This is one of those days that felt simultaneously like it was out of place with the rest of the month, and like it fit perfectly with everything else we were doing.
I love children’s and youth ministry. I’ve worked in youth ministry for over six years – pretty much ever since I graduated from high school. Volunteering in the youth group I grew up in and investing into the lives of the students there was something that I looked forward to every week, and it’s one of the things that I already miss doing back home. All throughout college, I worked part time at an elementary school. One year I also worked in the after-school program at a middle school, and one year I interned at a local non-profit that went into public schools to raise awareness about food insecurity, and gave the kids there practical ways to combat it in their communities.
I’ve spent a lot of time in schools, even after high school graduation. I know the struggles that kids face there, and I know how hard it can be to find where you belong and how you fit in. I also know that saying anything about your faith in that environment can be detrimental to all of that, and to your image as a whole. Christianity is a taboo topic – no one wants to be labeled as the weird church kid, because everyone wants to fit in somewhere.
A group of forty Americans and a handful of translators went into a public school last month and broke all of those walls down.
It started a few days before the actual event. Pastor Douglas felt a calling to go into the schools in the neighborhood that the Refuge was located in, so he took a couple other directors from the Refuge and three of my squadmates with him to begin that process. They chose a high school close by as a starting point, but when they asked the front desk attendant to speak with the principal, they were denied three times. They decided to wait in the lobby, though, and while they were there they talked with, and even prayed over, the other people waiting there. Eventually, they were given permission to pitch their idea.
The first meeting went better than they expected, and it ended with the principal asking for prayers over herself, and with her inviting our entire squad to come speak in the classrooms the next week. We were even given permission to pray over the kids we spoke to! It was an invitation that we could not pass up, and when the meeting was explained to the rest of us later that day, we were all beyond excited to participate.
We were asked to split into five groups based on what we would like to share with them: The World Race (who we are, why we are here), power of words, identity, prevention (drugs, alcohol, sex), and creating a plan to accomplish goals. Given the subject matter and the location, we weren’t exactly sure at first how free we were to turn these into mini-sermons or Bible lessons. However, it was made clear to us that we were given free reign with these discussions, and we were, against all odds, allowed to share directly from the Bible as much as we wanted.
We spent an entire ministry day preparing and perfecting exactly what we wanted to share. Each team of six people had a full two hours to fill, so we wanted to make it count. The next day, we walked down the street to the school and broke into eight teams in eight different classrooms to share the Gospel with students in a completely new environment. I want to share with you how it went with my team:
The World Race: I started off with ice breakers to get the students comfortable with us. We were speaking in a tenth-grade classroom, and I wasn’t sure how receptive they would be to what we had to share. I asked what some of the coolest places they had traveled to, and where their dream travel destinations would be. An overwhelming number of them said the US. I then shared with them my heart for the World Race – why I’m here and what I hope to gain from it. I shared my passion for missions, and for people all over the world to hear the Gospel and come into relationship with Christ.
Accomplishing Goals: We then moved into a tool that Adventures in Missions likes to use with all of us called There Here Path (THP). This is essentially a visualization of how we plan to get where we desire to be in life. Our ‘there’ is where we want to be, ‘here’ is where we are now, and ‘path’ is the steps we want to take to get there. We passed out paper to the students and encouraged them to choose a goal – whether that be a career path, improving a hobby, or something else – and to create that visualization. They were all pretty enthusiastic about it, which was really encouraging for us to see.
Power of Words: This was followed by the more serious side of what we came to present to them. As I mentioned before, and as I’m sure you all know, high school is a hard place to be yourself and find a place you fit in. This is made difficult by so much negativity being spoken by everyone, into everyone, and it leads many youth into depression and self-doubt. We had another activity prepared to help them grasp how damaging this culture can be. We passed out post-it notes and asked them to write negative words that had been spoken over them by friends and family, and stick them to a big piece of cardstock we had at the front of the room. We ended by saying that none of those things were true about them, and shredding the paper into the trash. We encouraged them to combat this negative culture with positive words, to hopefully make a permanent change at their school.
Identity: Along the same vein was the discussion on identity. We shared scripture with them about how we find out true identity in Christ, and how all other parts of ourselves fall under that umbrella. You could be a son, student, musician, athlete, etc., but those do not fully define you. So many people get their identity wrapped up in one aspect of themselves, and fall short of what Christ wants for their lives. Again, we asked them to write on post-it notes several ‘I am’ statements about who they thought they were. We asked them to look at that list, and said that it was incomplete without understanding that above all of that, we are children of God.
Prevention: We brought it home by talking about one of the biggest issues students face in high school – dealing with pressure with, and often addiction to, drugs, alcohol, and sex. Joseph absolutely was the highlight of my group, as he shared his personal testimony as a drug addict and an alcoholic. He told the class that all of that might seem harmless in the beginning, but more often than not it ends up controlling and destroying your life. He shared about his overdose five years ago, and how he nearly lost his life, but instead ended up finding God and coming to faith. He shared that there is so much more to life than all of that, and he held their attention better than anyone else had.
At the end, Pastor Douglas, who had been serving as a translator, shared the full Gospel message with them, and invited anyone that wanted to receive Christ to stand and pray along with him. At first, I didn’t realize what was happening. That hadn’t been part of the original plan, and I wasn’t sure if we were even allowed to go that far. It didn’t matter, though, as FIFTEEN STUDENTS stood up and prayed along to receive salvation that morning. It was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever experienced, and one of the most humbling. I had not expected that kind of response, and I was overwhelmed in that moment by God’s goodness and provision.
There have been many moments like this over the last month, where I unintentionally put God in a box and tell myself what He can and can’t do, or how He will or won’t work. This was one of those times that I had low expectations. I didn’t think the students would care about a group of Christian missionaries coming in and interrupting their school day. But they did. And I was blown away.
