Last Saturday evening, I walked into one of the girls' rooms to find almost every one of girl boarders on the ground with their homemade REAP journals and Bibles and heard them sharing verses with each other. When I went in a little later, they had a worship cd playing and were all on their knees with their hands raised and eyes closed, praising God with their whole hearts...right there on the floor of the hostel bedroom! Then Sunday night I went in to check on the girls and again found them gathered on the ground, but this time they were deep in prayer, divided up into groups of two or three, praying out loud for each other...even the young lady who just four months ago said she didn't even believe in God! Amazing!!
When I talked to sweet Mariam later on (the incredible young woman of the Lord who lives in the hostel), she informed me on how these prayer sessions came to be. Apparently on Saturday it started out with just two of them meeting together for Bible study and just grew from there. They all got their REAP journals and began sharing things they'd been writing in their journals and verses that had impacted them. This then turned into a time of just worshipping Jesus and prayer. Sunday a few of them approached Mariam and asked if they could all meet again last, which turned into over an hour of mostly prayer time. Mariam said some of the girls were praying out loud fervently for God to allow them to know Him more and just telling Him how hungry they are for Him. This is amazing!!
All of these girls are from ages 13 to 16 and most of them didn't even own their own bible when they came here, much less spend time studying it and sharing scriptures with each other. Truly, I am totally blown away with how BIG God is and how He can take such seemingly little seeds and grow them into an overwhelming harvest!
Things did not stop there, however. These girls have started a group that they have entitled "CA's or Change Agents" that meets daily during the lunch hour at school with a focus of being changed by God and then sharing Him with others so that they can also be changed by Him. They want to spend time studying the Word and encouraging each other. Since they began meeting, other people in the school have expressed interest in joining in, even some boys! So many people have joined in now, that they actually had to find a bigger place to meet! These young teenagers have taken it upon themselves to form their own Bible study/accountability group...even reaching out to others in the school. Now they are working on making disciples!
Just one week after beginning this group, they already presented a skit at Fire by Nite in front of their peers. It was a beautiful skit beginning with a group at church who commit their lives to Christ then spend the rest of the week going to their friends and neighbors, telling them about God's love and inviting them to church. The end of the skit showed all those people hesitantly coming into church, but by the end of the service making decisions of their own for Christ. It was fantastic! And to think that this is completely student-led...these are our future leaders!!
Last night was our last Fire by Nite for the term and it was such a great celebration of all that God is doing. When Gary asked how many kids had given their lives to Christ this term, it was wonderful to see the several hands that went up. Even more amazing was how many of them raised their hand when he asked how many of them have been changed by the Lord this term. I am overwhelmed with how God is moving among these teenagers and truly making them into new creations (2 Cor. 5:17) Please, please pray for these kids, especially as they leave next week to head home for a month. I pray that they would use this time to really go deep with the Lord and to be bright, shining lights to their families and friends back home.
Here are some pictures from last night:
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