WYOMING, MI – Our busy Summer was kicked off with two weeks of neighborhood Middle and High School teens' ministry, a combined effort with Bridge Street Ministries, and Campus Life. It was demanding, tiring and amazing. We spent days reading the Bible while serving in our neighborhood, camping, eating, playing games and talking a lot about Jesus.
In my particular group of six young men, four were working with English as a second language (from four different languages). This brought me pretty quickly to the realization that just reading the English Bible presented a challenge. As any ordinary person would, they were reluctant to express not understanding particular words, but as we developed trust, the atmosphere changed. After reading a passage I would just say "ok, words", and they would ask the meaning of different words in the passages, which took our study to another level. After doing this a number of times, the young men started seriously engaging with God's word, and asking questions. Some great discussions ensued. The picture below captured one of these moments.
On the last evening, after explaining the gospel, one of the teens made a decision to follow Jesus. This teen happens to live on the end of my street, so we have ongoing contact with him and his family. Please be praying for our neighborhood teens as CrossWinds West Side continues to minister to them.
A new threshold
We are currently teaching a series called BLESS. It is a way to remember our strategy to bring the gospel to our city.
Begin with prayer
Listen Eat Serve Share After a couple of years of practicing BLESS in this neighborhood, we are having lots of opportunities to share. Now, neighborhood teens arrive in our backyard as a group, hanging out on our deck. We sit, eat and have great conversations. One neighbor I have known for over three years, told me the other night he was thinking about knocking on my door to talk about a traumatic experience he had at work, where a customer overdosed in front of him. He just said, "can I have a hug" and he cried. It's not something a lot of men my age say to one another. God is really working in his life. Pray as seek to get to the last letter in BLESS with our neighbors
Thanks for taking a minute
Because of the financial limitations of the communities that CrossWinds serves, we very much appreciate those who are able to participate in our kingdom work. For you giving partners, Thanks again for taking the time.
