Dear Saints,
Can God use High Schoolers to reach out to the world for Jesus Christ? You better believe He can!!! And it’s very exciting!!!
For the fifth year, I had the honor to teach twice-per week through the month of January an Evangelism Class at Jesse Remington High School, a local Christian High School.
Do 14-17-year-olds have the spiritual and emotional maturity to take in the deluge of information I wanted to share with them? Would these kids be able to handle it?
I was astonished EVERY class at how mature the students were. They paid excellent attention. They participated in the discussions so well! They asked great questions. It was sooooo encouraging!
And I think I may have titled this post incorrectly. These Teens really aren’t “Next-Generation” Evangelists. They’re “NOW” Evangelists! They’re ready to be used by the King of kings immediately!!!
I know what you’re thinking… “What good is learning head-knowledge if you don’t put it into practice?” Right???
That’s why I’m soooo thankful that the school allowed the students to miss a day and go down to Boston to evangelize in the Subway down there. You never know what will happen, but with God’s help, these Teens did GREAT!
I really wanted the kids to see for themselves that they can ignore the following lies from the enemy:
- Nobody is interested in talking about Jesus and eternity.
- They really need to keep their Christianity to themselves.
- Stranger Evangelism doesn’t work.
- God only uses “professional” Christians, not them.
- They need years of training to be used by God.
All of these are lies, and the Teens experienced for themselves that strangers really do stop to listen, they really do stop to talk, they really do take Gospel Booklets, and Bibles, and that Jesus really does use any of us for His Kingdom!
One of the young ladies said that it broke her heart to see so many people perishing apart from Christ, and how she wishes she could reach them all with God’s rescue plan. Now that is someone God can use!
One of the young men told me that he’s seriously considering becoming a full-time Evangelist.
I’ll let the photos show you what happened…
Here's the team in New Hampshire before we left the school. Left-to-Right: A, C, M, E, H, me, B, A, E, J, Chris.
Can we squish everyone into a van? Apparently yes. Notice that my friend and colleague, Chris McKinley, came down to be another adult. I couldn't have done it without him!
We parked north of the city, and then rode the subway into the heart of the city to minister. The Teens loved the subway ride!
In a very powerful and emotional moment, C experienced the JOY of handing a homeless person a $10 meal gift card with a Gospel of John booklet. C gave her words of encouragement and exhorted her to read the Gospel of John. The look of gratitude and appreciation from the woman is hard to forget. C was moved. We all were.
E also got to give a $10 restaurant gift card (and a Bible) to a man in need. Powerful. Hallelujah!
J and E got to chat with "Wild Man Steve," a very unique man. More details on him in the next photo.
So this is Steve, and he told me to call him "Wild man." He says everyone does. Sadly, Wild man Steve is very bitter, and I can understand why. He says there's a man who hurt his grandchild. I agreed with Steve that children should never be hurt. However, Steve told me that very soon he might just take matters into his own hands, even if that means God won't forgive him. I tried to explain to him that God is much better at giving out revenge than we are. Steve wouldn't listen and said it might be up to him to avenge his grandson. What do you say to someone hurting like that and thinking of doing something awful? I listened to Steve and empathized with his pain. I also exhorted him to go to Jesus with his anger, his hurts, and his own sins too. Please pray for Wild man Steve, for his grandson, that Steve won't make the situation worse, and that salvation will come to everyone involved. I'm glad the students got to see this interaction. Even though Steve was angry and intimidating, he still listened to the message of Jesus, and there's hope for him.
H giving out a Gospel Booklet like a champ!
B was very brave approaching strangers to give out booklets!
C, M, and E offer Booklets to people walking by. Who could say "no" to these kiddos???
C gives a Gospel Booklet to a stranger. More than that. She gives him eternal hope.
People from all ages, colors, economic classes, all took Booklets. H did great offering them!
A was a superstar approaching people!
This is Rob the "Angry and Intense Atheist." He gave M, C, and E a piece of his mind. But they did a great job listening, asking questions, and being polite.
Then Rob sat down to give E and J a hard time. They too were very respectful and did a super job!
Here we are when we got to our spot. The Orange Line at State Street. top row, left to right: J, E, A, me. bottom row, left to right: A, H, B, C, E, M.
What could be better than FALAFEL after a terrific evangelism time??? YUMMY!
After we were done ministering in the subway, we had a ball eating yummy Falafel (none of them had ever tried it), getting some yummy drinks, and even some sushi (more on that below…)
Bottom line, these young men and women learned that God can use them to make an eternal difference. And they need to hear that and believe it, because the world is hammering them with lies to the contrary.
On the ride down I played for them the testimony of “The Man from George Street.” Have you heard of that? It’s super powerful and illustrates how God can use our meager “loaves and fishes” to do great things for His glory!
If you’ve never heard about the “Man from George Street,” or even if you have, please check out this short video…
To watch this video, either click on the video thumbnail above, or you can watch it directly on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/9rm9btmJavU.
I praise God for this opportunity to partner with the Christian School to spend time teaching these young people how to make Evangelism part of their life. Hallelujah!
If anyone wants me to provide similar training for your group, please contact me so we can chat about it.
Oh, and about that sushi. Well, when you have a group of Teens in the city, it can be really HILARIOUS to DARE them to eat baby octopi! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Don’t believe me, see the 2 and a half minute video below….
To watch this video, either click on the video thumbnail above, or you can watch it directly on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/aRsgpU0OGjE.
Jesus is STILL seeking and saving the Lost, and He’s still using you and me, and that’s exciting!
I pray that you’ll be as encouraged as we are!!!
We love you and thank God for you! Please contact us (603-244-6292) anytime with questions, concerns, or to let us know how we can pray for you!
Thank you so much for your prayers, financial support, and notes of encouragement, without which we would not be able to reach the Lost for Jesus Christ!
If you pray, donate, volunteer, or tell others about our ministry, then you are reaching people for Christ through us. Thank you for your commitment to this ministry!
Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think would be blessed by it!
All for Jesus,
Mark, Shelby, Vivienne, Juliana, Caleb, and Gabriella
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