Chris Lewis Blog » DRM

Damascus Road Ministries Update…

Chris Lewis — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:08:57 +0000

After much prayer and discussion, I have come to the decision to suspend the operation of Damascus Road Ministries‘ camps and conferences. My decision is based largely in part to my role as Executive & Worship Pastor at Washington Avenue Church. The ministries of DRM require a great deal of time to plan and promote and I am impressed that the work God has called me to as a pastor must supersede the work we were doing through Damascus.

I am completely at peace with this decision, though I am saddened when I think of the people we will not see as regularly. God purposed this from the start. DRM has been an incredible experience and I rejoice when I think of all the people I will see in Heaven who met Jesus at one of DRM’s camps or events.

I do not have the words to express what your prayers and support mean to me and my family. I ask you to continue to remember us now as we constantly seek to live life totally surrendered to His call and His work.

Clearview D-Now Recap…

Chris Lewis — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:42:06 +0000

I’m back from the D-Now weekend with the guys from Clearview Baptist Church. The whole weekend was built around the topic of Worship. We had a great time and watched God work in the hearts of a group that is really beginning to open their hearts to experiencing worship – on a personal level first!! That is such a huge concept for us to get! We will never experience corporate worship for all it’s meant to be – and all God wants it to be – until we are able to worship Him privately. It’s like trying to go out and play in the big game without practicing any of the fundamentals. An experience with worship flows out of a life of worship – and that’s what God wants for each one of his children!

This is a great group from Clearview and this is the second year I have been with them. I wanted to include a quick video of some of the group singing a song on Saturday that we did all week back when we were in Romania in November.

Damascus Road Ministries January Update

Chris Lewis — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:55:15 +0000

As this new year gets underway for everyone, I want to share some goals for Damascus Road Ministries in 2008. I want each of you to know how much I appreciate every single prayer you offer up for this ministry and for me! There are days that I can tangibly feel them.

As some of you know, we have promoted several events in the past including Camp Damascus, the Damascus Winter Conference, Damascus Fall in Cheraw, and the Damascus Worship Rally. This past November we took our inaugural mission adventure to Romania and saw God do some amazing things. In total, 111 people gave their hearts to Jesus through the ministries of DRM in 2007! Only God can do that and HE and ONLY HE deserves all the praise! Of those decisions, just over 70% were made at Camp Damascus and during Mission Romania.

Chuck Bridges shared a quote with me from Bill Hybels recently. Hybels said, “Always bring your best self to your most important work” (paraphrase). This is a challenge to focus on what we do best and never let distractions interfere with the primary objective. My desire as a minister of the gospel and for Damascus Road Ministries is to see people come to know Christ! This is our most important work!

We have decided to focus our efforts on the part of the ministry that has yielded the greatest fruit in terms of people meeting Jesus. We have walked through each door as God has opened it and will continue to do so. We will constantly and consistently evaluate where we are as it relates to people meeting Jesus. To this point, God has touched more lives through Camp Damascus and our missions focus than anything else. Therefore, we will place all of our emphasis as a ministry on those two areas: Camp Damascus and missions.

I am excited about this change for a couple of reasons. First, I have watched people who are far from God be brought near to God in great ways through these ministries – and I believe he is just getting started! Second, this allows for greater focus in the areas where God is already doing the greatest work – and this means that we can give more of our best selves to our most important work.

Thank you for your prayers and support. I am continuing to preach and lead worship on an itinerant basis. In fact, I will be with Clearview Baptist Church for this weekend coming up for their D-Now. We are looking toward the future and are working on bringing someone on board to focus on promoting Camp Damascus and our mission projects to a broader audience. Please continue to pray for us and I will keep you posted on all the great things God is doing through DRM!