On the Brink of Breakthrough

My spirit is so stirred tonight and I am SO excited at what God is doing! I truly feel like we may be on the brink of some huge breakthrough with the teens. Please can you pray for them with me?

If you've been following for long, you know that this year with the teens has been considerably challenging, with very little interest in godly things and an increase in rebellious behavior. Honestly, it's been quite discouraging and exhausting.

When I started the weekly Bible study with the girls at the beginning of the year, my heart was heavy to see only six girls attend. Those with a heart after God were definitely the minority. I think there was a general feeling of discouragement among each of us. Throughout this year, I've seen slow growth in spiritual hunger among the girls, which has been great, but there's also been a very sad decrease among the guys, almost to the point of there only being two or three guys seeking after God at all.

A few weeks ago one of the guys asked me if boys could attend Bible study, too. Why this thought hadn't occured to me sooner, I don't know. I guess I was just hoping and praying for a strong male influence in their lives, thinking I should focus more on the girls. I'm so proud of that young man for asking and I'm so thankful that God was leading him!

It's been three weeks now where our Bible study has been co-ed. The attendance has grown dramatically (last week there were about twenty-five teens), but I wasn't sure of the true heart condition of many of the kids. Most of them, (especially the guys) have stayed pretty quiet, so I just haven't been sure what's been going on their hearts and minds.

I started last week with having the teens write questions and prayer requests out on notecards for me to read privately. I was greatly encouraged by what I read because God showed me that: 1) There is much more hunger there than I realized and that 2) There is much deeper thinking and questioning occurring than I imagined.

Tonight's Bible study was a special one as we continued our study on prayer. The kids were talking more, had more questions to ask, and seemed to be soaking in what we were talking about. The really awesome part of the night, though, was after Bible study was over.

One of the young men stayed behind to ask question after question and to share with me what God was stirring in his heart. He shared with me a vision that the Lord put on his heart of a group of his peers gathering together regularly in prayer, praying for the school (including teachers, students, and staff), for boarding, for leadership, for the country, and many other things. What a beautiful and amazing vision! To see these kids gathering by themselves, coming together in prayer to intercede on behalf of each other, their peers, their school, and their country...just think of all that God could do amongst a group like that!

This young man needs prayer as he seeks to be obedient to what the Lord is calling him to. He needs encouragement to keep persevering, even when things look discouraging. All of these guys who have a hunger for God need prayer for that spark in their heart to grow into a growing flame, for them to come together in unity to pray for and reach out to their peers, and to sharpen each other as they pursue Christ together. I pray that these kids will live on mission together...on mission to know Christ and to make Him known.

For the first time in a long time, I am feeling excitement and a renewed hope that God is doing something. He's stirring things. I believe all the prayers sown are about to reap a harvest. One of the other young men writes as his prayer request every week that there would be revival in the hostel. Please join me in praying in agreement with him for that prayer and that this amazing vision will come to pass!