Part 1 in this series looks at the founder of the Kerusso Ministries and its Internet and radio outreach programs. Part 2 addresses Kerusso Ministries' work in the area of public policy and other ministry outreach programs.

By Karen Battles
June 26, 2001

(AgapePress) - The combination of Michael Johnston’s passion for ministry, desire to report on and affect public policy and his calling to speak the truth about homosexuality is resulting in new divisions and outreach tools at Kerusso Ministries, where Johnston is founder and president.

As Kerusso Ministries moves forward in the new millennium, it has added a division which complements the vision of communicating a Christian worldview regarding public policy. In August 2000, Kerusso added the Americans For Truth (AFT) Project, an outgrowth of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) which was formed in 1996 by Pete LaBarbera. LaBarbera will continue as the part-time Director of the AFT Project with a continued focus on public policy, including education and cultural issues.

LaBarbera will divide his time between the AFT Project and the Culture and Family Institute where he is the senior policy analyst. He states, "The merger of my work with Kerusso ministries will allow us to continue the vision of AFTAH -- to expose and counter the homosexual movement in America while doing it with, perhaps, more of an explicitly Christian emphasis. Our strategy will be to go right to the source of an issue. Rather than just circulating information from other groups, we will go directly to the source and provide original, in-depth analysis while developing creative strategic responses."

LaBarbera says he joined Michael Johnston and Kerusso Ministries because he is burdened to tell the truth about homosexuality. He knows many are uncomfortable with what he does. Sometimes he is accused of telling too much of the truth about homosexuality, right down to the most unpleasant and unsettling detail. LaBarbera believes he has to get the truth out because there are too many people "whitewashing" the homosexual movement, including the media. He finds it frustrating that there is little to no debate on the issue and that most articles in the secular media promote the perspective of homosexual activists. In citing the immense resources promoting homosexuality in the culture, LaBarbera says, "Even if the culture goes south, God’s Word is always true and we have to be true to that Word. That’s the kind of person I want to be aligned with -- somebody like Michael who I can count on as standing on the Word of God."

Married with five children ages one to nine, LaBarbera is concerned about the world his children will grow up in. "If Americans, and especially Christians, only understood the impact the homosexual movement is having on our culture and institutions," he says. "I have three sons -- five, nine and one. There is an incredible youth focus in the homosexual male subculture and there is a viable and growing pedophile aspect of the movement. Part of my motivation is to protect my sons and other people’s sons from this movement which is recruiting kids into the lifestyle, whether by direct recruitment or just the celebration of something that was once taboo."

Michael Johnston believes incorporating the AFT Project into Kerusso Ministries will serve an important purpose.

"In my mind, it’s not necessarily advantageous nor necessarily edifying to just be reporting on the wickedness just for the sake of reporting on the wickedness," Johnston explains. "We need to educate people so they understand the importance of this issue in this time in history. But we also need to help them to respond within the context of a larger Christian worldview. So often we talk to people and we see the activists within our own ranks that are just at a point of despair because of the rapid advancement and affirmation of homosexuality in the current culture. If we are not careful, and if we do not present information in the larger context, we are going to have people giving up, throwing up their hands and thinking there is nothing they can do."

"I think [the AFT Project] will help not only Christians, but I think it will give us a stronger platform from which to educate the non-believing public on these issues -- to help them to understand why we talk about the homosexual issue and to communicate that it is simply a reflection of a much larger spiritual reality in our culture and the world today."

God has opened the doors for another exciting outreach for the ministry. Two years ago, Johnston began accepting invitations to speak in Puerto Rico. Since that time, he has made three trips and spoken to hundreds of thousands, including television interviews broadcast to more than 40 countries. A local pastor and his wife have agreed to head up a new Puerto Rico office which will be located just outside San Juan. Also, through a special link, they will provide a phone ministry to Spanish-speaking people in the U.S. Many of the Kerusso materials will eventually be translated into Spanish as well.

When asked how many staff support the enormous amount of work being accomplished by Kerusso Ministries, Michael Johnston smiles and says, "God has enabled us to do a great deal with very little." If you exclude the Puerto Rico office, which is not yet in operation, the ministry is staffed by seven people. Some are volunteers like Annetta Small, who runs the West Coast office. Her duties include phone and e-mail counseling and referrals, scheduling, and resource fulfillment. Johnston’s mother and father also volunteer their time to the ministry. Guyla Mills and Peter LaBarbera are paid staff, and completing the group is Susan Brooks, the bookkeeper.

Johnston is honest in admitting that financial constraints have limited growth of the staff. Consequently it cannot always take advantage of the many opportunities available to the ministry. One example he cites is the delayed start date for the Puerto Rico office. Johnston commented on the addition of Guyla Mills and Peter LaBarbera to Kerusso’s staff, "I really believe God has brought the three of us together. We not only make up for each other’s weaknesses but, from a strategic perspective, it is a very powerful combination. I think we are just beginning to see how God is going to use us. What we don’t have is the administrative support the three of us need. So right now we are in that phase of an organization where there is a lot we can accomplish but, in some respects, it’s being hampered. What we need is for God’s people who have been financially blessed to understand the eternal importance of this work and to come alongside us with their financial support."

Despite slower than desired growth and the opposition he and Kerusso Ministries face daily, Michael Johnston is not about to become discouraged. The infectious excitement for what God is doing in and through Kerusso Ministries is in Johnston’s voice. "The Lord has already accomplished so much through this ministry," he says. "He is continuing to open a lot of doors, and I am just paddling as hard as I can to keep up with Him to be quite frank with you."