet with her tears, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:50). Faith is universally possible for all people, and, therefore, so is salvation.

Second, we receive faith “by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Faith is not some emotion we force; it is a choice we make based on what the Holy Spirit has revealed to us (1 Corinthians 2:11-13).

Third, faith is active. It is by faith that we are healed or delivered. Jesus often said, “Your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22; Mark 5:34; 10:52; Lk 8:48; 17:19; 18:42). When healing two blind men, He told them, “It shall be done to you according to your faith” (Matthew 9:29). Jesus saw the faith of the paralytic’s friends and was able to forgive and heal him (Matthew 9:2).

Fourth, the quality of our faith determines the outcome it produces. Jesus told the disciples if they had faith without doubting, they could remove mountains (Matthew 21:21). “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will have” (Matthew 21:22). Jesus spoke often about the “littleness” of the faith in the people around Him (Matthew 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8; 17:20; Mark 4:40; Luke 12:28). He also spoke about “great” faith (Matthew 8:10; 15:28; Luke 7:9).

Fifth, we have “boldness and confident access” to God and the things of God through our faith (Ephesians 3:12). It is by faith that we can come to the Father and receive the things He has prepared for us (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Sixth, our faith is a protective shield against the attacks of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16). It is through the law of faith – our choice to believe and act on what Christ has done – that we overcome and defeat the devil.

Finally, through the law of faith we have victory over the world (1 John 5:4). By faith we know that we are not of this world. It is not our home. This allows us to be in the world, but not of the world, while we are being sent to the world.

Faith is a precious and sacred gift of God. Let us not take our faith for granted, but nurture and protect it. May you have great faith!

Richard Greene
President,
The Keystone Project, Inc.

Summer Internship Update by James Greene 

God has been busy on the mission field in Keystone, South Dakota, and so have we. We have been blessed with three wonderful interns this summer: Corinne Berger from Maine, Pautoo from Nebraska (originally from Thailand), and Mi Paing from Texas (also originally from Thailand). They have been learning how to live the Kingdom life of a disciple and how to engage the lost. They have gone all around town—prayer walking, praying for the shop owners, and sharing the Gospel. 

The other day they met two young men, one from Nepal and the other from India, and invited them to attend morning devotions with our team. They both came and were excited to learn more. The man from India had to leave Keystone to go and see family in the Tampa Bay Area, but he was able to connect with Charlie Greene, the former Internship Director for The Keystone Project, who is now following up with him. This is just one example of the many people that the Lord has brought into our lives this summer and that we have been ministering to. Two of our leaders are discipling the two interns, Corinne and Mi Paing, and Mi Paing is discipling her cousin, Pautoo, whom she encouraged to come out here for the summer. Pautoo and Corinne are both searching for their first-generation disciples. There are many people that the Lord has placed on their hearts, and it is a blessing to see their enthusiasm and love for the Lord and His mission field. Please pray that the Lord would help them find faithful first-generation disciples, as they go and minister to the lost. 

God Bless!

August Training Update by Dustin Stuckey

The Keystone Project team is looking forward to resuming our in-person training events soon! In just one month, we are kicking off the new season with a week-long training for residents of the US and Canada over August 17-21, 2020, and a month-long training for international participants: our Fall Training from October 5-30, 2020 (with Spanish and French translation), and our Spring Training from March 22 – April 16, 2021 (with Spanish translation).

After taking an unexpected break from our training program over the last several months, we are excited to conduct this training in person once again and invest that time with leaders from across the US and around the world. Despite the challenges and obstacles that are posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are still confirmed to move forward with these training events, and we are planning on hosting them for sure. However, we are also continuing to monitor the spread of the Coronavirus, both globally and locally, and we are taking appropriate precautions, as much as possible. We have done our best to follow national and local guidelines in our community, and we have been especially careful this summer while working at our hotel, the Rushmore Express. We have implemented several precautions at the hotel to keep our guests and staff safe, such as sanitizing frequently touched surfaces and wearing masks and gloves as needed. We will continue taking precautions at the hotel to protect our students during their stay with us, and we will also implement social distancing and sanitation precautions at the Ministry Center to keep all our students and staff safe during each training.

As we look ahead to a new training calendar, we want to invite you to prayerfully consider joining us for one of these events and to begin the process of preparing for the training. After this prolonged break from our regular training events, we are certainly looking forward to spending this time face-to-face with our students once again, diving into God’s Word and equipping His laborers for the mission He has called us to. That mission is to make disciples of all nations, until every unreached people group has been reached with the gospel of the kingdom of God. We pray that your nation will be represented at this training, and that God will send more laborers to the unreached people groups and the lost around you, wherever He has placed you.

If you would be interested in attending a training, your first step will be to fill out the Application Form on our website. If you have any questions during the application process, you can feel free to contact our Training Team (training@keystoneproject.org), and we’ll be happy to assist you. We hope that you will take this opportunity into serious prayer and consideration and that you will proceed with your first steps, if you sense that the Lord is leading you to go through this training. We know that God is certainly able to open the doors for you to attend, and we trust that He will select and prepare the right students who will go back to their nations and launch disciple-making movements among the unreached.