Andrew & Sarah de Kanter

Project Name: Better Story Ministries
Project # 168

Reenchanting Young Adults with the Gospel

After our firstborn son, Moses, went to college he encountered disenchanted students trying to live out cultural scripts that lacked the power to give their lives meaning and hope. After experiencing several traumatic events in college, Moses began to suffer with despair and hopelessness himself. Under the weight of spiritual attack and mental health problems, Moses eventually took his life. 

The idea for Better Story Ministries was birthed out of this heart-wrenching tragedy that has left a deep wound in our family. God has given my wife, Sarah de Kanter, and I (Andrew de Kanter) a burden for young adults Moses' age who deeply need to be reenchanted by the person and work of Jesus Christ as revealed in the gospel story. Our Hope is that God will use us to reenchant young adults with the gospel in the context of safe and loving relationships with college students at the University of Louisville. 

BY GOD's GRACE, WE HOPE TO DO THIS BY...

 

  • Uncovering the Deficiencies of the Cultural Scripts of Late Modernity

  • Addressing Despair, Delusion & Loneliness that these Scripts Produce

  • Providing a Safe Place to Disclose the Pain of Personal Stories

  • Promoting the Gospel of Jesus as a Better Story to Live By  

  • Equipping Christians to Live Missionally in Today’s Culture

 

We do all of this in reliance upon the Holy Spirit of God and in the context of loving relationships as I (Andrew) partner as a missionary with Missionary Gospel Fellowship and as a doctoral student studying Christian Apologetics at Southern Seminary.

 TO BE MORE SPECIFIC, WE HOPE TO...

  • Come alongside and support existing College Ministries at the University of Louisville.

  • Engage with students with the goal of providing a safe and loving place for them to share their personal stories (on campus, in churches and in our home*).

  • Affirm the deep longings and aspirations that these students have as God's image-bearers for truth, love, justice, goodness, beauty, meaning and a sense of identity. 

  • Lovingly identify secular scripts that these students might be attempting to live out of that are ultimately out of line with these deep longings and aspirations (e.g. expressive-individualism; naturalism; consumerism, etc...) 

  • Share the Gospel of Jesus with these students as a better story to live out of with gentleness and respect.

  • Equip Christian students at U of L to live missionally in today’s culture so that they can be affective witnesses of Jesus Christ on campus. 

 *We are even hoping to be able to convert part of the basement of our new home near U of L to become a safe and loving hangout spot for students to come, talk and learn about these matters of utmost importance.

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Contributions are solicited with the understanding that Missionary Gospel Fellowship (MGF) has complete discretion and control over the use of all donated funds. MGF will attempt to honor gifts preferenced to support particular workers, but the final decision on the use of all funds rests with the organization.