Photos courtesy of Agents for Christ

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.”

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.’”

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.”

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.”

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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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© 2023 Calvary Chapel Magazine (CCM). All rights reserved. Articles or photographs may not be reproduced without the written permission of CCM. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.® Used by permission.