God Working In Orangevale

As I exited the plane in Sacramento, CA I had no idea what God had in store for the week. We already had a jam-packed schedule and I was excited for all the possibilities of ministry. We kicked it all off with a wonderful weekend. Friday night was an event named “The Calling.” Despite some technical difficulties God answered my prayer of “Do not let the Devil take the ground here, oh Lord.” It turned out to be a blessing. People rededicated their lives to God and a girl by the name of Alli Franco decided it was time to “Finally go all in” and be baptized. The concert Saturday night was at a public school auditorium. The energy of God’s people praising Him through music and His Word could be felt throughout the event. I was grateful to be a part of this.

Monday commenced our “Spiritual Emphasis Week” with the Orangevale Seventh Day Adventist School grades K-8. My talks were focused on how God is always there for us and can always be counted on. He has called all of us to do heroic things for Him just as he called David, Moses, Noah, Samuel and all the other remarkable people of the Bible. I came to know many of these young people by name by participating with them in recess, and even learning some new games in the process.

The end of the week was one of the greatest moments as I watched a vast majority of the youth give themselves to Christ. Thirteen of them chose to make a public stand for baptism. In a ten day period I had been a part of numerous decisions to follow Jesus and a total of fourteen decisions for baptism. As I boarded my plane on the way back to Berrien Springs, MI I was exhausted but overflowing with joy in the Lord. It was a life changing experience for me. I was grateful to be a part of this incredible week. Thank you all for your support in helping make this week, and The Cause Ministry, a success in sharing Jesus with the Youth of this generation!

By: Randy Paulsen

Speaker of The Cause Ministry

From The Cause Newsletter

December 2009

Inspiring Orangevale California Youth

The Cause Ministry has taken many different roles since its origin in the Summer of 2002, but it has kept its main motto. “Leading Youth to Lead the Church” is at the forefront of its goals since adopting this motto in 2004. Through living out the example of what young people can accomplish and proclaiming messages of encouragement for youth to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and allowing God to transform them into a powerful tool for His glory, The Cause desires to inspire youth to be utilized to the best of their abilities for the mighty work of Jesus Christ

For the past three months, and with one more to go, Lance Mishleau, Director of The Cause Ministry, has been hired to integrate the motto and desires of The Cause Ministry into the youth of Orangevale (OV), California. The youth had not had a Youth Pastor for some time and there were only a consistent 3-4 kids showing up for activities. Today there are about 25 consistent youth coming on a weekly basis with upwards 60+ for special events.

Why are so many young people leaving the church? Lance Mishleau has found “It is a lot easier to leave something you feel you don‟t belong to in the first place.” In order to change this, he says “One of the first things we have to do is to give the youth a sense of belonging, not just a sense but to become a real and relevant member of the Body of Christ, aka the Church.”

In “the OV”, that is exactly what is happening. Youth (high school students mind you) are grabbing hold of their Christianity and desiring to reach out for Jesus. They have received titles and responsibilities and with those titles and are taking ownership of their youth group they are bringing in their Christian friends from around the greater Sacramento area, but even more importantly some are bringing in friends that are not regular church-goers as well. Outreach is a key part of what they do. Members of the OV Youth Group go into their schools and communities and pass out cards and flyers to invite their peers, both friends and strangers, to what is happening at their church. One youth-sponsored weekend event (open to all ages) brought in over 300 people! Some of these youth have even suffered persecution by being asked to leave from the shopping mall for witnessing and passing out flyers, all for the sake of desiring to share the Gospel.

Along with outreach there are three other key elements to what has happened with the OV Youth Group. There has been established a weekly service (before the main church service) named “The Calling”. Its purpose is “To find our place as Jesus found His, by growing in Wisdom, Stature, and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:52) Looking at Jesus we see this is how He grew from the age of 12 until around 30 years old, which is the age group of the OV youth. When Jesus came out of that time frame He knew what His calling was and if we dedicate ourselves to growth, we too can find our “Calling” for here on earth.

The second element, “D of A”, is the mid-weekly study time where we read “The Desire of Ages”. This is “A look into the life of Jesus”. It is a book focused on Jesus and His life from beginning to end and will continue to be studied even after The Cause Ministry leaves after its four-month stay at OV.

The third element is a monthly event called “The Bridge” which is “A connecting place youth can use to cross over and find a deeper meaning to life by seeking, asking and knocking on doors through life’s journey”. (Matt. 7:7,8) This is a monthly Friday night event that youth can feel especially comfortable inviting friends to. It is an event that has youth/young-adult guest speakers and musicians from all over the country that share their talents with the youth. The message behind “The Bridge” is that there are many moments in our lives that God may call us to “bridge” over from our crazy lives onto the straight and narrow and into His will and Salvation. It is here that youth can see God in possibly new and exciting ways and truly find
a deeper meaning to life.

With one month left before the departure of The Cause Ministry from Orangevale, The Cause is planning an alternative Halloween event at a local public high school auditorium that will bring the whole Cause Ministry team to town. This event will be a powerful weekend of spiritual renewal, evangelism, and an overall deeper connection with Christ. The desire is to build up this event while putting many of the youth in leadership roles to accomplish the tasks as well as to utilize one of the local youth praise bands called “All In” to open that evening for The Cause Band.

Lance Mishleau and The Cause will start to let go during the final month at OV and let the youth take complete ownership of what their Youth Group has become by allowing God to transform them. The prayer of The Cause is that they will continue what has been started and keep in mind the motto of being “Youth that will Lead the Church”.

The Cause Ministry is now looking to go forward in making this a full time ministry and building on what the Lord has been doing in their lives for the last eight summers. They will only do this by YOUR help. Please take the time to pray for this ministry and pray how God may want you to help The Cause financially so that they may continue the work God has called
them to do in these final days.

-From The Cause Newsletter
November 2009

Upcoming Cause events!

Upcoming Cause events!

It's only been a couple months since The Cause has played music, but I am already getting "ancy." This summer was an amazing experience traveling to Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Tennessee, and Massachusetts, to name a few of the places we played music. It has always been a powerful experience spreading God's love through music, and I have begun to miss this while in college here at Union College. College life is a wonderful time, but it still doesn't compare with life on the road.
This will all be changing very soon, though. The Cause will be playing more music in the very near future and I can't wait! Starting next month The Cause will be playing for a weekend here in Nebraska, then soon after playing at a church in California, and after that in North Carolina. We will make sure to keep everyone updated on these upcoming events and we hope to see some of you at them.
Thanks,
brennan

Summer Tour Blog

Summer Tour Blog

Not even that long ago we began our tour and now we're on our way back to Nebraska.

It has been an absolutely amazing time playing music in the many different states these last few weeks. We've been able to meet so many new people during this tour as well as seeing a lot of familiar faces.

We'd definitely like to thank the many different people who have helped us out during this tour; all of the people who gave us places to sleep, places to play music, and all of you who helped us out by buying our CD's, shirts, and posters. We couldn't have done it without all of you.

Over the last four and a half weeks we have had the opportunity to play music in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. It has been an absolutely amazing experience playing music in the many different venues in these states.

One amazing experience in particular was while staying in southern Illinois. We had about three days off, but wanted to see if we could get something set up during our time off. We started calling different churches in the area to see if we could find a youth group to play at, not sure if anything would really happen. After calling about fifty different churches we found one youth pastor who was interested in having us play that evening.

We didn't expect very many people on such short notice, maybe 25 total, but were happy just to find somewhere to play. There actually ended being about 75 people. We had an amazing time doing a concert for the youth group. It can be amazing seeing God work.

Really Excited for Club 3 Degrees in Minneapolis!

Really Excited for Club 3 Degrees in Minneapolis!Greetings Friends!

Time has come for another tour and if you haven't been paying attention May is coming together quite enjoyably for us :)

We have another awesome opportunity to play with a band that we really appreciate: DecembeRadio. They have the hit song right now "Drifter" and if you haven't listened to them before, i'm sure you would love to. We are also playing with Sevenglory, a band I haven't know as much about but am also truly falling for. When we play together May 15, they both will have just been getting done touring with the Newsboys. Pretty awesome stuff...

So if you are anywhere in the area, please come for an enjoyable night of music for the glory of God!

If you do end up coming, you can buy tickets from us, so contact us through myspace here or send us an email at: TheCauseMinistr..y@aol.com

Thanks, and we will see you soon ;)

The Cause Ministry Newsletter February 2009

The Cause Ministry Newsletter February 2009

Dear Friend,

As The Cause Ministry is in its seventh year of ministering to youth and young adults (as well as older adults), I see how God has worked in the past and know without a doubt that God is wanting to continue the work He has started with us. Many times I have thought, “perhaps it is time for a ‘normal’ life,” but then God opens up another door to go and minister in yet a bigger way to the Youth and for the Youth of this generation. Our God is a God who says, “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things” (Matthew 25: 21). And that seems to be just what He is saying to The Cause Ministry today.

Throughout these past years The Cause has ministered through scripture, music, preaching, personal evangelism, public evangelism, and through reaching out and just being a friend to those that need it. All this is done with a love and passion that only God can give us. God has allowed us to see people receive Bibles for the first time, sing from their hearts to there creator and people become more devoted to a life that God is calling them to. Why does He allow us to go out and accomplish these things? Is it because we are perfect? No! But, it is because we are willing to be used by God. He is looking for a people that will stand up and dedicate themselves to a deeper walk with Him. A people that is not ashamed to make decisions for Him; a people who will sacrifice, if necessary, worldly comfort for the sake of the only Cause truly worth living and worth dieing for, the Cause of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Today, I write this letter to inform you with more of who we are, where we have come from, and where we are going in the future. Only God knows the distant future, but for today, I know of some of the steps He is calling us to make. At the end of last year, I was contacted by Elder Nyamari from Kenya, Africa. He told me how he had read about us in Insight Magazine when The Cause was the Cover Story in the summer of 2007. He and his church are impressed that we (Lance Mishleau & Randy Paulsen) are to come and lead out in an evangelistic series in his home area for an evangelistic outreach that will reach 1000 – 3000 souls in his home country. The dates will be from March 28 – April 14. With being blessed by God with a new evangelism radio program on one of their local stations, we will be able to reach even more with the powerful message of God’s Grace and Love and His purpose for the end-time church. The potential is great, but in order to meet that potential, we need your help.

The people of the church in Nyanza Province of Kenya, Africa are able to help with some food and lodging cost while we are there but will not be able to supply more than that. The costs that we are looking to cover add up to only $6990. I say “only” because that is not a lot of money to reach the 1000 – 3000 souls that we are looking to share God with! The cost to reach that many here in the states can reach 3 times that amount if not more. Please search deep to give $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, $1000 or more. With a fast approaching due date, we urgently ask for whatever you can do to help.

We know that God is calling us for this work and that there are God’s people praying for The Cause Ministry from many parts all around the world with a hope that this ministry will succeed in doing its part in following after the Great Commission (Matthew 28). We ask that you pray about this and if the Lord speaks to you and moves you to help out in any way do not be afraid to answer His call! In the past we have learned that God keeps His promise of blessing when you trust in Him and go out on faith to do the things He wills you to (Jeremiah 17:7, 8). We appreciate any and all that you can do concerning our financial needs, and also ask for your prayers for the Lord’s guidance as we continue seeking to do His will. Please make checks payable to: The Cause (memo: Africa) and send to the address above.

We thank you for your help and prayers and may God richly bless you in all that you do!

In His Service,

Lance Mishleau
Director
The Cause Ministry
P.O. Box 125
Kaukauna, WI 54130

Please make checks payable to: The Cause

or ....

You can donate online with your Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, and Discover Card through our PayPal account by clicking on the donate button in the “About Me” section of: www.Myspace.com/CauseMinistrie

Ignite Your Soul

Ignite Your Soul

So a here's a little update for all of you out there. Sorry it's a little late but we hope you all enjoy. Two weekends ago found us, yet again, riding in Tiny Jim. (We all miss Roxanne the van greatly and wish we could have her back). The ride wasn't too stressful though because of the fact that our destination was only about an hour north of our home here in Lincoln. Friday night found us outside a small town called Fremont, NE at a Christian youth retreat called the Ignite Retreat. We quickly set up our sound system, and that night did a praise set, which was a great time because of the wonderful energy everyone had. Afterward we played a concert for them as well. Saturday we got to judge a talent competition they had at the retreat. A bunch of the attendees sang, played instrumentals, gave speeches, or demonstrated other talents for us to judge. The winners were then given a performance that night in front of everyone. There were some very talented kids there and it was a great time listening to all of their performances. Hopefully we weren't too hard on them. :) That night we played an energetic praise set, and did some originals for them. The speaker for the weekend gave a sermon, then we played some more songs afterward, and, we got an encore! Now if that isn't exciting. Afterward we got to hang out with the kids a bunch and had a great time talking to them and getting to know them more. Sunday we all piled back into Tiny Jim and he did a good job of carrying us back home to Lincoln. We were all pumped after such an amazing weekend jumping around on stage, hearing kids perform great songs, making new friends, and playing encores! I think even Tiny Jim enjoyed the weekend with our destination being closer than usual for him. Thank you everyone for your great support and we hope to see you guys in the near future, :) . Thank you for all of your prayers, and have a great day.

-brennan