Juvee tonight was amazing. For those that have read the last couple of weeks posts, lately it hadn't been going as well there as I had hoped, and tonight was a much welcomed break from the previous weeks of, what I felt, was spiritual dryness.
There's a guy that comes every Wednesday with our group named Ken. Ken is a very good break dancer, and tonight he brought his whole break dancing crew with him. The entire juvee (about 40 people) showed up for a very impressive demo, which the guys really seemed to enjoy, and afterwards Ken gave his testimony, which just so happened to be one of the best testimonies (and contained one of the best illustrations) that I've ever heard. Here is a brief(ish) summary.
Ken talked about how he likes to think of our life here on earth here as a giant puzzle, and in order to finish the puzzle one of the first things that you need is a picture. If you have the picture you can figure out what exactly the puzzle is supposed to look like, and better put things in their proper place. Without the picture, pieces are going to be in the wrong place, and you might never figure out how to put it together.
Now imagine all of the trials, hardships, and rough times in your life and imagine that as one piece of the puzzle. If you don't have a picture to be able to figure out where the "trial" piece goes then you're going to end up putting it into the wrong spot, resulting in, a messed up puzzle. Ken then went on to describe his three major trials in his life, and how the Bible became his picture to help put his trial piece in the right spot.
The first trial for Ken was his parents' divorce. His dad's cheating on his wife and abandoning the family made life extremely difficult for Ken, and it was because of his dad's being a pastor that Ken became disgusted with Christianity and wanted nothing to do with it. He talked about how he was always embarrassed about his father and how he could never brag about his father like other kids did about theirs in school.
His father's abandoning him led to Ken's second trial: the absence of his mother. Due to having to raise a family completely by herself, his mom wasn't around as much as he would have liked, resulting in long days and nights at home with no body else to be with but his sister. She constantly had to work to provide for Ken and his sister, something that he was extremely grateful for, but the intense, persistent loneliness began to take its toll.
Finally, Ken told about his hardest trial yet. About three and a half years ago, Ken's mom passed away, due to over exhaustion. Ken is from South Korea, and his being in America at the time, made things even more difficult. A few years before her death, Ken hadn't gotten along with his mom. They were constantly fighting, and yet through all of this Ken's mom still showed love to him. Her love for him was unconditional, and it was this unconditional love that caused him to seek out where it came from. How could somebody show unconditional love to someone else when that love is not being reciprocated? It was this search for unconditional love that led Ken to Christ.
The guys (and girls) seemed really interested in what Ken had to say, and it was encouraging to know that they were taking all of this in. Some of them are soooo close to accepting Christ. They are finally starting to understand what this Jesus guy is all about, and they're beginning to like it. I'm looking forward to next week and the questions that they bring. We'll see what happens.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Normalcy, Limits, and a Miracle
Not much has happened the past two weeks at juvee. I don't feel that the guys as a whole have been as interested as they were in the past regarding what was being taught. There are some exceptions to this, however. Last week there were two new guys who had a lot of really good questions regarding the Bible, Muslims, and Jehova's Witnesses. They seemed pretty interested and one of them even said that he was "starting to believe what we were saying", his words, not mine. It's also comforting to see that M is opening up more and more. He no longer sits in the corner silent and rolls his eyes when I talk, but now actually talks and jokes around a little, though the rolling of the eyes is ever present. It was also cool to see that we had a lot of new volunteers yesterday. Normally, it tends to be about five of us going in there. Last night I think we had ten. They were really excited about what they saw there, and all seemed eager to come back.
Despite the normality of the past two weeks, there was something new that kind of (more like a lot of) bothered me. While the leader of the group was going over some basic rules with the new volunteers, I heard one that I had not heard before and sounded like somewhat recent addition to the list of don'ts. As of last night, we are no longer allowed to "peer pressure" the guys. It doesn't take a lot of complex thought to figure out what this means. We can teach the Bible all we want, but when it comes down to giving an invitation, the message is pretty clear, don't do it. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do with this. I guess the only thing that I can do is pray and keep on doing what I'm doing. It makes for a somewhat confusing situation.
On a side note, and possibly more exciting as well, there is something truly amazing that's happened within the past week. One of my friends from work here at school has recently been battling his third bout of cancer, all three bouts being different kinds, the most recent bout being a fight with colon cancer. Anyway, as he went to the doctor within the past week getting ready to begin a round of some pretty serious chemo, he went in for another routine MRI. When the test results came back the doctors, as well as my friend, were shocked to find that there was nothing on the MRI. The cancer was no longer there where it had been! It was gone! I talked with him tonight about it, and he was extremely grateful, as am I. I'm excited to be able to tell the juvee guys next week. Maybe I can get him to come in and tell the story himself...
Despite the normality of the past two weeks, there was something new that kind of (more like a lot of) bothered me. While the leader of the group was going over some basic rules with the new volunteers, I heard one that I had not heard before and sounded like somewhat recent addition to the list of don'ts. As of last night, we are no longer allowed to "peer pressure" the guys. It doesn't take a lot of complex thought to figure out what this means. We can teach the Bible all we want, but when it comes down to giving an invitation, the message is pretty clear, don't do it. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do with this. I guess the only thing that I can do is pray and keep on doing what I'm doing. It makes for a somewhat confusing situation.
On a side note, and possibly more exciting as well, there is something truly amazing that's happened within the past week. One of my friends from work here at school has recently been battling his third bout of cancer, all three bouts being different kinds, the most recent bout being a fight with colon cancer. Anyway, as he went to the doctor within the past week getting ready to begin a round of some pretty serious chemo, he went in for another routine MRI. When the test results came back the doctors, as well as my friend, were shocked to find that there was nothing on the MRI. The cancer was no longer there where it had been! It was gone! I talked with him tonight about it, and he was extremely grateful, as am I. I'm excited to be able to tell the juvee guys next week. Maybe I can get him to come in and tell the story himself...
Saturday, March 12, 2011
51 Hours
I thought that this was kind of interesting and figured you all would too. I became hooked on reddit.com after using it to follow the protests in Egypt. It's basically a website that's supposed to be designed for people to update the news as it's happening and post whatever else they feel like (within limits, of course). Anyway, as I was on the website Monday I saw a post titled "51 Hours Left to Live". It was posted this past Sunday by a 39 year old man battling lymphoma. He was euthanized Tuesday. It was pretty interesting, to watch as this guy gradually counted down the hours of his life and to see what was going through his mind.
I don't know what exactly I learned from this, but I do feel that it did have something of an impact on me. To know that this guy was going to actively terminate his life and to watch as people encouraged it...it seemed kind of twisted. Here's the link if you're interested - 51 Hours Left to Live
I don't know what exactly I learned from this, but I do feel that it did have something of an impact on me. To know that this guy was going to actively terminate his life and to watch as people encouraged it...it seemed kind of twisted. Here's the link if you're interested - 51 Hours Left to Live
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
I Thought I'd Need a Metal Detector to Find the Silver Lining
Tonight didn't go as well as I would have liked it to. Last week I came out of juvee super pumped and super excited about what God was doing in there. I felt like these guys were almost to the point of accepting Christ, and apparently Satan did too. A lot of things have gone on the past week that feel like some pretty intense spiritual warfare. Things have happened to get me into a bad mood so I won't be as affective with the guys, or to keep me so busy that I wouldn't be able to prepare anything for them. In part I wonder if I lost. This past week I've: failed a lab quiz, forgotten about statistics homework that was due at midnight and gotten a 76, gotten my car towed ($90), hurt my knee, and been super busy resulting in little sleep and not a lot of preparation for a message for the guys. Due to three tests this week I really didn't have time to prepare for anything. Only six of the guys showed up tonight too.
However, despite all the discouragment and crud that's gone on the past week there are still some things that I find a glimmer of hope in. I felt like these guys were so close, that something was finally happening, and I still feel that way. I think that this past week goes to show that Satan does too. He's been around long enough to know when he's about to lose, and I think he knows that this is one of those times. He fought really hard this week, and as I said earlier I wonder if I let him have too much. Maybe not as much in the attitude area, but more in the time area. I've been kept so busy this past week that I didn't prepare much of anything to say to the guys. However, I think that God helped to fight back at this tonight, as tonight was basketball night and we played until there was only ten minutes left, about all I had prepared. It was also encouraging to see M, one of the hardest guys to get engaged in conversation, actually smiling and talking. It's amazing how He can use sports to cause a person to open up. It gives me more of a respect for sports missions agencies and the like. It was also encouraging to see that after much prayer and last week's post mention of a desire to get these guys more Christian literature that I was blessed with the money to get these guys some books. They should be in soon, and the guys were really excited when they found out.
Anyway, that's all I've got for tonight. A lot of crud went on, but I guess there was a lot of silver lining as well.
PS: blessed that I realized when I woke up that my car had been towed instead of right before I left.
Also surprised to find that they've been there the past few weeks -Trial Tonight. Be in prayer for these guys. Glad they've been coming at least.
However, despite all the discouragment and crud that's gone on the past week there are still some things that I find a glimmer of hope in. I felt like these guys were so close, that something was finally happening, and I still feel that way. I think that this past week goes to show that Satan does too. He's been around long enough to know when he's about to lose, and I think he knows that this is one of those times. He fought really hard this week, and as I said earlier I wonder if I let him have too much. Maybe not as much in the attitude area, but more in the time area. I've been kept so busy this past week that I didn't prepare much of anything to say to the guys. However, I think that God helped to fight back at this tonight, as tonight was basketball night and we played until there was only ten minutes left, about all I had prepared. It was also encouraging to see M, one of the hardest guys to get engaged in conversation, actually smiling and talking. It's amazing how He can use sports to cause a person to open up. It gives me more of a respect for sports missions agencies and the like. It was also encouraging to see that after much prayer and last week's post mention of a desire to get these guys more Christian literature that I was blessed with the money to get these guys some books. They should be in soon, and the guys were really excited when they found out.
Anyway, that's all I've got for tonight. A lot of crud went on, but I guess there was a lot of silver lining as well.
PS: blessed that I realized when I woke up that my car had been towed instead of right before I left.
Also surprised to find that they've been there the past few weeks -Trial Tonight. Be in prayer for these guys. Glad they've been coming at least.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
A Word of Thanks
Tonight I would like to say a word of thanks, or many words of thanks, and to many different people and for many different things. I would like to say a thank you to everyone, because without you tonight would have never happened.
As I went to juvee tonight, as usual I sat down with the guys I've been with the past couple of weeks, and I quickly realized that God was at work tonight. I didn't even get through the message that I had prepared due to the plethora of questions that these guys had about everything and anything relating to Christianity and the Bible. I quickly realized that I was not there to give a message, but to answer these guys questions. I was asked questions about everything. From reincarnation, to salvation, to Revelation, to Hell, to Heaven, to Cain and Able, to death, everything was fair game tonight. The crazy thing was that I was able to answer every question! This is not something I would normally be able to do. I did not brush up on my evolution, theology, Christian history, archaeology or anything like that before I went in there. I did not prepare for anything like that, and yet God brought the answers to every single one of those questions to my mind from things that I had heard or read in the past! I was somehow able to remember obscure articles I had read online in the past, lectures I had attended, and theology movies I had seen in the past without hesitation, something I cannot normally do! This had nothing to do with me, it was entirely God! I am not that smart, I cannot remember minute details like I was given tonight! These guys had questions too! Tonight was a miracle! Anyway, these guys are intensely curious about the Gospel and what it has to do with them, and tonight would not have been anything like that without you guys help.
I would like to say thank you to all of you readers who read the last post with the prayer list and prayed through it this past week. Tonight was made possible by prayer. I would like to say thank you to my dad for providing me with some of the money to provide New Testaments for these guys. These guys read a ton, and they will read anything that they can get their hands on right now. I would like to say thank you to the church that brought these guys the entire Bible this past week. The past few weeks I've been telling these guys how much I wish that I could get them the Old Testament as well due to all the amazing stories in it of God's love and what He did for people, and tonight when I mentioned it the guys told me that a church brought Bibles in the past week and that they were reading them everyday and were loving the stories. I would like to say thank you to Eunchong because without your tips I would not have begun tonight with prayer, something that I believed truly made a difference. I would like to say thank you to Larry, Mr. Thomas, Jeremy, and Donald for all those years of putting me up there in front of people and helping me to be able to speak in front of people, because it was not that long ago that I would not have done anything like this, and it was you guys that helped me to be able to do it. I would like to say thank you to my theology and creation studies professors. Tonight I was asked so many questions about salvation, evolution, dinosaurs, etc. etc. that I would not have known the answers to had it not been for those classes. I would also like to say thank you to Matt. I was going to print off a paper that talked more about salvation to give to these guys, but right as I began to print them my printer ran out of ink. As I ran frantically from locked door to locked door on the hall I found Matt getting ready to leave. I asked if I could borrow his printer and he said sure. The guys were very excited to receive those papers, and had it not been for Matt they would have never gotten them.
Above all though I would like to say thank you to the Lord for tonight. Nothing would have happened tonight had it not been for Him. I slept and thought about lunch in half of my theology classes, how was I able to remember topics from lectures that I wasn't even paying attention to? I played poker and talked through half of my creation studies classes, how was I able to remember answers to some of those very serious questions without God's help? If I had taken my hapkido class this semester I would not have been able to be a part of this, because it was on a Wednesday close to this time. I was registered in the class, but the schedule got changed and I had to drop it instead. I applied to be a prayer leader, but wasn't accepted. If I had made it I wouldn't be doing this. There are too many coincidinces here.
These guys curiosity is piqued. They read the Bibles everyday, tell me their favorite verses and books, and have plenty of questions (including whether Jesus really wants us to cut out our tongues or not). I am full heartedly expecting many of these guys to come to know Christ as Lord very, very soon.
As far as prayer requests go this week, almost every guy wants us to pray for their court date and their family. D wants us to pray for his mom to get better. Please continue to pray for these guys this week. They are very close to coming to know Christ and need all the prayer they can get. I would also like ya'll to pray for me to be able to find some more reading material to give them. These guys have some very difficult questions, and I would love to be able to get them some books by Lee Strobel or something like that, though those books can be very expensive. Pray for the ability to find something cheap to be able to help these guys out. These are people's souls we're talking about.
Thank you very much everybody. Tonight was an awesome night and I pray that you will pray with me that next week will be even better.
As I went to juvee tonight, as usual I sat down with the guys I've been with the past couple of weeks, and I quickly realized that God was at work tonight. I didn't even get through the message that I had prepared due to the plethora of questions that these guys had about everything and anything relating to Christianity and the Bible. I quickly realized that I was not there to give a message, but to answer these guys questions. I was asked questions about everything. From reincarnation, to salvation, to Revelation, to Hell, to Heaven, to Cain and Able, to death, everything was fair game tonight. The crazy thing was that I was able to answer every question! This is not something I would normally be able to do. I did not brush up on my evolution, theology, Christian history, archaeology or anything like that before I went in there. I did not prepare for anything like that, and yet God brought the answers to every single one of those questions to my mind from things that I had heard or read in the past! I was somehow able to remember obscure articles I had read online in the past, lectures I had attended, and theology movies I had seen in the past without hesitation, something I cannot normally do! This had nothing to do with me, it was entirely God! I am not that smart, I cannot remember minute details like I was given tonight! These guys had questions too! Tonight was a miracle! Anyway, these guys are intensely curious about the Gospel and what it has to do with them, and tonight would not have been anything like that without you guys help.
I would like to say thank you to all of you readers who read the last post with the prayer list and prayed through it this past week. Tonight was made possible by prayer. I would like to say thank you to my dad for providing me with some of the money to provide New Testaments for these guys. These guys read a ton, and they will read anything that they can get their hands on right now. I would like to say thank you to the church that brought these guys the entire Bible this past week. The past few weeks I've been telling these guys how much I wish that I could get them the Old Testament as well due to all the amazing stories in it of God's love and what He did for people, and tonight when I mentioned it the guys told me that a church brought Bibles in the past week and that they were reading them everyday and were loving the stories. I would like to say thank you to Eunchong because without your tips I would not have begun tonight with prayer, something that I believed truly made a difference. I would like to say thank you to Larry, Mr. Thomas, Jeremy, and Donald for all those years of putting me up there in front of people and helping me to be able to speak in front of people, because it was not that long ago that I would not have done anything like this, and it was you guys that helped me to be able to do it. I would like to say thank you to my theology and creation studies professors. Tonight I was asked so many questions about salvation, evolution, dinosaurs, etc. etc. that I would not have known the answers to had it not been for those classes. I would also like to say thank you to Matt. I was going to print off a paper that talked more about salvation to give to these guys, but right as I began to print them my printer ran out of ink. As I ran frantically from locked door to locked door on the hall I found Matt getting ready to leave. I asked if I could borrow his printer and he said sure. The guys were very excited to receive those papers, and had it not been for Matt they would have never gotten them.
Above all though I would like to say thank you to the Lord for tonight. Nothing would have happened tonight had it not been for Him. I slept and thought about lunch in half of my theology classes, how was I able to remember topics from lectures that I wasn't even paying attention to? I played poker and talked through half of my creation studies classes, how was I able to remember answers to some of those very serious questions without God's help? If I had taken my hapkido class this semester I would not have been able to be a part of this, because it was on a Wednesday close to this time. I was registered in the class, but the schedule got changed and I had to drop it instead. I applied to be a prayer leader, but wasn't accepted. If I had made it I wouldn't be doing this. There are too many coincidinces here.
These guys curiosity is piqued. They read the Bibles everyday, tell me their favorite verses and books, and have plenty of questions (including whether Jesus really wants us to cut out our tongues or not). I am full heartedly expecting many of these guys to come to know Christ as Lord very, very soon.
As far as prayer requests go this week, almost every guy wants us to pray for their court date and their family. D wants us to pray for his mom to get better. Please continue to pray for these guys this week. They are very close to coming to know Christ and need all the prayer they can get. I would also like ya'll to pray for me to be able to find some more reading material to give them. These guys have some very difficult questions, and I would love to be able to get them some books by Lee Strobel or something like that, though those books can be very expensive. Pray for the ability to find something cheap to be able to help these guys out. These are people's souls we're talking about.
Thank you very much everybody. Tonight was an awesome night and I pray that you will pray with me that next week will be even better.
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