Remember the movie, What about Bob? 
In one scene Dr. Leo Marvin’s son Sigmund has a chat with Bob.
Sigmund: Bob?
Bob: Yeah?
Sigmund: Are you afraid of death?
Bob: Yeah.
Sigmund: Me too. There’s no way out of it. You’re going in to die. I’m going to die. It’s going to happen
So if we’re all going to die the real question is: “What are you willing to exchange your life for?” Life is a gift and we’re all spending it somewhere on something.
I want to introduce you to Pray Dream Go and my friend John Ward. He’s investing his life on people who want to change the world.
Are you one of them?
Listen in on my 5 question interview with John:
- What is PrayDreamGo?
pray dream go logo
PrayDreamGo is helping the next generation get wrapped up in God’s story of redemption. It is connecting people who have a passion to serve in a certain area, with a mentor who is doing it. It’s about building relationships that lead to conversations about becoming the kind of people that God will use to build His church and transform culture.
- Why did you start PrayDreamGo?
Mostly because people are afraid to talk to the missions guy, because they think I’ll have them on the next flight to Kathmandu. The task of making disciples of all nations was what Jesus set us out to do, so I believe it’s an all hands on deck reality. That means if you are a follower of Jesus you have a local and global responsibility to play a role.
I wanted to facilitate a broader conversation with the next generation about how we discover our role in God’s redemptive work in the world. It’s been really cool to challenge people on these levels and see them come alive as they do things for God that will matter for eternity.
- How does someone get connected to PrayDreamGo?
I’d love to talk with you if you are interested in knowing more and you can connect with me at PrayDreamGo. Yes, we have a facebook fan page and you can follow us on twitter. We want you to contribute to the conversation through the online community and we hope that you will find great value in going on this journey together.
- How did you get from there to here John?
I’m like a lot of people my age who grew up in the church and although I knew a lot of things about God none of it was real to me until I reached my senior year of high school. I had some friends who believed that our school was their mission field and I believe that God sent them there to radically reshape my life. I was 18 and I ended up going to church with those friends and making some major life changes as a result of hearing the Bible taught in ways that seemed to speak directly to my brokenness.
God had my heart then and I was ready to do whatever He wanted me to do to see others come into a relationship with Him. That desire led me to Cedarville University where I studied Broadcasting and had the opportunity to run cross country and track.
Again God got my attention this time by painfully removing what I loved more than Him. I rededicated my life to Him and got deeply involved in a youth ministry at a local church. That was when I really came alive and God taught me to love people. I graduated and moved back home to the Columbus, Ohio area for a job.
There I was able to get reconnected to my home church (Eastside Grace Brethren Church) and together with some close friends we started a ministry to young adults in the church. It proved to be a fruitful ministry in my life and there I met my wife Kate.
Kate came with the same love for God and people and we started to dream about a life together on mission. She had been on an internship with Grace Brethren International Missions(GBIM) to London, England just prior to us meeting and God had expanded her heart for missions. I didn’t even have a passport, but when I heard her talk about it I was blown away.
Through our ministry to young adults at the church we had the privilege of seeing Joey, a seeking skeptic, come to faith in Jesus. That got me stoked to see more people like Joey meet Jesus. By then we had a developing relationship with GBIM because of the freelance video work that Kate was doing and the relationship that was forming with the missionaries in London. Through these circumstances God lead us to London to reach out to students at the 
University College London and join the missionary team there.
Our time in London was like an incubator for all kinds of things that God has done in our lives, but the major thing was reorienting us around outward seeking mission. A number of circumstances led us back to Columbus with this massive passion for God’s world and a missionary imagination to go with it.
We started Draw, a video production company, as a business for missions and God allowed us to use our talents in the creative arts to make a living and give our services away to help some great works. We stayed connected to GBIM and partnered with them alot to help missionaries and to see more young people join in God’s work around the world.
When they approached us about coming on the home office staff to do mobilization full-time it didn’t click right away because we had really hit our stride with the business. Still we committed to pray about it and God confirmed it through some real deep consideration and reflect of the journey He had us on from the start. In that time we had our first son Micah Daniel and God did a massive work in us through becoming parents and we now have a second son, Camden John.
I’ve been serving as a missions mobilizer and coach with GBIM since the beginning of 2008 and it’s been a lot of fun to be a part of the journey that God his people on as they seek Him and move out on mission.
In the broadest sense I represent the 60 plus ministries and 150 staff we have serving in 35 countries across the globe to people who are praying and dreaming about being sent by their church to serve in cross-cultural ministry. I work with people who are in the initial steps of considering a short or long-term assignment.
Most of my time and energy is spent with youth and young adults who are seriously considering the missionary life. I love helping people who are sold-out for Jesus and willing to give their lives in sacrificial service for God’s mission to reach the nations.
STORY is a conference for the creative class in ministry on September 23-24, 2010 at Park Community Church in downtown Chicago. The purpose is to fuel the church’s artists, writers and producers in communicating the greatest story ever told. You’ll hear from some of the best creative practitioners in both ministry and the marketplace, from filmmakers and authors to actors and musicians. 
