Dennis Stauffer: Hands in Action

Dennis Stauffer, CBC-Colorado graduate and founder of Dennis Stauffer Ministries. (Click to enlarge)Charis Bible College graduate, Dennis Stauffer, is a man yielded to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. His ministry, Hands in Action, is making a difference in the lives of the impoverished in Vista Hermosa, a crime-stricken community within the city of San Benito, Guatemala. Once lost in his own darkness and the downward spiral of gang life, Dennis now shines brightly as he ministers the Gospel of Grace.

Dennis grew up the son of a hard working, heavy drinking, Pennsylvania steel mill worker. His father was a tough disciplinarian, and Dennis grew up afraid of him. Dennis was so fearful that he developed stomach issues. When he was nine-years-old, his dad sat him on his knee. While there, Dennis Dennis praying for a woman during one of his two CBC mission trips to Russia. (Click to enlarge)asked what his dad was drinking. After his father told him it was beer, Dennis asked if he could try it. His dad consented and Dennis drank the whole glass. "I loved the feeling it gave me, I was no longer afraid, and my stomach didn't hurt. That night, I made a vow to myself to stay that way—drunk," said Dennis.

For the next 11 years Dennis chased that feeling though the use of alcohol, drugs, sex, violence and crime. At 17, he very nearly succeeded in his attempted suicide—he died in the hospital emergency room and was gone for four minutes. By 19, he had been discharged from the United States Army and deported from Germany because of his addiction and drug dealing. After his return to the States, Dennis' uncontrollable and drunken behavior cost him his first marriage, Dennis teaching the children of Vista Hermosa. (Click to enlarge)child and home. Before Dennis was 20, he had landed the unenviable role of town drunk. Everyone who knew Dennis had given up on him—except One.

After being beaten, nearly to death, by rival gang members, Dennis ended up in his fourth detox program. As he suffered through withdrawal, Dennis decided he wanted something more from life. On November 9, 1984 he made a new vow, one of sobriety, and he has been sober every day since.

Dennis was born again in 1986 at a revival meeting in his hometown. Within three years he became involved with youth Dennis' ministry, Hands in Action, provides struggling single moms with basic necessities including groceries. (Click to enlarge)ministry at his church. Dennis said, "I really didn't fit in; I had long hair, never dressed up, and my pastor was 'old school'—from the 50's. He just looked at me as if I was nuts, but he knew my history and saw the work the Lord was doing in my life."

Dennis remembers being invited to the pastor's office, "I thought I was going to get a sermon on my style of dress and not fitting in, but Pastor just sat there looking confused. He told me he had been praying for a youth leader for a month, and every time he prayed, I came up in his spirit." Even though his pastor didn't understand it, he offered Dennis the position—a position he held for the next decade.

Because of the violence and corruption in the region, locals doubted Dennis' chances of survival, but the Lord promised to protect him, and he has thrived. (Click to enlarge)In 1999, Dennis moved to Colorado Springs. Shortly after finding a new church, he was asked to minister to the fifth and sixth grade students once a month. Recognition of his gift to teach children led the staff to invite Dennis to become their junior high leader. Several people suggested he go to Bible college to receive some formal training for the apparent call on his life. Dennis began to pray about his next step.

As he sought God, Dennis came across Andrew's Gospel Truth radio program. After listening, he responded to the offer to receive a free teaching in the mail. Included with his Hands in Action has been providing 600 plates of food and 32 bags of groceries per month for families in Vista Hermosa. (Click to enlarge)tape were promotional materials for CBC. Dennis sensed the Lord telling him he was to enroll at CBC. "The first day of school when Andrew got up speak, I had to ask who he was because other than the tape I had listened to, I had no idea about AWM or CBC, I just knew the Lord sent me, and that was good enough for me," said Dennis.

As he attended classes at CBC, Dennis was set free from legalistic bondage that had kept him captive since his rebirth. Initially, when he received salvation, God gave Dennis a supernatural revelation of grace from the books of Romans and Galatians, but due to legalism, he was told he could not preach or talk about grace for fear that the church would lose control of its members. For 18 years Dennis held his tongue. "When I came to Charis, I found out that what I was hearing from God when I was first saved was not crazy, even though nobody else was preaching the grace message," said Dennis. Andrew's teaching reinforced the message God had Hands in Action feeds the children in Vista Hermosa. (Click to enlarge)put in Dennis' heart, and allowed him to develop a deeper intimacy with Christ.

After three years of preparation at CBC, including two mission trips to Russia, the Lord opened a door for Dennis to train with a missionary organization. His first journey was to Guatemala—a place he was not fond of initially. After wrestling with being homesick, something Dennis had never been, God spoke these words to him, "Why are you homesick? You are home." Dennis was stunned. The Lord spoke very clearly to him two more times that He wanted Dennis to serve in Guatemala.

Dennis has various programs in place to teach the children. Here they work together in a garden they planted as part of their agriculture class.
(Click to enlarge)As it turned out, Dennis' missionary base had an opening on staff—for a caretaker. There was one more problem to which Dennis clung; he didn't have the $4000 necessary to stay any longer. Within two days however, the Lord supernaturally met that need as well. Dennis yielded and stayed in Guatemala.

Dennis quickly found himself immersed in ministry to the poor and victimized in Vista Hermosa and just as quickly, he developed a heart for the people. He soon began helping a group of single mothers living in a housing project. The group included 17 people, 13 of whom where children under age 11, and many of whom were starving as a result of local corruption. The Lord led Dennis to start feeding them and while his efforts helped the people and built a strong bond between them, it also led to problems as he stumbled deeper into the embezzlement issues in the region.Dennis is now married to Maria Luisa and has adopted five of her children. (Click to enlarge)

In a short amount of time the project Dennis was involved with was terminated, and the residents were faced with life on the harsh and violent streets of Vista Hermosa. The Lord then led Dennis to establish a new project to help and support these families. With the help of his interpreter, Maria, Dennis launched the new project at a community center in Vista Hermosa, which has become known as Hands in Action.

Hands in Action has grown into a community program that not only helps the struggling families, providing food and medical aid, but Dennis and his team also provide Biblical studies and English classes for the youth in hopes of leading them to the Lord.

To learn more about Dennis Stauffer Ministries and Hands in Action, watch the video below and visit his website.

Andrew Ministers in Washington DC

Andrew sharing the introduction to his series Thursday night. (Click to enlarge)In late March, Andrew held a well-attended Gospel Truth Seminar near the nation's capital in Washington, DC. Andrew taught a series of messages entitled, A New Covenant with a New Commandment. Holding nothing back as he began to share his message, Andrew declared, "Most Christians do not understand the New Covenant." He said that for many people, the only difference they recognize between the Old and New Covenants is the single blank page in the Bible that separates the two. According to Andrew, this lack of understanding leads to a schizophrenic impression of God and of His true nature, and ultimately leads to the wrong doctrine so evident in the church today.

On Friday night Andrew opened the meeting by re-reading Hebrews 8:13, a verse he had read several times throughout the previous sessions. Drawing on this verse he taught that believers Andrew speaking Friday night. (Click to enlarge)today are not supposed to relate to God the same way as people did under the Old Covenant. "In our religious system today people will basically embrace the things that Moses said, the things David said, the way they prayed, the way they begged God not to leave them, the way they pleaded for cleansing and things. It is totally different under the New Covenant, and yet the average person does not make a distinction."

As Andrew continued to minister the Good News and freedom of the New Covenant, people began to catch a glimpse of the revelation of how awesome God is, and hearts and lives were transformed and prepared to receive from the Lord. With crowd attendance averaging close to 1000 each session, prayer ministers were in high demand. "We were glad to have 30 partners ready to serve," said one prayer team leader.

Andrew praying over the crowd Saturday morning. (Click to enlarge)After one session, a family with three little girls approached the ministry team. Each of the three suffered with physical issues, most prominently scoliosis. Their lives were changed as they received prayer and Jesus healed each one of them. One of the girl's legs visibly grew out, and each girl's twisted spine straightened and came into alignment with the Word of God. At the following session the three girls returned to the minister who had prayed for them and excitedly shared how happy they were now that they did not need to wear their back braces anymore!

During another session, a woman made her way to the front for prayer and her frail appearance caught the attention of several of the prayer ministers. The woman said she came forward because felt like she was dying. She explained that she had been in a car accident five years ago and had been suffering with excruciating pain ever since due to spine and neck injuries. As the ministers prayed the woman fell to the floor under the power of the Holy Spirit. A few moments later, the woman stood to her feet completely healed and pain free.

Be sure to watch the video below as Andrew introduces the weekend's series, A New Covenant with a New Commandment.

CBC-Colorado Broke through the Wall in Berlin

This team of CBC-Colorado students had great success ministering to the people of Berlin. (Click to enlarge)A team of short-term missionaries from CBC-Colorado reaped a harvest on a recent trip to Germany. The 23 member team led by CBC Missions Coordinator, Michelle Patterson, joined forces with their hosts Jeff and Barb Serio in Berlin. The Serios are the founders of European Initiative, a ministry whose mission is to mobilize teams of Christians and leaders A powerful time of worship held near the Brandenburg Gate. (Click to enlarge)to partner with European churches and ministries to advance God’s Kingdom.

This is the third team from Colorado to minister on the streets of Berlin in the past 18 months. While the previous two teams spent much of their time planting the seed of God's Word and ministering to seemingly skeptical crowds, the most recent team was blessed to witness hearts and lives in transformation. Not only did they see the fruit of their own ministry, but also that of previous teams' efforts. This team saw 44 Berliners and Europeans receive Christ during their outreaches, and hundreds more were engaged in one-on-one conversations.Students ministered in a variety of settings. There were many opportunities for individual conversation and prayer.
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One CBC student, Karen Buhrke, saw breakthrough in her own life while ministering to the people of Berlin. She had grown up singing in church, but when she was in her late teens she had gotten up to perform a solo and made a mistake that traumatized her. Karen had choked in front of everyone. In those moments on the platform, she made a decision never to sing a solo again. For nine years she harbored the anxiety of singing on a serious level in front of people. Nearly a decade later, she found herself standing in front of the crowds on the streets of Berlin—microphone in hand. Sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading, Karen began to hear God speaking to her. "I heard the Lord tell me 'Get the microphone and sing Nothing But the Blood of Jesus.'" All that anxiety from years ago rose up and she was terrified. As hard as it was, Karen chose to listen to the encouragement of the Lord. She stepped forward, grabbed the microphone and sang her heart out.CBC student, Karen Buhrke, overcame nine years of anxiety in Berlin and she began to sing her heart out for the Lord. (Click to enlarge)

Karen's team leaders were astounded, and most of the team members were crying. Karen said, "I felt the blood of Jesus wash all over the city, and it was at that moment that I made a decision to no longer live my life by my circumstances, but live my life by the cross. "Another student, Ashley Tomlinson, said after her trip, "I will never be the same." She shared the Gospel with two 13-year-old girls and afterwards, had the privilege of leading them in the prayer of Salvation. While that experience is a priceless one, it was more of a shock to Ashley because the two girls had never heard the name, "Jesus."

CBC student, Ashley Tomlinson, enjoyed the team's skits and dancing with the Berliners. Here the locals joined in the team in dance. (Click to enlarge)Ashley said, "It broke my heart, and was a huge wake up call to realize that there really are people in this world that have never even heard our Savior's name. I mean I have heard that, but when you encounter it, it becomes more than hearsay. It becomes reality; it's in your face and you are left with a decision on what you're going to do with it." Ashley went on to say, "I'm no longer okay with just day-to-day living when there are people around me living without Life. It's ignited a fire in me for the lost that I didn't have before...May this fire that has started in my heart fan into flames and never, ever be quenched!

Be sure to check out the video below, produced by Jeff and his team at European Initiative.