2022 March Newsletter

Greetings from The Keystone Project and All Our Disciples in the Nations

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:14-17)

“Then they [the children of Israel in the wilderness] set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.’ The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.’ And Moses interceded for the people. The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard, and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.’ And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.” (Numbers 21:4-9)

The story of the serpent made by Moses in the wilderness is a strange one, but it is filled with a significant meaning for those of us who are saved. The children of Israel named the serpent Nehushtan, which means “bronze serpent.” When the people became impatient because of their journey in the wilderness, they complained against the Lord and Moses. The Lord sent fiery serpents among them, and many of them died when bitten. Having faced such a severe judgment for their impatience and complaining, the children of Israel repented and asked Moses to intercede on their behalf. The Lord told Moses to make the serpent and place it on a standard before all the people, so that if any who were bitten looked to the serpent they would live.

Jesus told Nicodemus that as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, He too must be lifted up, so that all who believe in Him may be saved. How could the serpent represent Jesus? We know that it was the serpent who enticed Eve to sin in the garden, leading to the fall of all humans. The people in the wilderness were bitten by these fiery serpents, and many were dying. Indeed, the serpent represents evil. However, what is the meaning of bronze – why was the serpent specifically made from this material? In the Scriptures, bronze is a picture of judgment. Thus, the bronze serpent is a picture that evil has been judged. That is what Jesus did on the Cross – He judged all evil. To be saved, we must see this truth and apply it to our lives. Therefore, let us not grow weary or impatient in our journey with the Lord, and as we are bitten by sin and the evil that surrounds us (and none of us are immune to this), let us look to Jesus, knowing that He has judged all sin and evil and it is through this that we are saved!

We need your help. 

Most of you know that The Keystone Project owns and operates a seasonal hotel called the Rushmore Express Inn & Family Suites in Keystone. This hotel was donated to us, and the Lord has enabled us to use it for the work of our mission. It has beautiful rooms, a small conference room, an indoor pool, and an exercise room. Our students and staff stay at the hotel at no charge during our training programs. While the hotel provides income for The Keystone Project, it certainly does not cover all our expenses. That is why we are grateful for your support and prayers. The hotel serves our mission by reflecting the culture of the kingdom of God in its operations. It also provides us with the means to offer college-age students (18-25 years old) the opportunity to participate in a summer internship program. Through that program, we are able to minister to our community and international students who come to Keystone to work over the summer. This is a paid internship, allowing our interns to work at the hotel and earn an income while being discipled. It also gives us the opportunity to invite adult individuals to come and work with us in the summer to participate in the “Keystone experience.” You can contact us through our website or by email (contact@keystoneproject.org) if you are interested in the internship program or in working with us at the hotel. 

It has been a blessing for us to live and work in Keystone, SD. The Lord has allowed us to serve our community through a food distribution program conducted by an organization called Feeding South Dakota. Last week, we distributed food to over one-third of the population of Keystone. We are also implementing a lunch meal to serve to our community as well. I say this not to make known our good works before men but to ask you to pray that we can do more. I am reminded of the story of Oscar Schindler, who saved many Jews during the Holocaust by bribing German officers and officials. At the end, he wept at the knowledge that he could have done more. There is not a day that goes by when I feel like we have done enough. So many are poor, struggling, and hurting. May God give us even more opportunities to love and bless others, especially those who are lost, hungry, oppressed, addicted, or sick.

This is why we need you. 

There is so much more work for us to do than what we can accomplish on our own. We had planned a trip to India in the month of May this year. Due to a lack of funds and an increase in the price of airfares, we had to cancel that trip – one in which many souls would have been saved and disciples equipped for gospel work and ministry. Your prayers and support are sacred gifts, not only to us but to our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His life that the world may know of His love and mercy. Thank you, and may God bless you all, in Jesus’ name!

Richard W. Greene
President, The Keystone Project, Inc.

The Effects Of The Word Of God On Our Students

Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:7)

The revelation of the Word of God has a unique power to transform lives and to generate passion that can change the course of ministries, cities, and entire nations. We read in Acts 6 that as the Word of God spread through Jerusalem, the number of disciples “multiplied greatly” and “many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” The chain of events speaks for itself; multiply the Word of God (revealing who God is and what He is doing), multiply disciples, bring about obedience and transformation to the city. It is about multiplying the revelation of the Word of God, the testimony of Jesus. Today, we can multiply the Word of God through the power of the Holy Spirit at a grand scale using technology. This action enables us to reproduce leaders and multiply disciples to produce a transformational effect in the Church and its surroundings. Thus, we can glorify the Father by producing lasting fruit that we can take to the nations. 

This is the main reason we are pursuing the continuous development and positioning of the Online Academy. Our goal is to use this technology to potentially broadcast this training (30 sessions filled with the Word of God) simultaneously to thousands of leaders around the world. We are seeing the transformational effects of the Word in real-time. I want to share with you an excerpt from one of our students’ assignments:

This is my last assignment, and it is quite bittersweet. I have never been through a more inspiring, informative, and transformative training program. So, it holds a special place in my heart and therefore I am sad to see it go. On the other hand, I am wonderfully excited as physically placing my feet on the mission is at the door. 

This message was really a great capstone for the training. The deepest nudge I felt from the Lord while listening was this: “My ways are higher than your ways.” When Richard spoke of the work of the Lord in Rwanda through the community of believers, I was completely blown away. As I am in the process of developing a vision, I realized that my vision, although still forming, was already too small in regard to our great God. I have expectations that sometimes don’t rise to the surface until I hear great preaching or have a humbling experience. 

What I am taking away is this: my expectation should always be that the Father is with me as I go on the mission. Also, my preconceived notions (i.e. natural expectations) are a part of what I lay down on the altar in complete surrender. No matter my wiring, no matter what I think is right or wrong, I give it all to Jesus, that He may have His way not just with me, but through me. I have no idea what all may stem from a disciple-making movement, but with a pursuit of God in complete poverty of spirit – the guarantee is the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus said it, and He is a man of His word…Praise God, I am filled with His Holy Spirit, and therefore I have all I really need for the Great Commission. The rest is just minor details. I rejoice that God has chosen a broken jar of clay in me, and I am so excited to see who else He has chosen…

Indeed, the Word that goes forth from His mouth doesn’t return to Him void. It returns to Him with the sweet aroma of obedience and sacrifice in those that receive it. This disciple is sending us reports of his feet being on the mission and how he is engaging the lost. We must continue this mission. Thus, I am asking you to financially partner with us to continue to multiply the Word of God through our training in the nations. 

Let’s multiply the Word, multiply disciples, and transform the nations. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

David Saldivar,
Director of Global Ministry

Keystone Project Summer Internship 2022! 

Praise the Lord! 

I am reminded of our Lord Jesus Christ when He had been rejected in His hometown in Nazareth and how He then settled Himself in Capernaum. (Matthew 4:12-17)

Capernaum was on the Northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee which is where most of Christ’s ministry was located or in the vicinity of. 

The Via Maris ran right through Capernaum meaning that the whole world from Egypt to Iraq passed through this area. It is no coincidence that Christ focused most His ministry in an area where the whole world would have been in such close proximity to hear the Gospel.

Our little town in Keystone is not so much different in that we too, see many people passing through. Every year we see just over 2 million people from all over the United States and the whole world travel through Keystone SD on their way to see the monument Mount Rushmore. 

Many others from all over the world actually stay in this little town for the summer and work. This is exactly why we are here, so that we might proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom and make disciples of all the nations. 

We are about a month and a half away from launching the Keystone Project Summer Internship of 2022! 

However, we are still looking for a few more Interns to join us this summer so it’s not too late to sign up yet if you or someone you know may be interested. 

So far we have 5 interns confirmed for the summer. We have one intern coming from Uganda, one from California, one from Illinois, one from Ohio and another from Arizona. We are so excited to have them come and be apart of the work out here. 

Please pray for the mission out here as we engage our community and those who are lost. 

Please pray that God would open up doors for us as we are ministering these people. 

Please pray that God would continue to bring in the right Interns for the summer and that they would enter fully into what God has prepared for them. 

Please pray that they would be equipped, challenged and empowered by the Spirit to make disciples here in Keystone SD and wherever God calls them afterward. 

The Lord bless you all! 

Thank you for all of your prayer and support! 

James Greene,
Internship Coordinator