Ep. 86 / From Young Parliamentarian to Church Planter with Devon Rachae

He became Grenada’s youngest senator at 22, with a clear path toward national leadership, and then he walked away. In this episode we speak with, Bishop Devon Rachae, as he tells the real story behind that decision and why a call to church planting carried more weight than a seat in parliament. Bishop Rachae shares in depth reflections on Christian leadership, vocational calling, and what it costs to truly follow one's convictions and walk by faith.

We also widen the lens to the Caribbean church and the work of the Evangelical Alliance of the Caribbean, where Bishop Devon now serves as president. We talk about why evangelical churches have grown through culturally vibrant worship and bold evangelism, and why that same momentum can stall when discipleship is thin.

Then the conversation turns practical and sobering: hurricanes, economic shock, long-term depression after disaster, and the pressure placed on leaders and communities when homes and church buildings are lost. Bishop Devon tells us what compassionate disaster response can look like, including rapid relief efforts from Samaritan’s Purse, and why sustainable livelihood matters alongside spiritual care.

If you'd like to learn more from Devon Rachae you can follow him and Agape Ministries on Facebook and check out the World Evangelical Alliance website. And please don't forget to share this episode and join the conversation on YouTube! 

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Transcript

Why The Caribbean Matters

Brian Stiller 0:10

Welcome to Evangelical 360. I'm Brian Stiller. And today I want to take you somewhere that doesn't always get the attention it deserves: the Caribbean. It's a region of extraordinary color and complexity. Small island nations, each with their own history, their own wounds, and their own deep wells of faith. And out of that world comes today's guest, Devon Rachae, who is from Grenada. And has recently been elected as president of the Evangelical Alliance of the Caribbean. But what makes his story particularly compelling is the road that brought him there. He was once the youngest senator in Grenada's history, a man who understood power, politics, and public life from the inside. And then the Lord called him out of that world and into full-time ministry. That's a journey worth hearing about. From the Senate floor to the pastoral call, from political influence to kingdom influence. Today he serves as senior pastor of Agape Ministries and leads the Grenada Alliance of Evangelical Churches. Devon has lived in two very different worlds, and I suspect each one has shaped the other in ways that are still unfolding. And I'm really glad he's with us today. And I want to thank you for joining us. Would you consider sharing this episode with a friend? And if you haven't done so, just hit the subscribe button. You can also join the conversation on YouTube in the comments below. Now to my guest. Devon, thanks so much for joining us in Evangelical 360.

Devon Rachae 1:45

Yes. Pleasure being here with you, Brian.

Brian Stiller 1:47

Devon, you have a remarkable history as a young man from the Caribbean, from pastoring, politics, running organizations.

Devon Rachae 1:55

Yes.

Brian Stiller 1:57

Tell us a bit about yourself. How did all this start?

Devon Rachae 1:59

You

Childhood Poverty And Meeting Christ

Devon Rachae 2:00

know, um oftentimes when I reflect on my story, the short story of my life, um, I like to say it's not even uh my story. It is his story, the Lord's story, in the way God has just designed and mapped out uh my entire life. In fact, I was born to a teenage mother. My mother had me when she was only 14 years old and had to drop out of school to have me. At that time, um a young lady being pregnant was something that was really frowned upon by the society. She was heavily ostracized as a result of it. Pregnancy wasn't one that was offered choosing or spontaneous, it was forced upon her. Um we grew up in, I grew up in object poverty because my mom had to really fend for her fast to raise us. In fact, um two years after she had me, she had uh I had another brother and and so forth. So it was really tough growing up. Um to fast forward, um, my mom found faith in the Lord, and um she she was really passionate about our work with the Lord and a relationship with the Lord. And uh at age 12, I came to know the Lord through an outreach that was done by the church in my community and made a personal decision to serve the Lord, uh, received Jesus Christ and uh went on to volunteer in my church at around age 14, which was the age my mother had me. But at that time, um I volunteered as a uh teacher of Sunday school within the church teaching children uh the gospel of Jesus Christ. You know, coming from there, my involvement in ministry started. I became youth pastor for my church two years later, and then eventually became youth pastor for my entire denomination at age 19. By this time, uh, you know, the work of our youth groups started to get a lot of attention by many persons. And I remember uh vividly being invited to a meeting of different youth leaders in my district, my parish. And um, coming out of that, I uh became the president of the youth council for my parish. And that started because of the involvement of what I was doing at

Youth Ministry That Shaped A Leader

Devon Rachae 4:10

church. We did a lot of work as the parish youth council. Uh, there was a hurricane in Grenada in 2004, and we were very aggressive in responding to that in terms of relief, helping farmers um with a seed distribution program that we piloted to be able to plant some of the crops that that that they had lost and so forth. And um uh out of all of that, which got a lot of national attention in 2008, I became a senator um in our parliament. So you had to run for senate? Yes, I had to I had to run for election, but uh with within our system, the uh senators are appointed by the major parties that have won seats in the election. So at that time, one of the parties that I was involved with um uh uh they they won a number of seats and had the opportunity to appoint uh uh three senators. And I was one of the three persons who who appointed uh to the senate. I was 22 at the time and um became the youngest senator at that time to be um ever appointed in in a parliament. It was on horror for somebody so so young. And uh as I said, that's on the uh the island of Grenada. The island of Grenada. All of this started with just my engagement in church, and this is why I say this is the Lord's story, really. You know, I served in the Senate for some time, and while I was there, I already felt a strong call on God, of God on my life to um get into church planting. I felt that there was uh really need to especially reach out to souls in difficult community. And there's a community within my country that is called River Road, and I felt a strong call of God to do ministry there. I remember um my bishop at the time from my country, he really encouraged me to go on and do ministry. And then as a

Becoming Grenada’s Youngest Senator

Devon Rachae 5:55

bishop for denomination uh for international, internationally, I went to do some ministry in Trinidad. The bishop was based in Trinidad. After doing ministry there, I sat with him and had a conversation. And he felt a strong, you know, um, call of God for me to do ministry and church plant when I returned. That was confirmed the following morning by my own bishop from Grenada.

Brian Stiller 6:15

They asked you to come back and and plant churches, but had you prepared for pastoral ministry at this point?

Devon Rachae 6:20

So I'd I'd done an associate degree in uh pastoral theology at the International Pentecostal Assembly Bible Institute in Grenada. And um, that was a two-year program. So that's all the preparation I had at that time. I went on and I planted a church in the community of Riverwood. In fact, um I was heavily discouraged by a lot of pastors because many persons have sought to plant churches there before. Um we we had several denominations that had planting in the community and left, including including the Catholic Church. And within our cultural context, it is said, you know, when the Catholic Church plants in an area and they don't survive, nobody will, right? Because at that time the the country was heavily Catholic. And um even the Catholic Church had left. We had other evangelical churches that had established and had left that community, and people were like, Are you crazy? You're gonna you're gonna leave the parliament, you know, at such a young age and you're gonna go plant a church. What are you doing? Um, for instance, my fellow parliamentarians also thought that that wasn't um the best thing to do. Uh, because, you know, people aspired to get into the parliament, and you're in the parliament at least 22. Uh, the leader of the party was speaking publicly about his succession planning, and the reason why I was brought in so early was because he was succession planning for his replacement. And so there was a strong sense that I was positioned to become a national leader within the country, but the higher

The Call Away From Politics

Devon Rachae 7:45

calling came, which was to win source of the Lord and to serve the king of the. How did that calling come to you then? You know, I really just felt a strong conviction in my spirit. Um, and it started with my time serving as youth pastor for my denomination. We would have prayer and fast every Saturday. And um, together with many of the young people, uh, we'll go to the beach side, you know, and many people just go there for recreation. But we actually went there to pray and fast. Um, it was all a way of getting young people to come, you know, not having to pray and fast in the church building, but actually going by the seaside and and praying and fast. And we will spend hours there in prayer. And we were praying one time, and you know, this strong conviction uh came upon me that we needed to do more, enriching souls for the Lord. And um, you know, that community just bothers the city in Grenada, the capital, St. George's. And um it is one of the communities that, you know, people will know it for a lot of vices and things that are undesirable. And so the the feeling was why not go somewhere that is difficult, where there's a dense population, but there's great need for the gospel. And, you know, that that I discussed it with our bishop, and he felt it was a good idea. Initially, the idea wasn't to plant the church, it was ready to reach out to young people. But then over time, we realized that there was a greater call. There's need for ministry within that community. And um uh the feeling was that, you know, no, no church really lasts in this in this community. And uh by God's grace, this December, we're gonna be celebrating our 15th anniversary there. And out of that church, we planted another church in another parish in St. David that is also uh uh known for being a difficult area to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. You know, and uh now I have that this vision to plant a church in every parish in our country, you know, and God expanded that over time, whereby I started doing a lot of work with church leaders within Grenada. Uh, eventually got into the uh the Alliance of Evangelical Churches in Grenada. I initially started as the second vice president there. And then I took a term off because I served, I think, three terms as second vice president. Um, didn't go up for election after that, and decided, you know what, I'm gonna allow somebody else to serve. But during the time when I was on the break, there was a proposed change to our constitution, a referendum uh that um provided a loophole for homosexual marriage and so forth. So, given my experience in politics, I was well placed to strategize because this was a referendum where people would have to vote, you know. So I was well placed to strategize for the church as to how we should

Planting A Church In River Road

Devon Rachae 10:35

respond to that. So, what was supposed to be a break became the period I was most active with the Alliance of Evangelical Churches and mobilized uh the church and organized a campaign against the bill, and we were able to get 76% of the population to vote against that bill. So it failed. Uh uh, thanks God for that. And um, following that, I got elected as the president of the Alliance of Evangelical Churches in Grenada. I served three terms as president. Then I didn't go back up for election, got elected as second vice chair of the Evangelical Alliance, um, association of the Caribbean. Yes, served a term there, and now um I just got elected last month as the chair of the Evangelical Association of the Caribbean.

Brian Stiller 11:23

So Grenada is part of the Caribbean community. Yes. How typical would Grenada be of the other islands?

Devon Rachae 11:33

Uh very, very uh similar to the culture. The culture within the Caribbean is is is very similar. Uh, we do have um two islands that have mixed race, like Guyana and Trinidad, do have uh are more uh multiracial in terms of you have in a split almost 50% between Indians and um uh uh blacks within those countries. Uh Surinama is very multiracial as well. Um but most of the countries within the region, the demographic is very similar. Um, largely young people, you know, at least 60% youth for most of our islands. And um, you know, uh the the the ways of life is very similar.

Brian Stiller 12:16

How would you describe the church, the evangelical church in the in the Caribbean, Grenada, and but but but but the other, the the entire Caribbean community?

Devon Rachae 12:25

Yeah, I think the evangelical church within the Caribbean has been uh growing and have been very vibrant. Um, in fact, I remember as a young man coming up that um it was cool to be evangelical.

Brian Stiller 12:36

Why so?

Devon Rachae 12:37

Because it is just vibrant, and the culture of the region is vibrant, or music is vibrant, or dance is vibrant, and uh the evangelical church seems to represent a lot more of what we are as a people than um non-evangelical, right? So um it it there seemed to be

Leading Evangelicals Through A Referendum

Devon Rachae 12:55

more freedom of expressing yourself in a cultural way, in worship, in the way you serve God within the evangelical circles. And uh I believe um this is one of the things that have aided the growth of the evangelical church uh over time within the region, because people can really relate to it. Um and uh I think uh over over the years, too, there have been a lot of very, very deliberate uh evangelism that has been done by the evangelical church, aggressive evangelism. I think when you think about what have happened over the years and the challenge that we face now is that we have come to a place where I believe there's a little bit of complacency have crept in over time, where you're not seeing that aggression in terms of evangelism and also shifting culture. So um when I was probably maybe uh a little bit younger, I'm still young, a little bit younger than now, um within the Caribbean community, part of our culture would be people sitting on the roadside and just having conversations. Um, there would be pipes where people would come to wash and collect water, and they would sit in those villages and just have conversations. The church was very opportunistic in that the church would show up at those locations and they'd have what you call open air. You sing worship songs and you preach the gospel. And this for a number of years was a big trust for um evangelism for evangelical churches. But with the emergence of technology, uh, where people have their own devices and access to the internet, that type of community has shifted. So you do not have the public people gathering in those public spaces as they used to. And therefore, uh the church will show up at those locations, except there is nobody present because people are not gathering. It took some time for many churches to adjust. Um, several churches now have realized, well, this form of evangelism isn't bearing the same type of fruit. But what do you replace this with? You know, and I think that that is a challenge for the church now, in this time when people are less communal, when people they don't gather in public spaces as they used to. How do you reach people? But I think this uh challenges us to return to probably the most effective form of evangelism, which is personal evangelism and um relational evangelism by causing people who are already in network with persons to reach them. And that evangelism doesn't just become a function of the collective, but a function of the individual,

Caribbean Church Culture And Growth

Devon Rachae 15:15

that every believer now sees the need to be an active evangelist. So you don't have to wait for your church to organize an evangelistic event. But evangelism is what we are, who we are, is what we do on a daily basis. You know, as we get into contact with people, we share the gospel with them. And um that has to be the trust. But the challenge for the region has already been in the area of discipleship. We we evangelize and a lot of people respond to the gospel. We'll come into the church, but it is keeping these people within the body of Christ, and not just for the sake of numbers, but seeing these people grow and realize their purpose in ministry, the calling that the Lord has placed upon their life. And this has been a real challenge for our region. And if there's any shortcoming of the evangelical churches in our region, it is this in the area of discipleship. We have not perfected the model of discipleship. And a lot has to do with the absence of uh resources for training, um, resources to use uh in discipleship, and also the human resource, in that um many of our pastors are bivocational. And as such, the time that it takes to disciple leaders who can disciple others to disciple is very limited.

Brian Stiller 16:25

What is discipleship?

Devon Rachae 16:28

When I look at discipleship, you know, the word of God uh speaks about follow me as I follow Christ. And simply put, for the most simple person to understand, in my mind, it is modeling what Christ modeled for us, the way he lived, the way he went about doing ministry, and somebody who has formed Christ and who have been able to follow after Christ, modeling that for somebody else who can then go to multiply, right? I often like to say a disciple is someone who is also making disciples because that is what Christ modeled for us. So one cannot profess to be a disciple if you are not yourself making disciple, right? So it's a process of multiplication. That is what I understand discipleship to be. It is taking someone from the moment of making a decision to serve the Lord. So I've decided to serve the Lord, right? Taking that person from that point to coming to a point where they can now lead others to the Lord that they have they have they have met.

Brian Stiller 17:23

How does one go about becoming a disciple?

Devon Rachae 17:27

I think it it really has to uh come through a process of um spending time in knowing the Lord. And that is done through through the word of God, really. And uh it is a process of modeling. When you look at Jesus Christ and his process of making disciples, he took the 12, called them

Rethinking Evangelism In A Tech Age

Devon Rachae 17:45

out, spent a lot of time um, you know, teaching, pouring into them, modeling for them. You know, when we look at at uh them they're going out and uh seeking to have people delivered from demonic possession and so forth. Before they went out, he modeled them. And then they went and they tried and it didn't work, and they came back and they reported. And then he says, no, but these come out but by praying and fasting. Yes? So to me, it is it is it is having that appreciation for the word of God, knowing the word of God, yes, but beyond just knowing it for the sake of knowledge, applying the word of God. It is the discipleship to me is is not is not just knowing for head knowledge, it is the application of uh being involved in ministry for the Lord.

Brian Stiller 18:32

The Caribbean experiences often devastating storms. Yes. Uh is there a social issue that's at stake as as you pastor a church? Are there issues that uh relate to people's economic and social well-being that that you have to minister to as a pastor?

Devon Rachae 18:54

Yes, always. Um, as we speak now, uh uh Jamaica in our region was just bombarded within the last several hours by uh a hurricane. Yes, category five. Winds of 195 miles per hour and over, um, just totally devastated Jamaica. And now, as an ograd, as an entity within the region, we are forced to uh respond. People's life has been upended, and this is what you face every year in our region. Last year it was my country, Hurricane Beryl uh devastated our country. And um, sometimes you know, you listen to reports of the impact of hurricanes and natural disasters, and you think about the immediate loss of lives, and you might hear um three people died,

Discipleship Defined As Multiplication

Devon Rachae 19:40

five people died, it might be, oh, thank God, not many more people died. But in reality, more people die after the storm than people who die during the storm. Just imagine there are people within the Caribbean who would work for 70 years and all of their life, their working life, they'll pay a mortgage and build property. They get to the age of 65 or 70, retire, and just within hours, the everything they have worked for dissipates. They may not die in the storm, except when they unlike when they were younger, they don't have the capacity now to go back and to work again and to have a mortgage again and to build again. And you what you have is a lot of people going into distress, depression. Some of those people are waiters, you know, older people who do not have the support system. Some of them don't have children, some of them do have children, but who doesn't give the type of support. And the expectation then is that the church must minister to these people. So whether it has to be dealing with them and providing counseling services so they do not get to a state of distress and depression, and in some cases chronic depression, um uh the type that would cause hybrid pressure, strokes, heart attack, and cost life, right? Um, ministering to tangible needs. Because when you lose your home, you have lost shelter, you have lost food, you don't have the capacity to earn. So now the church has to come in and try to provide some of those needs. You may not be able to get the same home like you had, but perhaps just some shelter so you can have some comfort and support in terms of food. And oftentimes it is not just in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, because this person has not just uh lost their earning capacity, they have lost everything. So even the little uh resources they would have gotten from pension that they would have used to know purchase food, have to probably go back to purchasing some of the items that they have they have lost. So somebody who may have gone through uh retirement and they are comfortable can just within hours become just on the poverty line, like object poverty. That is the kind of dilemma that we face within our region. Um and I'm not even I haven't even spoken about the church structures that is lost every year. And then it's lost, except in that moment,

Hurricanes And The Hidden Aftermath

Devon Rachae 21:55

um, you have members within the said church who have also lost their homes. How then do you go to the Members and say, okay, you have lost your home, but um give all the resources you have so we can rebuild the church building, and so that we can help people who are now in lack. It is a very difficult dilemma that the church is already faced with. Um, and oftentimes the pastors themselves are in the place of lack as well. And we are thankful for partnership, and this is where the evangelical community is strong. This is where the work of the WEA, the work of the uh regional alliances comes in. Because when it was created last period, you would have uh different countries that are able to come together, mobilize within the region to support. Now it is Jamaica, and already within the Evangelical Alliance of the Caribbean, we are having discussion as to how we can mobilize our community to support our brothers and sisters in Jamaica. And every country knows it can be our turn next year. It can be our turn the following year. So we show support. I've had people in Grenada who benefited from support last year reaching out already to saying, you know, I would love to be able to support because I know how meaningful that was for me last year when I needed it. And that is the power of community. That is the power of coming together, that's

Building Livelihoods Beyond Emergency Aid

Devon Rachae 23:05

the power of oneness.

Brian Stiller 23:06

Are there innovations in dealing with those social uh and economic issues?

Devon Rachae 23:14

Yeah, I think um the church has uh tried different things, and there are different entities that have tried different uh innovations, especially in uh developing sustainable livelihoods. Because there is a maxim that says it is better to teach a man to fish than to give a man a fish. If I give you a fish, I probably have to give you a fish every day. But if I teach you to fish, you are able now to hold your own fish and not just feed yourself and your household, but perhaps also feed your neighbor. So this has been the focus of the church. In the interim, while we're teaching the man to fish, to provide a fish so that he doesn't starve and go hungry. But at the same time, to provide skills and the enabling environment where persons are able to themselves fish. So sometimes within some churches, you may have cooperatives that are developed. In other cases, it is trading programs to um provide persons with skills and so forth. And these may be done in an isolated way, in that it may not be a big regional project, but there are countries that are having initiatives like these that are

Samaritan’s Purse And Rapid Response

Devon Rachae 24:10

helping persons in a real way.

Brian Stiller 24:11

Is Samaritan's Purse a part of the activity in your uh?

Devon Rachae 24:16

So I've been involved with Samaritan's Purse for the last 13 years, and um, they have done a tremendous job in doing this hypership within our region for um children through the Operation Christmas program and in disaster response. Samaritan's Purse, after Hurricane Beryl devastated one of our islands in Grenada last year, was in our country with relief supplies within 24 hours of the disaster. The plane, load of relief that left uh North Carolina, Charlotte, to come to Grenada was in, was airborne before the airport in Grenada was officially opened. They contacted us uh days before the hurricane to speak about what may be some of the immediate needs. And they were prepared. First on the ground, set up an emergency field hospital because the hospital was destroyed. I can already tell you that I have been in discussions uh several days ago with uh the DART team who is uh preparing for the response in Jamaica, and they already have mobilized for the DC8 uh to fly to Jamaica in response to the hurricane. Although the hurricane in Jamaica has just literally just passed over. There is still hurricane conditions that is happening there as we speak. But submariting space has already mobilized. And this is how aggressive they are in terms of responding to the needs, and all of that is done in the name of Jesus, which is a wonderful thing. You know, this is not just some somebody just responding to tangible needs, but even the greater need, which is spiritual need. And then in the time of disaster, in the time of hopelessness, there is a marvelous opportunity for sharing the gospel and pointing people to

When Evangelicals Partner With Catholics

Devon Rachae 25:55

the only hope, who is Jesus Christ.

Brian Stiller 25:57

Now, the Caribbean has a long tradition of Christian influence. Yes. Um what's the relationship of evangelicals to the Roman Catholic Church, for example?

Devon Rachae 26:08

So uh within our region, we we do have um uh at least collaboration in some cases, right? Uh we understand that our beliefs uh may be very different, but there are issues that we can collaborate on. For example, there are sometimes social pushes from outside of the region. Um, for example, in the area of abortion. Uh, two of our territories now have code cases that is challenging the abortion laws and the books. Um, within the region, uh we we have had a lot of cases challenging the buggery laws that is on our books. And what have happened over time is because uh sometimes in those uh social issues, you may share similar viewpoints, you can collaborate in those ways. But for the most part, the Catholic Church may be there in a separate organization to the evangelicals, you know, and may not share the view because, for example, we don't share the same views on gambling. We don't share the same views on participation in some of our carnival events. So those things we may not be on the same page on. But there are things where we might be on the

Hope For Revival Across The Region

Devon Rachae 27:10

same page, and those things we are able to collaborate on when you collaborate.

Brian Stiller 27:13

So here you are, a young man pastoring, involved in various political issues. What is your sense of the future? What are you, as you look to your own career and your own life, what are you hopeful about?

Devon Rachae 27:28

I'm very optimistic about the future.

Brian Stiller 27:30

But you're an optimistic person.

Devon Rachae 27:32

I am. And my optimism in this case is because I already believe the Lord is doing a marvelous work of revival in our region. And you can just sense.

Brian Stiller 27:41

And what does revival mean?

Devon Rachae 27:43

People coming to know the Lord. People turning to the Lord, repentance. That for me is revival. The ultimate revival is people coming to the Lord. And I think for the last several years, what we have seen creep into our region is a spirit of religion, where people um just believe because I know about Jesus and because I have a Bible at home and I can read my Bible at home, I'm fine. You know? But I think over time, because of economic challenges, because of all the challenges, people have come to realize that there must be something more. You know, we have had significant inflation within the region. And um the inflation has outpaced the increase in salary. So naturally, with less spending power, people are more economically depressed and distressed. And because of that, um, people realize that there must be some more to just this existence. Because what is happening here is not fun, it's not joyous, you know. And even those higher income owners are realizing that there's an emptiness, there's a lack. And that lack will only be satisfied through finding what what needs to be found, which is Jesus Christ, that relationship with the Lord. And um I believe that that hunger is what is going to create revival, you know, and we're already seeing it. We're seeing people um coming back to the church, we're seeing the younger generations coming back to the Lord. And um, that is the type of revival I'm speaking about. You know, I am already excited to see this, and um I am excited about being part of it, you know, just just given, give being given the opportunity to serve where I'm serving now as chair of the Evangelical Association of the Caribbean is testament to this. Because um, the Caribbean being a place where mass of the population is younger people, to think that somebody as young as I am can be afforded such an opportunity, you know, it's it's it's it's a blessing in itself. And I see myself as an instrument to be used by the Lord.

Why The World Evangelical Alliance Matters

Brian Stiller 29:35

You're here at this global body, the General Assembly of the World Evangelical Alliance. Uh, it's been around for 187 years. Um you think it has value?

Devon Rachae 29:49

Oh, yes, certainly. It's easy answer, certainly, and I would say why. When I look at what is happening within um Christianity and among us evangelicals, I see this as a great relay. A great relay. The Bible speaks about the Lord being the author and the finisher of our faith. And Paul in his writing makes a lot of um references to this walk with Christ being like a race. And when you think about the Olympics and you think about a great race, especially like a relay event, um every leg in the race is important. The advantage that the church has is that the starter of all relay is Jesus Christ. He's also on the finishing leg. But there are legs between this that we have to run. And some of these legs were run by the apostles that have gone before. And over these many years that the WEA has been in existence, there have been many persons who have come and have run legs in this race. And there's a passing of the baton. Every time we gather together like this, there are people who are picking up the baton and they're running. And our responsibility, like people like me, is to pick up the baton and to run our race well. It is not a different race, it's the same race with the same objective. Yes? And there's gonna come a time when we come to the end of the course where the finisher is gonna finish the race, who's Jesus Christ, and then we're gonna be perfected. Yes? And um, and all that. But it is seeing it in that, in that way that speaks about the importance of the WEA. Because what is the church if we can't work together? If we cannot uh unify under the banner of Jesus Christ, if we cannot put aside all denominational differences and whatever brands we may carry and unite under the banner of the cross. What is the church if we cannot come together and say, hey, let us try to make sure that this one commission that we've given, this single commission that we've given, that we fulfill this commission, the Great Commission. And what I've heard here over the last uh couple of days is just a passion for that, a drive for the fulfillment of a great commission. I haven't heard other agendas. I've heard a drive to just do what God has commissioned the church to do. And I believe I believe this is something that brings glory to God. And there's rejoicing in heaven because coming out of this, people like myself are motivated to go back into our region, right? And to influence our region, and in turn to influence our countries within our region and the local church. And what this creates is a massive global movement of persons who is on fire to see the Great Commission fulfilled.

Brian Stiller 32:19

So

What The Caribbean Gives The World

Brian Stiller 32:20

the Caribbean is a small part of the of the globe. Yes. The global body of evangelicals, 650 million around the world. What can it bring to your country, to your community, to your neighborhood?

Devon Rachae 32:37

I think when you think about uh calling and and missions, there's benefit to go both ways. Reminds me of the question of what good thing can come from Nazareth. There are things, places that are small, that has big ministry and big giftings. And I think the Caribbean is one of these places has a lot of people who are really passionate about the Lord. And we have gone through certain experiences that we certainly can can um cause others to glean from. That is what we can bring globally. I think um the WEA and um other global organizations that are working uh can already come alongside the Caribbean because they are people to be reached. Uh, for many years, the Caribbean has been a place of receiving missionaries. And I see the Caribbean as a possible field of sending uh missionaries. And um it is how do we come alongside the church and ensure that we're doing discipleship? And I'll keep mentioning discipleship because my heart is all about the fulfillment of the commission of Christ, which is to make disciples. If we're not doing that, then we're not doing anything because that is our mission. Yes? So, really, um, how can we come alongside and strengthen uh the region in its capacity to do discipleship and to take advantage of the opportunities that are created, even in cases when things happen, like disasters, you know, that we hope wouldn't happen. But uh that creates opening for sharing the gospel and to point people to the only hope, which is Jesus Christ. Yes? And uh so this is how we can partner together. I think one of the things is that our rich our region is one of the regions that affected in terms of resources for advancing the gospel, whether it's human resource, uh financial resource, the materials that we need. There are regions that have excess of resources. So, how can we come together with with the desire and the passion to reach, the opportunities to reach and bring uh together those things that are needed so that we can fulfill the great commission?

Brian Stiller 34:31

Devon, thanks for joining me on Evangelical360.

Devon Rachae 34:34

R eally a

Final Thanks And Next Steps

Devon Rachae 34:35

pleasure. Thank you so much. Pleasure.

Brian Stiller 34:38

Thanks for joining me today. And to my listeners, thank you for being a part of this podcast with us. Uh, please share this episode and join the conversation on YouTube. If you want to learn more about today's guests, just check the show notes for links and info. And if you haven't already received my free ebook and newsletter, just go to brianstiller.com. Thanks again. Until next time. Don't miss the next interview. Be sure to subscribe to Evangelical360 on YouTube.