02/01/17 | Salem, OR

More Than Just a Gathering

Willamette Valley churches work together to plan a night of unified prayer and worship

Over 50 Evangelical churches across the Willamette Valley are working together to plan a public night of worship and prayer – an event termed “The Gathering.” In an effort to bring churches together in the Salem/Keizer area, local worship leaders and pastors will host The Gathering on the National Day of Prayer (May 4) at The Oregon State Fairgrounds Pavilion in Salem, free of cost.

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The vision for the event originated with local pastors who met periodically for many years and asked God for spiritual renewal and revival in the Willamette Valley. Churches decided to act on this vision and are now moving forward in the planning process with support from Reid Saunders Association (RSA) as well as local National Day of Prayer leaders. Among the many who have already expressed interest in this prayer movement are Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish-speaking congregations – all meeting together under one roof for the first time.

Heavily involved in the event’s coordination, Steve Dangaran, Dean of the Reach Training Institute at Salem Alliance Church, says he is amazed at the fervent action being taken by local churches.

“The reason we are gaining traction on this is because it’s not about a church, it’s not about a person, it’s not about an agenda,” he says. “This is about God’s people saying, ‘Revive us — bring revival to our city.’ That’s what people are rallying to.”

Planning for The Gathering is still underway. Teams have been designated to work out logistics separately yet are staying connected by way of weekly meetings.

Justin Greene, Senior Pastor at Salem Heights Church, says the churches remain focused on the bigger picture as they plan. In his view, the event is far more than just a gathering.

“It really is about sharing the Gospel,” he says. “It’s about being salt and light — being on our knees for a city.”

For more information regarding The Gathering, contact Greg Vesely at gregvesely@pacbell.net or by calling 858-583-0829.

 Contact: Phone: 503.581.7394 | Email: info@reidsaunders.org | PO Box 4275 Salem, OR 97302

1/4/17 | Salem, OR

Hope to Spread in the Unlikely City

Reid Saunders Association members work with 200 local pastors in Villa El Salvador

Reid Saunders Association (RSA) is planning a mission outreach to the district of Villa El Salvador, Peru, where over 200 local churches are preparing to receive and work with the organization. From April 22 to May 2, 2017, a team of 29 members traveling from several states will work with multiple evangelists to share the Gospel in Peru. The trip will begin with various outreach ministries and will conclude with three days of evangelistic festivals.

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Planning began in 2015 and continued to progress, as RSA traveled to Peru in 2016 to hold a pastors conference and evangelistic training sessions. The local churches in the district then invited RSA to come and hold the evangelistic festivals. With an increase in gang activity, child abuse, drug use, and mistreatment of women, there is a serious need for medical and spiritual help for those living in Villa El Salvador.

Ruth Daniels, RSA International Events and Teams Coordinator, has been heavily involved in the planning process and says she is amazed at the fervent action taken by the pastors.

“They are so excited, they’ve already started meeting at the churches and are looking at the initial planning for the festival,” she says. “They are asking for our prayers, because it’s a lot of work—having to mobilize so many churches and so many volunteers and to carry out all the logistics.”

Villa El Salvador is a low-income district on the outskirts of Lima – a district that surprised many in its urban social development. What started in 1971 as a designated plot of parched desert land for those who had chosen to move from the slums of Lima, grew from a town of 7,000 to city of 500,000. Many of the homes today have running water, electricity, and even a few paved roads.

However, this unlikely city’s well developed areas are accompanied by surrounding zones of shanty towns made up of makeshift shacks. These areas, according to local papers and most guidebooks, are the most dangerous to visit in all of Peru.

Saunders founded RSA in 2002, which has proclaimed the Gospel to more than 67 million people across the world. He has ministered in more than 75 nations at festivals, conferences, and outreach events. Saunders is also the author of “Life to the Fullest” and “All for Jesus! Making Your Life Count for Christ.” Read more about Reid Saunders and his new book “Active8” at reidsaunders.org.

Contact: Phone: 503.581.7394 | Email: info@reidsaunders.org | PO Box 4275 Salem, OR 97302

09/14/16 | Salem, OR

Myanmar: A Long-awaited Opportunity for Evangelism

A Salem-based mission organization plans to evangelize in a previously isolated country

A new opportunity has arisen for Reid Saunders Association (RSA) to bring the Gospel message and humanitarian aid to the primarily Buddhist country of Myanmar. Team members will depart for Mandalay on October 29, providing the local people with daily public outreach, as well as a pastors’ training conference. The team will return home November 7, after three days of evangelism through festivals.

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RSA will distribute new clothing for the poor and present the Gospel to the people of Myanmar at local schools, marketplaces, and prisons. Hundreds of local pastors are expected to attend the four-day pastors’ conference, during which time they will be trained in evangelism and church planting

Brett Butcher, Executive Director of RSA, says the pastors are in deep need of encouragement and guidance.

“The biggest problem is, I would say, that they’ve got a very immature church due to the country’s oppressive government. There is uncertainty as to what they can and cannot do,” he says. “Church planters are struggling because they have to plant multiple churches at one time. They are stretched pretty thin.”

The first successful mission work done in Myanmar was by Adoniram Judson and his wife Ann in 1813, having translated the Bible into the Burmese language. As a result of their work, the present Christian church of Myanmar has grown to about 3,700 congregations. However, the government of Myanmar has not allowed foreign missionaries to do permanent mission work in the country since 1966, and it continues to hinder Christians from evangelizing in certain areas.

Looking forward to meeting more and more of the underground church in Myanmar, Butcher says he is anxious to visit the country.

“They all just have amazing stories of how God has protected them and used them when they couldn’t proclaim the Good News openly,” he says. “Our coordinator was in prison for a year for aiding some Korean missionaries. In that one year, 200 prisoners were baptized, and they let him out a year early. That led him to create a prison ministry that he still manages to this day. Those stories are encouraging to us who don’t regularly see that kind of persecution. It is encouraging to see their faith in God.”

Saunders founded RSA in 2002, which has proclaimed the Gospel to more than 67 million people across the world. He has ministered in more than 75 nations at festivals, conferences, and outreach events. Saunders is also the author of “Life to the Fullest” and “All for Jesus! Making Your Life Count for Christ.” Read more about Reid Saunders and his new book “Active8” at reidsaunders.org.

Contact: Phone: 503.581.7394 | Email: info@reidsaunders.org | PO Box 4275 Salem, OR

Press Release for Reid Saunders’ Newly Released Book “Active8”
05/24/16 | Salem, OR

New Book Provides Tools for a Lifestyle of Evangelism

Reid Saunders writes book “Active8” to equip readers with practical tools for evangelism

In his newly released book “Active8,” Reid Saunders aims to motivate and equip readers to share the Gospel by providing them with practical tools for evangelism. The book’s focus is on simple and clear evangelism, founded upon biblical truths set forth in the book of Romans. “Active8” can be ordered online at Amazon.com.

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In his newly released book “Active8,” Reid Saunders aims to motivate and equip readers to share the Gospel by providing them with practical tools for evangelism. The book’s focus is on simple and clear evangelism, founded upon biblical truths set forth in the book of Romans. “Active8” can be ordered online at Amazon.com. [expand title=”Read More”]

“Active8” is written to combat a decreasing biblical literacy in today’s generation of Christians. The book provides readers with eight simple Bible verses from Romans that express the Gospel with clarity and simplicity. Its purpose is to help readers view evangelism as a lifestyle rather than a task.

Greg Stier, CEO and founder of Dare 2 Share ministries, says Saunders’ book will have a major impact on today’s generation of Christians and their ability to evangelize.

“Reid understands that training believers to share the Gospel with their peers is the gift that keeps on giving,” Stier writes. “As the old saying goes, ‘Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.’ Reid lives this out in powerful ways. He has trained churches around the world how to ‘fish for people.’”

Saunders founded Reid Saunders Association in 2002, which has proclaimed the Gospel to more than 67 million people across the world. He has ministered in more than 75 nations at festivals, conferences, and outreach events. Saunders is also the author of “Life to the Fullest” and “All for Jesus! Making Your Life Count for Christ.” Read more about Reid Saunders and his new book “Active8” at reidsaunders.org.

Contact: Phone: 503.581.7394 | Email: info@reidsaunders.org | PO Box 4275 Salem, OR 97302

05/27/16 | Salem, OR

Cambodia and Laos: New Growth in Dry Soil

Reid Saunders Association members share the Gospel in two Buddhist countries

Over 500 people surrendered to Christ in Cambodia May 10-14, as Reid Saunders and Brett Butcher of Reid Saunders Association (RSA) shared the Gospel via festivals. On May 15, Saunders and Butcher also held the Pastors and Workers Evangelism Conference in Vientiane Laos to train Laotian pastors in evangelism.

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Working with over 150 churches in Cambodia, Saunders and Butcher planned and held major festivals in the cities of Sisophon and Siem Reape, sharing the Gospel with thousands. There, they also met with the governor of the Banteay Meanchey Province to deliver 1,000 gallons of fresh water.

Butcher says he was pleased with the results of the trip to Cambodia.

“The trip was a real success and a model of what we try to do in areas that are closed and don’t really have a history of Christianity,” he says. “You try to engage as many people as possible because the churches are so small.”

The country of Cambodia remains war-ravaged and impoverished, with 1% of the population being Christian and 95% Buddhist. In Laos, Christianity is not tolerated at all. Less than 2% of the population is Christian, and they are viewed as a threat to the nation’s culture of Buddhism and Animism. Thus, Christians are pressured to renounce Jesus and are frequently persecuted.

In Laos, Saunders says he felt as though he was meeting with the early church disciples, risking their lives for the sake of Jesus.

“As we were walking up the stairs to the secret meeting I think everyone was a little nervous about what was going to happen,” he says. “The meeting was illegal. It’s like, okay, are people wiring the room? Are police hiding out? What’s gonna happen? But as we entered the room, the welcome that we received—to be able to share a meal in this room and to be able to teach—the pastors just seemed so grateful that we would risk our lives to encourage them from the Word of God.”

Saunders founded RSA in 2002, which has proclaimed the Gospel to more than 67 million people across the world. He has ministered in more than 75 nations at festivals, conferences, and outreach events. Saunders is also the author of “Life to the Fullest” and “All for Jesus! Making Your Life Count for Christ.” Read more about Reid Saunders and his new book “Active8” at reidsaunders.org.

 Contact: Phone: 503.581.7394 | Email: info@reidsaunders.org | PO Box 4275 Salem, OR 97302