Girl To Tell Kids the Gospel Interrupted
Item
Title
Girl To Tell Kids the Gospel Interrupted
Description
I am a senior at UT, and an avid member in an international ministry called Younglife. Younglife’s mission is to tell adolescents about Jesus, and lead them to walk their life with Him. I have been leading a group of middle school girls for the last 3 years, and I plan to follow them into freshman year. I was team leader for my Younglife team for the last two years, and I attend a small group, through College Young Life where I have met and walked with girls my year throughout college. This past summer I was a backpacking guide at a Younglife camp called Wilderness Ranch and Lake Powell Adventures. My job is essentially to lead kids into the backcountry and tell them about Jesus while hiking through His Creation. We had to cancel a training that was set for early April due to COVID's arrival, and transferred all our training to Zoom 3 nights a week for 7 weeks leading up to the day, June 1st, that we would arrive at camp. Two Fridays ago, I found out that Younglife has cancelled all of their camps nation-wide for the summer of 2020. As of now, thousands of kids do not have the opportunity to get away from life and its distractions, and meet their Creator in the backcountry. There are no words to describe my sorrow for this news. There are no more zoom calls for training. There are No more meetings where we talk and pray about how to lead kids to the Truth we believe is alive and active. There is no word that we could even possibly be there this summer. COVID has ruined the chance for kids to hear about Jesus Christ and for that reason, I am in a season of mourning.
On top of that, my middle school girls do not respond well to Zoom and the meeting I set to “hang” with them. So I have resorted to texting them and checking in with them that way. But there are no more hangout at Starbucks or Krispy Kreme where I tell them about Jesus. And to keep the sad news rollings, my new church is struggling financially. Being only less than two years old, we still struggle to stand on our own without the support of other churches. This virus has hit us hard especially.
I know I say I am mourning and sorrowful, but even within these feelings, I still remain faithful to God. I believe He will deliver us through this mess and one day we will look back and see all the good in this time.
On top of that, my middle school girls do not respond well to Zoom and the meeting I set to “hang” with them. So I have resorted to texting them and checking in with them that way. But there are no more hangout at Starbucks or Krispy Kreme where I tell them about Jesus. And to keep the sad news rollings, my new church is struggling financially. Being only less than two years old, we still struggle to stand on our own without the support of other churches. This virus has hit us hard especially.
I know I say I am mourning and sorrowful, but even within these feelings, I still remain faithful to God. I believe He will deliver us through this mess and one day we will look back and see all the good in this time.
Date Created
May 11, 2020
Community
Younglife
Denomination
Christian
Non-demominational
State
Texas
This item was submitted on May 11, 2020 by Bailey using the form “Tell us your story” on the site “Pandemic Religion: A Digital Archive”: https://americanjewishlife.org/s/contributions
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