Lakeland Seventh-day Adventist Church

It's time for an update on our preparation for the Youth Ignited evangelistic series starting April 11. Of course, the only way to really know what's going on is to be an active participant, so I first want to thank our young people and sponsors who have come for our Friday night youth meetings and Saturday night preparation meetings. I especially want to thank those young people and their parents who have turned in applications to be members of the Youth Ignited team and share in the responsibility of preaching the gospel to young people in Lakeland. I know some of you are still thinking about it, so I'll hold off on the names for now.

At our first preparation meeting, we watched a video about facilitating group discussion. Eric, Zach, and Petronella have each practiced facilitating a group discussion. We want to have a facilitator and co-facilitator for every four people who come to our meetings.

We have studied why we need to hear the gospel, what the gospel is, and how to share it in every meeting. If you have lived up to now without a clear understanding of the message that saves you, you need to be at the evangelistic meetings from April 11 to May 16.

Last night, we spent most of our meeting playing games on the basketball court. I appreciate everyone who was there. Even though games might seem unnecessary, it is difficult to live the Christian life for people who lack Christian friends and wholesome activities with which to spend their free time. Sharing our personal time makes sharing our message more effective.

Jasmine is working on a music team for the meetings with help from Angel Rosa. I am preparing a drama team. Dramas will be used to link each topic to the choices we must make in our daily lives. Petronella is working on a presentation for the first night, "When God Doesn't Seem to Be There". Darwin is preparing two topics: blind faith and persecution.

In addition to our organized preparation, I am proud to report the things our young people are doing on their own initiative. Last week, James told me he had taken one of our Bible lessons because Jasmine wanted to send it to a lady she had met when we were doing door-to-door surveys last summer. Eric has helped with the overall planning and every activity we have done. Zach has been asking about missing youth he can contact.

Last Sunday, I went to scout a route and a camp site for our spring break wilderness adventure. Eric, Zach, Travis, and Cory asked to come along. We found a beautiful, remote camp site and are looking forward to hosting a week of spiritual refreshment before the meetings begin. Sometimes our lives become so distracting that it's necessary to leave everything behind and get away for a while.

There is a lot of preparation left to be done. The most important preparation is spiritual. We need to know God's self-sacrificing love for us, and practice it with our families, friends, church members, and enemies. Pray for those who are working now to prepare the young people of Lakeland for the soon return of Jesus. Pray for God to send more laborers to join the work, and pray for a daily connection with Jesus that will empower you to be God's messenger to the world.