The title of this blog is not actually a serious cry for help but more of a veiled Oh No what have I got myself into. Last Sunday night we had the first Youth Group meeting of the new Warrnambool Salvos Youth, what a night ! we had 22 in attendance. We played a number of games and then sat around ate some pizzas and discussed what we each wanted to achieve out of this group, and where/what we saw this group doing. We got great feedback from the kids and personally a very encouraging thing was that at the end of the night we asked them to give their details to Sue if they wanted to be followed up and informed about future events and all went and gave those details and expressed a desire to be a part of this group going forward.
As I say this was a great night, but I couldn't help thinking once or twice during the night how am I going to be able to bring the message of God to these kids. What am I a 38 year old bald fat man going to be able to do that will influence these children to seek the Kingdom of God. The great thing is as soon as I had those thoughts I also heard the voice of God saying "Just let me, you provide the environment I will take care of the rest". Not only did God reassure me of this but he also encouraged some of the youth to confirm this to me, I had one young girl of about 14 come up to me and say how great it was that Sue and myself took the time to care about her and how much fun we were to be around. Thank you God ! As always just when you need confirmation God sends it in the most unforeseen way.
The challenge is obviously now in front of us what can we do to keep kids entertained, to make them want to come back, to make them want to invite their friends, and most importantly to link them with the corps and to help them find God. Everything we do is about gaining Souls for the Kingdom of God, I don't know what environments these children come from, I have no control over that, but I can make sure that when we meet it is in an environment that is safe, friendly and filled with the Love of God.
May God richly bless you each in the environment that you work and minister, and may you allow God to use you to impact on someones life this Christmas.
If any of you have any ideas as to what I can do with this group I would be very interested to hear from you.
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2 comments:
Hey Darren,
Sound's like some good things are happening down your way!!
I just wanted to thank you for your constant encouragement on my blogs, it's really appreciated.
It was great to catch up with you at Connections the other week - even though it was very brief.
All the best for Christmas and the New Year - I'll keep dropping in to your blog to catch up to see how things are going in your ministies!
God bless mate
Simon.
Great news Darren, well done to you & Sue, I'd love to come down one weekend for a visit & we can chat through some ideas:)
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