Keynote speaker Michael Youssef
leads San Antonio area pastors in
a prayer of commitment.
KLSR AM 630 The Word hosts Michael Youssef at luncheon
Honoring pastors, empowering them with a fresh dose of courage
BY JENNIE ROSIO
B E A CON E D I TO R
Recently at the TriPoint building on
St. Mary’s, coming from the Grantham
Ballroom, you could have heard the
claps, whoops and hearty cheers of
“Amen!” – at times, almost above the
sound of the treadmills at the YMCA
down the hall and around the corner.
Was it an Aggies-Longhorn game? It
sounded like it, but it was more than
that. It was the sound of hundreds of
battle-worn San Antonio pastors being
encouraged.
Ron Walters, Senior Vice President
of Ministry Relations of the Salem
Media Group, welcomed the group
with their reason for the event. “It can’t
happen in San Antonio without you
and your team,” he said. “I hope you
feel spoiled to death.”
KSLR’s Director of Marketing and
Promotions, Jan Johnson, said this
event has been going strong for almost
two decades. “It’s not just a sales event
to sell them on the radio station; it’s
for them to know we’re here to support
them. This year, we had 119 churches
represented and 89 of those were brand
new and had never come to a pastor
appreciation event before,” she said.
Dr. Michael Youssef, the 70-year-old
founder of Leading the Way Ministries,
did not disappoint with his dynamic
message of hope. For
all of his experience
and education (with
a Ph.D. from Emory
University and
degrees from Fuller
Seminary and Moore
Theological College),
he was self-effacing
from the starting
gate. “I’m a one-trick
It was the
sound of
hundreds of
battle-worn
San Antonio
pastors being
encouraged.
Charlie. I don’t know how to do pop
psychology. I don’t know how to do
motivation. The only thing I know is to
open the scripture,” he said.
Yet, motivate he did. A few battle
stories from his own experience set the
stage as he empathized with pastors
ministering in current culture.
“Several years ago, I was invited to
give the invocation at a big gathering
in Washington, D.C.,” he started to
explain. The invitation was given by a
politically and economically conservative
group; still, he asked the president
of this organization three times: “Are
you sure you want me to pray?” Each
time, he got green lights.
At the end of his message, Michael
prayed in his usual way. “I pray in the
strong and mighty name of Jesus, the
name above all names. And at the name
of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every
tongue confess, Jesus Christ is Lord.”
Tables were decorated beautifully with special care to
honor the pastors.
March / April 2019 www.saBeacon.com 13
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