From Peter Axup
“Hello,” I said, as the man extended his hand to shake mine, “What brings you to KMI”? He replied, “My friend brought me. We meet together each week and read the Bible.”
This exchange captures the essence of the Key Men Invitational (KMI) conference.
In 1982, a dozen men agreed to each bring one man, a key man, to a four-day conference for mutual encouragement, with an emphasis on using the spiritual disciplines in their walk with God, and with an eye towards helping another man to do the same. Over 30 men gathered at Camp Chaparral, outside Wichita Falls, Texas in February 1983.
KMI is not the ministry; KMI is the fruit of the ministry, and it is a tool for ministry. Hundreds of men across the US south central region are walking with God, and they are each seeking to help one other man to do the same. These key men come to KMI for two reasons: first, to encourage and refresh themselves in our Lord among His saints of like heart; and second, to bring the guy they are helping, so he can hear the same things from other men.
Although KMI has averaged about 520 men over the last decade, attendance is not the statistic that interests me the most. I watch the first time attenders. This year we had over 200 first timers. That means, of course, that 200 men who came last year didn’t come back. But that’s okay, as Philip said, “Come and see,” and then Nathanael made his own decision about Jesus.
The 200 first timers mean that the fellows are still walking with God, and they are still reaching out with the powerful Gospel to the men that God brings across their paths. They are reaching out across the entire spectrum of men. The first timers included a dozen boys under 18, as well as a dozen men over 60! They included Texas cowboys, Oklahoma Cowboys, Arizona Navajos, and a Kiwi sheep rancher.
As part of equipping men to minister wherever God has called them, KMI uses our own men to minister at the conference. In a typical year, common businessmen, ranchers, and oil men make up half the main speakers, 75% of the workshop leaders, and over 90% of the small group leaders and work crew.
These are great days to walk with Jesus. We will never have as much freedom as we have today. We will never have as much money as we have today. And the needs are great and growing. Granted, hardness of heart is near a peak today, for we are in a land of unmatched prosperity. But these are great days to walk with Him, laboring in His field, in His building. KMI is evidence that God has a people for Himself, who have not bowed a knee to Baal, and they are doing the work He has given them to do.
Find out more about the Oklahoma City Navs and KMI