|
|
|
-
2. U n i t e d S t a t e s :
RODEO COWBOY SPURS OTHER RIDERS TO SADDLE UP FOR MISSIONS...FORMER PROFESSIONAL RODEO cowboy Brent Baumann is rounding up riders who areready to saddle up as missionaries.
Western horsemen have the tough character and unique skills that can enable them to take the gospel to places in the world where many have never heard about Christ, says the man behind Cowboys With A Mission.
A new ministry of Youth With A Mission, CWAM has been founded to corral what Baumann says is a largely untapped source of rugged missionaries - the world of bull riding and steer roping.
From a working ranch in Montana, the one-time bull riding and calf roping youth champion is visiting rodeos and churches around the country to share the gospel among cowboys, and organizing special training courses to prepare volunteers for missionary service overseas.
"Cowboys are a breed apart. They are their own people, and many of them wouldn't step inside a regular church - you have to go to them, in their environment, at the rodeo," he said.
"While there are some strong cowboy ministries and cowboy churches in and around Texas, in much of the rest of the country the cowboys are really like an unreached people group."
Once they have made a commitment to Christ they are uniquely qualified to go and share their faith in some of the more challenging parts of the world. he believes. "They can go to parts of the world where the horse is a central part of the culture - South America, and Central Asia, for example. There is a cultural bridge.
"The typical cowboy also has qualities that suit him for the demands of frontier missions - he is rugged and used to hardship. He has a boldness to do what it takes, and doesn't give up easily. When things get tough, he knows that he just has to get tougher. 'Cowboy up,' we say."
Baumann speaks from personal experience; born and raised on working ranches in Montana, Alberta and Nebraska he grew up around horses and remembers being bucked "hundreds of times - we used to do it for fun. From the time I was old enough to walk, all I ever wanted was to be a world champion cowboy".
Winning a rodeo scholarship to college, he later rode professionally and worked as a cowboy for several years before his injuries - including a fractured neck, torn ligaments in knee and elbow, and severed thumb - forced him to hang up his spurs.
After several years working as a geologist he and his wife trained to go as missionaries with YWAM to the Ukraine. But then Baumann, now 35, felt God tell him to return to the cowboy scene to recruit others - cowgirls as well as cowboys - for the mission field.
His appeal is not limited just to rodeo cowboys, or only North Americans. "It's for anyone who identifies with the horse and the cowboy/Western lifestyle - trainers, ranchers. There is a great opportunity."(Photo available on request)
|
Return to: 
YWAM News Index 
ywam@xc.org