Wrapping Up

Can I brag on my Lord? Can I brag on your kids? Lucky for me, this is the Internet and I can do whatever I want. It was a privilege to be at camp with this great group of teenagers this week. Not only was I able to watch students learn and grow, but I was able to spend quality time with the Lord as well. I did not post on Wednesday, but I had planned to catch up. I wanted to tell you all that major break throughs were taking place. Students seemed just on the edge of opening up. They had begun to really wrestle with the questions we had been asking them all week. But just when I had begun to get excited about Wednesday, Thursday came. During the evening service, Brad left James to talk about Mary and Martha. He suggested to the students that there are 3 ways to respond to Jesus. One was as Judas, who spent time with Jesus, saw his miracles, heard his words and still had no idea who Jesus truly was. The next was as Martha, a godly woman living at the status quo. She wanted to serve Jesus and she completed the duties assigned to her by society. Still, Martha Martha, Mary had chosen what was better. Mary abandoned all sense of propriety, offered the alabaster jar that represented her wealth, future, and family responsibility, and sat at the feet of her Lord. Brad's invitation to the students challenged them to find out how they had been responding to Jesus. He encouraged students to do more than "pray a prayer ". Whether they wanted to talk to a sponsor about accepting Jesus or not, Brad asked them to move. Do something. As the band began to play, the students did just that. Many found their adult leaders to talk and pray with. Others found each other. Teenagers all over the room sat together to pray. Apologies were made, thank yous were said, and community could be seen everywhere. It was a very emotional time. Several of our own students came to their adults for prayer. The most beautiful thing I saw (maybe in my whole life) was the leadership shown by our older youth members. Our oldest boys approached the younger ones like brothers. They slapped them on the back and took them outside to pray. I could not have been more impressed or more proud. I later told these young men that I had watched them become men of God isntead of Christian boys. Aside from the respect I had for them as a sister in Christ, I was overjoyed that one of these boys was my very own Brostuff. Later that night, we had an event called the Concert of Prayer. All the chairs were moves from the worship center and the students were led through various postures of prayer. After the response time during worship, everyone was that much more prepared for intense prayer. We began by praying alone, then moved into our family groups. Last we moved into our church groups. The teenagers prayed for one another and talked about how much they had enjoyed meeting one another. They prayed for their leaders and we prayed for them. The whole experience was so powerful. I was so proud to see our teenagers stepping up to be the church of today, not tomorrow. If there was anything I would ask for as our students come home, it is support. Support from their families, support from our church, and support from the individuals who know them best. In fact, I'm begging for it. These young men and women need Christ-like role models. They need to be held accountable. They need to know the difference between a shallow emotional response and a genuine encounter with God. This means you. I would love to see our young people spark revival through our entire church and even further. Allow yourself to learn from teenagers as you teach them. Be there for them, we are all more similar than we know.