I’m in the van on the way home as I type this (thank you,
God, for the brilliant inventors who gave us laptops and word processing
programs!) and I’ve just had a tremendous two days with some pretty fantastic
young people. My husband and I helped
chaperone a Youth Group trip to the Dare 2 Share conference being held in
Minneapolis, Minnesota this weekend.
Some of the young people in our group astounded me! They
walked up to complete strangers in a Caribou Coffee and began asking questions
in hopes of opening up a dialogue about spiritual things! The youth leader, my friend Connie,
challenged two of the girls to speak to a guy who was standing at the back of
the store – near where we were seated – while he waited to use the
bathroom. So two of our young ladies
took the plunge and spoke briefly with him.
Then one of the young ladies took another friend and went to speak to
other customers and both the employees.
All told, there were four kids in our group involved in the impromptu,
low-key experience and they spoke to five or six different individuals.
Their passion was challenging! One young lady in particular was so much fun
to watch. She made a personal decision
to become a Jesus follower at this same conference last year and her growth in
just 12 months is exciting! She’s fired
up and ready to reach her friends with the Gospel. She is actively seeking ways to grow and
learn how to be more effective when sharing her faith. She and three other young ladies asked Youth
Leader Connie if she would consider attending a training institute in Colorado
this summer. This is an opportunity we
learned about over the two day conference and when the teens were told to make
eye contact with their youth leader if they were interested in attending the
conference, four young ladies nearly gave themselves whiplash turning around to
catch Connie’s eye. Now before those
skeptics out there respond with, “Sure.
Colorado is gorgeous – who wouldn’t want to spend a week there!” let me clarify. This would not be a sight-seeing trip. The event is meant to be a week of training
for teens who REALLY want to learn how to effectively share their faith with
those around them. Bonus – Colorado
Christian University is offering three college credits for the experience as
well!
They inspire me. The world would look at them and comment on
how young and inexperienced they are.
“Wiser” minds would suggest that they grow up a bit before doing
anything crazy like trying to win their friends for Christ. But these four ladies want this! I know, I know. I said I was typing this on the way home so
the emotional high of the weekend hasn’t worn off yet. But something in the way they talk about the
opportunity has me convinced that they are intent on going.
I want that kind of passion.
And their boldness! As I watched
the young ladies boldly approaching total strangers to start conversations
about things of a faith nature, I was struck by how much braver they are than I
am in such situations.
A year ago, the first time this youth group went to Dare 2
Share, there were five teens and two adults. This year, we had 11 youth and
three adults. Not bad growth in just a
year. A year ago, we did not really have
an established “youth ministry” in our church.
There was something in the works and both hubby and I were excited to
see plans come together (he is a former youth pastor, after all!) and the group
officially started meeting this past fall.
We started with about 6-8 regularly attending. Now it’s common to see 20 or so teenagers (not
counting adults) each Wednesday. And our
Wednesday “agenda” is fairly simple – we eat pizza, chat about our week then
have a lesson. Not much in the way of
flash or clever programming. But the
Spirit is moving nonetheless! These kids
are intense when discussing matters of faith and they aren’t afraid to ask
difficult question! They are very
definitely seeking to grow and increase their understanding and I’m thrilled to
be a part of the whole process. I can’t wait to see what’s coming next!
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