Personal Lessons Learned at Ambassador’s Academy

I was extremely blessed and grateful to be a part of this year’s Living Waters Ambassador’s Academy this past June 18-21 to get equipped to serve as a bold ambassador of Christ, gain a new passion for the lost, and enrich my walk with the Lord to a higher level. It was an intense, fast-paced 3.5 days of classroom instruction and on-the-street training evangelism. In preparing for the Living Water’s Ambassador’s Academy, I prayed that the Lord would show me areas in my walk that I were weak, and need improvement. Through much prayer and reflection, the Lord revealed things in my life I needed to change and concentrate more on.

More Compassion

A friend recently asked me what I learned from Ambassador’s Academy on a more personal level. The first thing I mentioned was that I wanted more compassion for people. His response was interesting: “I thought that was the greatest strength you had.”

I struggle having compassion for others, especially for those who’s lives are self-destructive. As I’ve said in the past, I battle daily the wisdom of the world trying to invade my mind like:

• Self-infliction gets no sympathy
• They did it to themselves
• You made you bed—now lie in it

It’s not that I am only critical of others, but equally critical of myself. Let’s be honest, most sins we commit, if not all of them, are self-inflicted. There are some of the “Freudian slips” that come out of our mouths that we cannot catch, but for the most part we do things knowing we are doing them. What if the Lord showed us the same lack of compassion as we do for others? The Bible would be a whole lot shorter.

The First Lecture

I knew that God was teaching me from the moment of the first lecture, when Emeal Zwayne (EZ) presented his talk: Compelled by Compassion, and how even though we are ambassadors for Christ, we can have the wrong attitude. I’ve been working on a blog article for over a month how Jesus was moved with compassion for those having no shepherd. The funny thing is that much of what EZ taught was already in my unpublished post.

Jesus ministered to many types of people. The sick, the possessed, and the unsaved. The unsaved unknowingly are ensnared by their sin and taken captive of the devil to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26). It is our duty to warn them, but in a way that is gentle, patient, and able to get the point across (2 Timothy 2:23-25). The lost sheep were weary, distressed, scattered and fleeced; sheep with no protection from a shepherd, and just wandering helpless through the desert. We need to viscerally and deeply love them, and let people see the compassion in our tears and voice as we try to engage them with the only thing that will help them—the gospel.

An Example of Compassion

At the start of the last day, we took a tour of the Living Waters facility to not only see the inner-workings of the ministry, but to get a glimpse of everyday life working in an oasis surrounded by darkness of California. As we came to the production studio where the Living Water Podcast is filmed and the Way of the Master television program is edited, Eddie Roman, the Production Manager, showed us a very special clip of the new season: Pacific Rim, where EZ is interviewing Ray’s old arch-nemesis—the Wizard (aka: Jack). In the clip, he shows thier last encounter on the streets of Christchurch New Zealand before Ray moved to the United States. Jack talked about their friendship, and even though they didn’t agree about eternal matters, he said that he would miss him. In EZ’s interview, he asked Jack what he was thinking on that day Ray left. He responded, “That was the worst day of my life. I really do miss him,” and talked about Ray’s gentleness, kindness, and humanity. I started to tear up looking at that three minute clip and thought to myself, I need to be so kind, gentle, patient, loving, merciful, and compassionate, that even my enemies would [miss me] (Proverbs 16:7).

Know Thy Word

Evangelism without the Word of God is powerless. It’s like walking into battle with a stick of butter. Many times we evangelists want to learn how to debate an atheist and twist him into a pretzel. But the truth is, that nothing we humans could ever say or do that will save a soul from hell. Only the hearing of the Word and the invasion of the Holy Spirit in their life will do that. But in order to preach the Word, I need to know what it says.

To truly embody a better Berean in understanding the Bible for evangelism, there are three crucial steps I must embrace. First, I must devour it relentlessly, not just give it a glance but plunge into its depths, savoring every truth like life-sustaining nourishment. Second, I need to commit it to memory with fierce determination; the Word must seep into my very being. It must become indispensable to my daily existence. Finally, I must be ready and willing to proclaim it boldly to others, for the rampant biblical illiteracy undermines our mission. I must speak with understanding and break it down so the heathen will glean from it. We are called to declare the unalterable truth, not mere opinions, because only God’s Word has the power to transform hearts.

Quality Time in Prayer

While we didn’t have much time to ourselves at the academy, we didn’t have much time for prayer or reading the Word either. From the moment we got out of bed each morning it was go-time! Places we needed to be, people we had to talk to, meetings, lectures, training, outreach positions, and that’s not when we are eating meals and fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters in Christ. So, I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t have much time with the Lord or in His Word at the academy.

I realize prayer is a top priority, but do I realize it enough to commit to it daily? I wondered what sets Living Waters apart from other ministries and contributes to its success. During our tour, we visited EZ’s office. As the President of Living Waters, he has a crucial role and relies on prayer to manage his responsibilities. He even had a prayer closet, about the size of a typical bedroom closet, but not a walk-in closet, built in his office. It was a personal space that felt too special to photograph. Simple yet elegant, I could almost feel God’s presence as I stepped inside. I have no doubt that all of them pray, and spend quality time with the Lord.

I want that; a place to go that’s personal, private, free of distractions where I can spend quality time with the Creator of all. But it’s not just a place, but a mindset. My brain flits from one thing to the next, never stopping, but ever running from one thing to the next. Oh, if only I could shut it down for a few minutes a day.

Stay tuned for more on the 2025 Ambassador’s Academy and the things we learned while we were there.