30º above zero is what the temperature was when Duane arrived in the kitchen. Though it didn’t look much like the cooking and eating headquarters for the residential discipleship ministry at BYM, Duane knew it would eventually take shape. The exposed beam he had fashioned from some donated lumber had been covered with drywall and the fluorescent lights (given by a church in Cheyenne) had to be wired-in today. With a flick of a match, a propane space heater was lit and Duane would begin to do what he does best, work in the background.

Though not a preacher or a youth evangelist, Duane had a tremendous burden for the young people of America. The expression of his burden was not in running teen revivals or Vacation Bible Schools; it wasn’t in developing curriculum or counseling wayward teens; it wasn’t even found in juggling or making animal balloons; his fulfillment was found in upholding those who did! His calling was to silently serve in the “background”. Today BYM is flourishing because of the hundreds of folks that have chosen to be “backgrounders”. The expression of one’s dedication and burden is not always found on the front page or the center stage. What generally makes things work right and go smoothly are those multitudes who are quietly plodding along, faithful and consistent, silently serving—in the background.