2008 Woodie Awards
Chapel speaker encourages future missionaries
Benintindi uses comic books and puppetry to reach world's youth
Jessica Oliver
Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: News
Quest Ministries director Steve Benintindi visited Chapel Wednesday, Feb. 13 to challenge students to use their talents and abilities to reach the world through evangelism.
According to his statistics, only 36 percent of children between the ages of four and 14 will have the chance to hear the gospel and respond.
After age 14, that number drops to just five percent.
Benintindi encourages evangelism in the four to 14 window.
While Benintindi said that evangelism through preaching was not considered obsolete, he stressed that in today's society a more effective way to reach young people was through entertainment.
"There is a place for quality entertainment in world evangelism," said Benintindi.
To accommodate the 2.3 billion children around the world who need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, Benintindi developed a series of comic books entitled "PowerMark" which have been translated into more than 20 languages.
There are over 700,000 comics in circulation in countries around the world including the Philippines, Zimbabwe and Iceland.
The first program developed by Quest Ministries was a family-oriented puppetry and circus traveling act called Jungle Village.
Teams consisting of Quest Ministries missionaries and local church members took the ministry throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Today, Jungle Village, PowerMark and Kids Quest, which intends to connect students with local churches for discipleship, is used all over the world.
Steve and his wife Mindy have spent more than 23 years as missionaries with the Assemblies of God.
For 12 years they served in evangelism outreach in the Asia Pacific region, and for the past 15 years as coordinators for Children's ministry.
Steve was born a missionary kid in Taiwan. Because of his experience on the mission field as a kid, Benintindi knew he wanted to be a missionary.
"My whole life has been focused on the world, and reaching [the world] for Christ," said Benintindi.
In 2001, KidsQuest was adopted by the U.S. Assemblies of God as a national program. Currently, the Benintindis' reside in Nixa.
Books written by Benintindi can be purchased at LifeWay Bookstore or Mardell Bookstore in Springfield.
For more information on their ministry, contact Steve at steve@questministries.com or visit www.questministriesinternational.org.
According to his statistics, only 36 percent of children between the ages of four and 14 will have the chance to hear the gospel and respond.
After age 14, that number drops to just five percent.
Benintindi encourages evangelism in the four to 14 window.
While Benintindi said that evangelism through preaching was not considered obsolete, he stressed that in today's society a more effective way to reach young people was through entertainment.
"There is a place for quality entertainment in world evangelism," said Benintindi.
To accommodate the 2.3 billion children around the world who need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, Benintindi developed a series of comic books entitled "PowerMark" which have been translated into more than 20 languages.
There are over 700,000 comics in circulation in countries around the world including the Philippines, Zimbabwe and Iceland.
The first program developed by Quest Ministries was a family-oriented puppetry and circus traveling act called Jungle Village.
Teams consisting of Quest Ministries missionaries and local church members took the ministry throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Today, Jungle Village, PowerMark and Kids Quest, which intends to connect students with local churches for discipleship, is used all over the world.
Steve and his wife Mindy have spent more than 23 years as missionaries with the Assemblies of God.
For 12 years they served in evangelism outreach in the Asia Pacific region, and for the past 15 years as coordinators for Children's ministry.
Steve was born a missionary kid in Taiwan. Because of his experience on the mission field as a kid, Benintindi knew he wanted to be a missionary.
"My whole life has been focused on the world, and reaching [the world] for Christ," said Benintindi.
In 2001, KidsQuest was adopted by the U.S. Assemblies of God as a national program. Currently, the Benintindis' reside in Nixa.
Books written by Benintindi can be purchased at LifeWay Bookstore or Mardell Bookstore in Springfield.
For more information on their ministry, contact Steve at steve@questministries.com or visit www.questministriesinternational.org.
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