WELCOME TO IAM YOUTH ABLAZE
I AM Youth Ablaze, a ministry of International Accelerated Missions, is committed to mobilizing and discipling young adults of all nations to love Jesus and fulfill the Great Commission. Established in 1999, IAM Youth Ablaze is a tool God has used mightily to impact the lives of many missionaries, adults and hundreds of orphaned children!
IAM Youth Ablaze, a ministry of International Accelerated Missions, is committed to mobilizing and equipping this generation of youth to love Jesus and to fulfill the Great Commission. Established in 1999, we currently have two bases of operation one in Albany, NY and the other in Tororo, Uganda, Africa. IAM Youth Ablaze is a tool God has used mightily to impact the lives of many missionaries, along with hundreds of orphaned children, young people and adults.
We have served God in Mexico, India, Romania, Russia, Peru and Uganda, as well as urban cities within the US through short term mission outreaches. We go to these countries and partner with churches to bring the Gospel to others using creative arts like VBS programs, camp programs and evangelistic outreaches. A missionary experience begins with a weeklong (or weekend) Boot Camp Experience (BCE). This time of training is designed to make more effective missionaries as God works in their heart and mind to equip them for His service. At Boot Camp unity among team members begins, as well as some pretty cool friendships. This occurs as missionaries learn the practical aspects of the camp or VBS program and creative arts used in our evangelistic outreaches. For trips involving work projects, the team learns the skills required to accomplish those objectives.
IAM Youth Ablaze firmly believes this time of consecrating ourselves for the Lord brings valuable rewards on the Mission field. During this time missionaries have the awesome opportunity to develop intimacy with the Lord through quiet times, corporate worship, prayer and Godly teachings. One or two days of fasting and prayer is incorporated into the BCE as well.
Students discover their mission in life is not just this one trip, and it doesn’t end when they step off the plane. Each missionary will come to discover their Mission field is right at home and the same principles they learned and applied on their trip can be used at home, too.
The Mission field is an excellent place for all of us to mature and grow in our faith. Realizing that God does indeed use us to minister to others is life-changing! God will leave an indelible mark upon their heart and soul.
IAM Youth Ablaze, formerly named IAM International Teens, was established in the early 1990s on the back of a pickup truck in Africa. Dr. Bob Paeglow and Peter Whitehouse envisioned a Teen Mission outreach and in the summer of 1994 saw the reality of their vision with the first IAM IT trip to Mexico.
In the fall of 1999, IAM International Teens becomes IAM Youth Ablaze, with Frank Coons as the director and Melanie Stupke as Assistant Director. At this time, Dodie Wilbur joined the team full time. In 2000 Dodie Wilbur assumed the position of Director and the Youth Ablaze office moved from Grace Fellowship Church to the Albany Prayer & Healing Center.
In early 2001 two assesment trips to Romania and Mexico resulted in our first short term mission trips to those locations. Since then Youth Ablaze has led teams to Romania, Russia, Downtown Albany, NY, Peru, India and Africa (several times).
In 2006 while in India, God spoke a word of increase over Youth Ablaze and the Spring of 2007 would cause us to see how God was increasing His efforts to reach the Nations through Youth Ablaze.
While on an assessment trip to Uganda in the spring of 2007 there was a call to establish a Mission Base there to raise up the national young adults of Africa to love Jesus and fulfill the Great Commission. In 2008 Jesse and Rachelle Digges with their daughter Haddash moved to Tororo, Uganda to begin the work there.
While God was increasing the ministry into the Nation of Uganda He was here increasing ministry by establishing Refiner’s Fire Ministry, a joint effort between Our Savior’s Lutheran Middle School and IAM Youth Ablaze. The primary purpose of RFM is to mobilize and equip students to love Jesus, experience Him more deeply through prayer, worship and the Word so as to equip them to fulfill the Great Commission. Students will be trained in various ways to share the Gospel and then using those skills on different outreaches throughout the year. 2010-2011 was our third season in this ministry which culminated into a week long outreach in Gloversville, NY.
2009 was the beginning of Samuel’s Project, a leadership training track for young adults who have a call to love Jesus and fulfill the Great Commission in this generation throughout the Nations.
2011 to 2012 will see Youth Ablaze fulfilling its call to equip and mobilize this generation to love Jesus and fulfill the Great Commission through these current outreaches and two Short Term Mission Trips in the summer of 2012 to Uganda and Romania.
Will you consider knowing God more and stepping into the Nations with us?
During the summer of 2001 I had a chance to go to Mexico. This was definitely the highlight of my year. This trip not only opened my eyes to how blessed we are, but also increased my level of faith. Although I had grown up around people who believe God will hear you when you pray, and had been told that several times, I still had a hard time believing God would listen to me when I prayed. However, in Mexico I saw many people healed through the laying on of hands. I also saw the amount of faith the people we were praying for had. Since they had no money to pay a doctor, faith was just about the only way they could turn. Even times when someone was not healed, served to increase my faith. On one of those times, we spent a long time praying for healing for a woman. Although the woman was not healed physically, she left with something in her life she didn't have when she came to our outreach. She left with a life, with a burden taken from her shoulders and with joy. Praise God!
I really thank God for this wonderful training we have had with the team of Youth Ablaze from America and my brothers and sisters in Uganda. It was really the prepared time for our lives with God. We received directly from God. Since the training began up to the outreaches, I have seen very many things changing and happening in my life.
The Lord increased the thirst to love Him and others, the thirst for purity and anointing in my life. Then during the outreaches, God did very many wonderful things like He saved many souls, many got healed, many were set free from oppression and there was total deliverance to many. So I really thank God for that. May the glory and honor be to Him. I pray that God may continue using the Youth Ablaze team mightily and mightily and widen their vision for the whole world.
IAM YOUTH ABLAZE
96 WATERMAN AVE
ALBANY, NY 12205
Office - (518) 456.2030
If you would like to give to
Youth Ablaze, click here, or go to:
http://iamoutreach.org/Give.htm
