Breaking Out of the Comfort Zone
Photos courtesy of Agents for Christ
Tenth Hour Project (THP) student David Lawson leads his peers in worship at White Sands National Park in New Mexico. THP is an eight-month missions training and discipleship program for young adults, ages 18-26.
I love you Jesus. This seems like a great thing to do, Ian Campbell thought as he wrestled with joining Agents for Christ’s Tenth Hour Project (THP). He had only recently been saved when he first heard about the eight-month mission training program for young adults ages 18-26. Although he’d grown up in the church, his story up to that point was marked by drinking, drugs, and apathy. “Loosely speaking, I was kind of a prodigal son,” Ian recalled.
He compared himself to his friends, many who had been longer and more stable in their faith journeys. “They earned money and advanced in their careers. They saved money, were about to be married [or were] married, looking at houses, etc. And I was like, Wow. I’m way behind. I need to get on my horse and start getting my life organized.”
THP students Ian Campbell (middle) and James Wilkins (left) pray for a man at Calvary Chapel Knoxville, TN. Ian entered the program as a new believer, willing to follow God’s plan for him. “And that’s step-by-step what the program offers,” he proclaimed.
Ian learned about THP from the mother of a close friend. Knowing that Ian was seeking his next step as a new believer, she suggested that it may be a good fit for him. Ian recounted, “I looked it up and [thought], Wow! This is exactly what I was looking for. I had actually prayed, ‘God, I will do whatever You want me to do. I will go to Bible College, I will meet the needs of the people around me, or I will go to another country and meet their needs.’ And that’s step-by-step what the program offers.” Ian joined the program’s next semester.
He is now a science teacher at a Christian school at Calvary Chapel Perry, NY, and happily married to Lydia, a fellow student from his same class. He marveled, “It’s just so striking to me that I met my wife when I said Yes to Him. He brought that person into my life through walking with Him and doing what He was asking me to do, not [by] preparing more or ‘storing more in my barns.’”
Pastor Dave Chaffee, co-founder of Agents for Christ and Tenth Hour Project, teaches at Calvary Community Church in Beaverton, OR. THP was founded in 2018 as a branch of the Agents for Christ (AFC) ministry. As he and his wife traveled the country, evangelizing with AFC, Dave began to see a desperate need for discipleship in the church at large.
Evangelism & Discipleship
The Tenth Hour Project was founded by Dave Chaffee and his wife, Deanna, in 2018 as a branch of the Agents for Christ (AFC) ministry. About 10 years before, while evangelizing around the country with AFC, Dave began to see a desperate need for discipleship in the church at large. As the vision for the program became clear, THP found its name in John 1:35-39.
Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. John 1:35-39 NASB
THP students pray in groups before their weekly outreach at the Saturday market in Las Cruces, NM. Participants take three months of core classes, including evangelism, preparing them to go on the road with the Gospel and to serve Calvary Chapels around the country.
There are two semesters per year, beginning in January and August, training 12-15 students per semester. The participants' time begins with three months of core classes at the school’s campus in Las Cruces, NM. A new Calvary Chapel pastor visits each week to teach on various biblical topics. “We really go hard for those first three months. It’s like a fire hose of information coming at them,” Dave stated. An evangelism class prepares students to share Jesus on the road during their next phase of training.
THP student Loren Anders teaches a portion of Agents for Christ’s conversational evangelism class—focusing on “how we are not only to live out the Gospel but explain [it] as well!” Dave exclaimed. He loves watching students who have struggled to share their faith come to experience the unmatched joy of leading people to Christ.
A six-week nationwide tour follows, as students evangelize everywhere they go while serving churches and schools. Dave shared that even at every gas station they pray before getting out of the van: “Lord, is there a divine appointment here? If so, make it known to us and let us have it!” The team goes to churches (mostly Calvary Chapels but other denominations that invite them), schools, and even detention programs when allowed. Besides sharing testimonies, leading worship, and serving in many ways, they teach an evangelism class and facilitate an outreach where locals can join them in sharing the Gospel. Dave shared that with all this hands-on application, the students gain boldness.
THP student David Lawson leads worship at Calvary Chapel Ishunga, Uganda. Participants spend three months in Uganda, serving in all facets of the Uganda Kids Project (another branch of AFC) and CC Ishunga.
Participants then spend three months in Uganda, Africa, serving in all facets of Uganda Kids Project (another branch of AFC) and Calvary Chapel Ishunga. Each student disciples one or two children while the leadership looks for opportunities to allow them to serve where they can cultivate their individual skills and gifts.
Pastoral intern James Wilkins and other THP students pray for a woman at Calvary Chapel Rio Grande Valley, NM.
Finally, they head back to Las Cruces for a two-week debriefing in which Dave and the leadership team work to get students plugged in at a church or internship, back to school, or in whatever career they feel called into.
Dave and his family, along with each term’s students, call Calvary Chapel Three Crosses in Las Cruces, NM, their home fellowship. When not on tour or in Uganda, the students serve there during the services as well.
Administrative intern Sarina Chacon and THP student Cassie Martinez pray for a woman at a local outreach with Calvary Chapel Las Cruces, NM.
A Lasting Impact
Dave has watched students struggling to share their faith and praying through those struggles with them—then seeing them experience the unmatched joy of leading people to Christ. But the program isn’t only beneficial for equipping students to evangelize.
Dave shared the story of a young lady who completed the program. Brooke Doty came because she felt prepared for college in all but one area–her biblical worldview. “She was really overwhelmed by how much of the world was in her worldview," Dave recalled. She completed THP, started college, and called Dave within the first week to share about a speech—filled with unbiblical lies—she had heard at school. She said, “I would have fallen for all of it if I hadn’t come through Tenth Hour! I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t sought the Lord and received the training to understand what a biblical worldview really is.”
THP student Phillip McDonald prays for a man at a men’s conference at Calvary New Harvest in Las Lunas, NM. Ian Campbell learned during his time in the program this life-changing lesson: Simply take time for people and give God the space to work.
THP graduate Ian Campbell also experienced God moving in unbelievable ways during his time in the program, but the most life-changing takeaway was a lesson that sticks with him still today: Simply take time for people and give God the space to work.
THP student Lillie Kreger and Calvary Chapel Reno-Sparks, NV, youth pray for a student at the University of Nevada, Reno. Ian encourages young adult believers to consider the program: “It’s an opportunity to pursue God in a way that you don’t often get in our day and age. You don’t have anything competing for your time or attention.”
Ian recognizes that while many believing young adults desire to live life “on mission”, they find it difficult to practice it daily. He believes that THP provides the training necessary to make that kind of discipleship a habit. “No matter what anyone says, it’s worth it to take a break from trying to control your life and to just pursue Jesus. … It’s an opportunity to pursue Him in a way that you don’t often get in our day and age,” Ian explained. “You don’t have anything competing for your time or attention.”
THP student Noah and youth from CC Reno-Sparks (right) share the Gospel with Orthodox Jews at the University of Nevada, Reno. Dave offered, “Our heart is to see more and more young people come through the program and really get a boldness. I think they should be bold in their proclamation of the Gospel, not only with their life but with their words.”
Encouraging Boldness
To potential students “afraid to take the leap of faith,” as Dave says, he responds with this question: “What else are you going to do? As a Christian, your life is to glorify God. Your life is to be poured out as an offering to Jesus. … So stand up and live for God!” He added that the “American Dream” is not the goal—but how easy it is to get lost in that. Whatever sphere God calls students to, their jobs are to serve and share the Lord in that arena and view their lives as a mission.
Dave offered, “Our heart is to see more and more young people come through the program and really get a boldness. Young people today are saturated with media—and they’re timid. I don’t think they should be timid. I think they should be bold in their proclamation of the Gospel, not only with their life but with their words. Our heart is that they know Christ, and who they are in Christ, so well that nothing will intimidate them.”
THP student Lillie Kreger teaches CC Reno-Sparks youth how to share the Gospel at the University of Nevada, Reno. Dave shared of the program’s goals: “Our heart is that they know Christ, and who they are in Christ, so well that nothing will intimidate them.”
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For more information on the Tenth Hour Project or other Agents for Christ programs, visit agentsforchrist.org. The next Tenth Hour Project session begins August 19.
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