Please Pray as We Seek to Set New Ministry Leaders’ Hearts Afire at Our First LGM Training!

CapMin’s Local Government Ministries (LGM) team of directors aim to ignite a flame in the hearts of new ministry leaders this week at our first ever LGM Recruiting and Training Conference where we’ll teach them how to build discipleship ministries for city and county public servants.

The men were recruited during a year-long effort to attract additional ministry leaders to lead Bible-study based discipleship ministries for local elected officials in the 40,000 incorporated communities across America.

“We are on the verge of something amazing here,” said Dr. Dan DeShong, CapMin’s LGM global director.

“These men have already been vetted and approved and now we will train them on our tried-and-true methods ranging from the CapMin vision to how to teach the Bible and what skills are needed to reach and disciple government officials.”

“We expect these new ministry leaders to come out of the conference on fire to reach all elected officials in their neighborhoods and surrounding areas. I am excited to share with them what is working for us who are already in the trenches!”

At the Jan 15-18 conference in Ontario, CA, the men will learn CapMin’s methods that have been meticulously honed and tested in 28 years of ministry to public officials.

Instruction will be given on biblical teaching methods, the value of discipleship and relationship building, the priority of evangelism, the biblical exegesis for reaching political leaders with the gospel, the importance of leading public servants toward maturity in Christ, and why CapMin does not engage in political activism and lobbying. This required training is essential for building successful, sustainable ministries.

“A lot of these guys are pastors and are accustomed to people coming into church to learn the Word of God, but we will teach them how to get up and go out to city hall and lead Bible studies,” Dr. Dan said.

“While a lot of believers approach elected officials with hostility, we come alongside and ask if we can pray for them. I love sharing the Oaks in Office table of contents with elected leaders! What I most often hear back is, ‘Wow! I had no idea the Bible was so specific on so many social ills our country is facing!’”

Since 1996, CapMin has been establishing Bible-study based discipleship ministries for state legislators, Congressmen and White House Cabinet Members in Washington, D.C. A study was launched last year for America’s governors.

Since many national political leaders begin their careers on the local level, CapMin has been working to build ministries to the 500,000 city and county leaders in our nation’s 40,000 incorporated neighborhoods.

Local Government Ministries have already been launched in communities in several U.S. states and in foreign nations in Europe and Africa.

In an effort to reach the largest number of likely candidates, last year teams of CapMin ministry leaders who lead successful ministries in their communities, participated in 19 Pastor Appreciation Days and national and regional meetings of the Southern Baptist and Independent Baptist Conventions to recruit new Bible teachers.

At these events, teams explained to pastors and church leaders our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ in the political area throughout the world. They distributed CapMin brochures, Bible studies that were written especially for political leaders, and other material.

They also offered CapMin books, All In Authority, which provides the biblical exegesis for reaching political leaders with God’s Word, and Oaks in Office: Biblical Essays for Political Leaders (OIO), which contains 52 Bible studies written specifically for political leaders and is the curriculum for LGM. The book is under revision and will contain 77 studies when published later this year.

The hundreds of men who signed up to be ministry leaders or to learn more are being vetted by the seven regional CapMin directors who work with Dr. Dan. They are Gene Sipprell and Nate Belkstrom who share the Midwest; Torrey Lewis, Northwest; Dan Marshall, Southeast; Greg Helland, West Coast; Keith Hill, Southwest; and Morris Webster, Northeast.

Forty men have been vetted in the U.S. so far and 20 of them will participate in this week’s LGM training. This first training will provide Dr. Dan and his team with valuable experience that will be of great benefit as the word continues to spread about LGM and local ministries grow across the U.S. As Pastor Belkstrom said, this is “one of those rare times in life when you get to be involved in the very beginnings of something that has nation-changing potential.”

Dr. Dan led the first LGM in his Sacramento, CA neighborhood and completed the OIO curriculum in 2019. After finishing the studies, the public servant participants asked to begin studying OIO with Dr. Dan again.

“On Tuesday last week at Bible study, participants included two city council members, two park district members, one school board member, one state assemblyman, and one city planner,” Dr. Dan said. “I am so excited to share with these new ministry leaders what God is doing in the hearts of these officials and in our city, and even in the relationships between all the different governmental agencies.

“The first year I taught OIO, we completed the curriculum in one year. But now they want to go back and really take our time. It’s so enjoyable! In the last Bible study, we spent time talking about Paul, who he was, where he came from, and how he used his credentials to get people to listen to him.

“A lot of people think the Reformation came from Luther, but it really came from Paul.”

The biblical directive for reaching political leaders is found in books in both the Old and New Testaments. CapMin takes its mandate from Acts 9:15 when God explains Paul’s ministry. Paul is to tell Jews, Gentiles, and kings about Christ. The group of “kings” is also described in Scripture as those in authority.

…he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.”

“The group of “kings” is easily overlooked, but a study shows that the directive to reach them with God’s Word is pervasive throughout the Bible,” Dr. Dan said. “I want the new recruits to really understand how important elected officials are to the Lord and how much effort Paul spent to reach Jews, Gentiles, and the group we are dedicated to reaching – kings and those in authority.”

“Please pray for God’s leading in the conference, for these new ministry leaders and the public leaders they will serve, and that these new ministries would bear much fruit.”

If you are interested in learning about becoming a LGM ministry leader, click here.