BETTER STORY MINISTRIES

Reenchanting Young Adults with the Gospel

After our firstborn son, Moses, went to college he encountered disenchanted students trying to live out cultural scripts that lacked the power to give their lives meaning and hope. After experiencing several traumatic events in college, Moses began to suffer with despair and hopelessness himself. Under the weight of spiritual attack and mental health problems, Moses eventually took his life. 

The idea for Better Story Ministries was born out of this heart-wrenching tragedy that has left a deep wound in our family. God has given my wife, Sarah de Kanter, and I (Andrew de Kanter) a burden for young adults Moses' age who deeply need to encounter the person and work of Jesus Christ as revealed in the gospel story. Our Hope is that God will use us to reenchant young adults with the better story of the gospel in the context of safe and loving relationships with college students of all different nationalities and cultures at the University of Louisville. 

BY GOD's GRACE, WE HOPE TO DO THIS BY...

• Uncovering the Disenchanting Effects of Secular Scripts
• Providing a Safe Place to Share Personal Stories
• Promoting the Gospel as a Better Story to Live By  
• Equipping Christians to Live Missionally in Today’s Culture

We do all of this in reliance upon the Holy Spirit of God and in the context of loving relationships as I (Andrew) partner as a missionary with Missionary Gospel Fellowship and as I pursue further training in this area as a doctoral student studying Christian Apologetics at Southern Seminary.

TO BE MORE SPECIFIC, WE HOPE TO...

• Come alongside & support existing College Ministries at the University of Louisville & in Louisville churches. (e.g. Ignite, Oasis, Fellowship Community Church, etc…)

• Engage with students with the goal of providing a safe & loving place for them to share their personal stories & opinions (on campus, in churches & in our home).

• Affirm and encourage the deep longings & aspirations that these students have as God's image-bearers for truth, love, peace, justice, goodness, beauty, & meaning. 

• Help students identify the role late-modern secular scripts play in how they view themselves & their place in the world (e.g. expressive-individualism; naturalism; consumerism, etc...), in order to help them see how these scripts are ultimately out of line with their deepest longings & aspirations. 

• Address emotional & intellectual barriers that stand between students & the claims of Jesus. 

• Share the Gospel of Jesus as a better story to live by (more reasonable & more desirable). 

• Train and mobilize Christian students to build loving relationships with other students on campus and to effectively share the gospel story as true, good and beautiful. 

*We are even hoping to be able to convert part of the basement of our new home near U of L to become a safe and loving hangout spot for students to come, talk and learn about these matters of utmost importance.