Boom-chicka-boom

Boom-chicka-boom, drama classes, polony sandwiches, and acoustic worship. This is what my Saturdays consist of.

We have officially had three “Saturday Live” youth programs in these last three weeks. As an outsider coming into Refilwe trying to involve myself in these young people’s lives has not been easy. In fact, the first two weeks of youth, I would come home at 4:00 after we had finished, climb into bed feeling very overwhelmed and defeated, and not really move from that spot for the rest of the evening. I didn’t realize the extent of the hurt and brokenness these teens, who are essentially children, were feeling. They have been rescued from very painful homes and backgrounds, brought into loving families, but practically had Christianity forced on them. God wasn’t exactly something they chose into. Some have even been bold enough to say that they didn’t care about having a relationship with God. The memories of previous lives are still very much a part of them. The ways of the world are all they know, and breaking down these walls takes a lot of time and love.

Since we’ve begun, we have been discussing healthy relationships and what it means to be a godly man or woman. Despite their extremely skewed perception of marriage and dating, they have shown a longing and a deep desire to know more, and even to hear what God says about these things. We’ve learned that putting them into discussion groups keeps them talking and interested in the topics at hand.

This past Saturday, August 7, I left youth with a smile on my face and my heart not only in peace but with spirits lifted. I was so proud of our youth. They are making progress. They are grasping what we are trying to get at – and they are excited about it!

We split them into set up teams; setting up chairs, instruments, making food, etc, and they did their jobs so well. I was thrilled. Another trick we’ve learned is to keep them active. They don’t want to sit and listen and be treated as if they are in school, they get that enough 5 days a week. And, as someone mentioned to me just today, these kids are all “preached out”; and it’s true. So, we play lots of games and do fun activities with them. They really like performing and enriching their skills.

Even though these kids are so different from my beloved youth in Port Elizabeth, they deserve the love of Jesus just as much, and perhaps they need to understand it more. I am realizing how much additional effort I have to put into these youth, but it’s ok; it’s worth it.

Heidi Baker, the founder of Iris Ministries in Mozambique, has a saying that I think is very appropriate: STOP FOR THE ONE. Instead of being overwhelmed by reaching out to the 25-30 youth we have each week (and praise God for that, hey? It’s not often that you have so many when you are just starting!), I must reach out to the ONE. The ONE whom God has placed on my heart for that moment. The ONE who needs a hug. The ONE who needs a listening ear. We are doing Kingdom building when stopping for the one.