Brad and Dave came and talked to our youth about the Kingdom of God: where is it and what does it look like? The simple answer is that it is in us as Christians and it takes the form and look of whatever we do to love others and share Christ with them, whether that be through service, through words, through prayer, or even through a simple smile or hug. Of course, we cannot share the Kingdom of God with others until we have entered into that ourselves, and that is only possible by engaging in an active relationship with Christ and experiencing His love and His kingdom in our own lives first. Then we can share with others because it will naturally overflow through us into their lives. Their talks were really great, and it was neat to see our youth participating more in the discussions than in years past! Yea for growth!
They arrived on Thursday...Valentine's Day...and that night we had dinner together with the student leaders for a time of fellowship and then of discussion about the theme for the weekend and their role in conference. This was a really great time, and everyone really had a good time. Then Friday and Saturday we had the conference meetings with the whole youth group in which both Brad and Dave shared with the youth group what the Lord had given them to bring here and teach on.
Brad teaching the first Friday night session using audience participation
More Friday night sessions
Me translating for Dave for the second Friday night sessionThe greatest activity of the whole weekend, however, took place on Saturday afternoon. After they finished the study portion of the evening, Brad and Dave proceeded to take the whole youth group on a walk through Cofradia. They would stop at different places and ask the youth: "So, what needs do you see here? What can you do to bring the Kingdom of God to this place, to these people and their needs?" This was a really powerful experience. We stopped at the junior high school, at the home of a needy woman in town, at the local bar, and in the town square.
The most impacting stop, though, seemed to be in front of the preschool/kindergarten. On one side of this property (which stands at the corner of two streets that cross), there is a TON of trash strewn on the road. Throwing trash on the ground is fairly common in Mexico, and if you ask people why they do it they'll tell you that it's just what everyone does. This is something that as Americans raised on the mantras "DON'T LITTER" and "SAVE OUR EARTH" we simply can't fathom being a norm of society. But here it is just that. So, when we stopped at this particular location and talked about what this littering communicates, lights started to go on in their heads concerning the theme for the weekend. Brad and Dave shared that littering is a lack of respect...respect for others and respect for God and His Creation. We talked about how His creation is important to Him and to simply treat it as a trash can communicates to Him...and to others...that it doesn't matter. This is the opposite of loving God and others.
It was really great to hear the youth picking up on these truths and beginning to brain storm and "get it", and I really believe that the message got through to them. They heard it, and they took it to heart. Only a couple of days later, Sandy and I were going somewhere in a truck when she threw a candy wrapper out of the truck window....out of pure, unconscious habbit. Over the last couple of years she has improved at not throwing trash on the ground at least when she is with me, but when it happens I call her attention to it and she realizes what has happened. But this time, as she threw the wrapper out the window, she gasped with a contorted look of horror on her face for what she had just done in light of the conversations from the weekend. This was a horror much more profound than ever before. All of a sudden, this time it was personal between her and her Lord. It was amazing, and yet shocking, to watch. God is certainly getting through!! Anyway, it was a really great weekend!
We're excited to have this youth group here in a month for their outreach to the youth. We spent some time planning the Amazing Race activity with the student leaders. It's definitely a stretch for all of us, but it is going to produce some great growth even in us as youth leaders as we step out in faith and believe that the Lord is make this whole thing come together just as He desires it to! Regardless of the activities, we will be taking the Kingdom of God to different towns and people throughout the week that the youth group is here, and it promises to be a really amazing experience for everyone!! Please keep this outreach in your prayers as we all plan and prepare for what God has in store!
No comments:
Post a Comment