Don't get me wrong, I believe there is a place for college and seminary to train church workers. But, when I felt called to ministry, my pastor knew of only one way to serve God full time: go to four years of college and four years of seminary. And so I did!

After eight years of school, and a lot of money, I became an ordained pastor. I'm glad I made it and God has worked it out. But, in my case, I learned a lot of academic stuff. That's okay for some people, but my heart was to get the training I needed to reach out to my generation and bring people to Jesus. Ironically, with all that training, I graduated with practically no experience to do exactly that! I don't mean to be critical, it just didn't fit my passion. I had to learn how to reach 

people for Jesus after I was ordained and had a church!

I wish I had known about SEND. I've watched many young adults spend ten months in the SEND experience. They get, in less than a year, what I was looking for: good sound teaching from fifty experts, hands-on practical experience in all kinds of ministry, an out of the country mission trip. They have a lot of fun, and they leave the training with no debt.

I see churches everywhere that want to reach young adults, but don't know how. This is a trend: churches are realizing the best way to reach young adults is through trained young adults. SEND young adults are the perfect answer. Why do SEND? Churches need you! You'll have a job. You'll make a difference. And you'll get to your calling faster and cheaper. If your calling is to go to seminary, by all means, go. But if it is to serve God wherever life takes you, as a missionary, at home or abroad, in a church or specialized ministry, or in the marketplace, you can get there from here with SEND.