Written by Dr. Brent Strawsburg, Founder & President of Brent Strawsburg Apologetics

Words are not adequate to express my appreciation for Mission ConneXion Northwest. Every time we attend this conference the Lord really ministers to us personally—not only as we see people commit themselves to global missions but as He reminds us of His faithfulness in our lives. This past January was no exception!

As Mission ConneXion helps focus all of our attention on the global mandate of the Great Commission it’s vital to remember that the modern-day Christian in America lives in a mission field.

We live in a post-Christian culture

We live in a society that is increasingly hostile to our faith

People don’t have our values and, most importantly, don’t understand God’s message.

I travel to churches and conferences in California, the Pacific Northwest, and throughout the United States because defending the faith must be a part of the global commitment to share the Gospel. Far too many people from both inside and outside the church are turning away from Christianity. Too many non-Christians are not even considering the Christian faith. A growing number of Christians are disillusioned by their faith.

I’ve been honored to lead the Apologetics Track at Mission ConneXion for the past three years. This year, each of our four seminars were filled with a great cross section of people who were interested, engaged, and full of questions.

However, nothing prepared us for the response to our seminar on How to Talk to Skeptics. I still get chills as I think about what happened. Five minutes before the beginning of the seminar we were already filled to capacity (100 chairs). In the next ten minutes, people continued to pour into the room–people sat down in the middle aisle, on the sides, in front, on tables in the back, and crowded around the door. They just kept coming in—all eager to learn how to better connect with people outside the church.

As I stood in front of a group of 165 people I was reminded that so many Christians simply want the tools to accomplish what the Spirit is asking them to do—share their faith!

Every time we travel to the Pacific Northwest (whether it is to Mission ConneXion Northwest in January or Student ConneXion in November) we are encouraged how the Lord opens up doors to minister at different churches on the Sunday morning following the conference. We find that Christians are eager to receive practical and easy to understand answers to some of the great questions of our day:

• How to Disarm Doubt
• Why Does God Allow Evil & Suffering?
• Is Belief in God Reasonable?
• Can You Trust the Bible?
• Where is God When It Hurts?

We are tremendously grateful to Bill MacLeod for giving us the opportunity to assist churches in the Pacific Northwest to achieve the Great Commission.