A PLACE FOR TEENS

BY STACY BOOK

     I would like to share with you how God spoke to me several years ago.  I've been going to the church I attend for about 8 years now.  After I had been going there about 2 years, our pastor felt God calling him to another church.  We were all very sad about this and hated to see him leave, but we wanted him to go where God was leading him. 

     As all churches do, we struggle through some hard times, but God is always there to help you through them.  For a while, my two boys were the only children at our church.  It was very discouraging.  I wanted the church to be filled with lots of children and teenagers.  I started thinking maybe I needed to find another church.  I was really struggling with this decision.  I prayed really hard for God to show me where he wanted me to be.  One day, I decided I was going to start looking somewhere else.  I thought maybe as I was looking, God will lead me to the right one.  I talked to some people at church.  I even called a friend and told her I was going to come visit her church. 

     Well, God changed my plans real quick.  He spoke to me very clear by the end of that day.  That night, a lady that I had talked to earlier and our pastor that was filling in, came to visit me that night.  During their visit, I got a phone call from a friend at church who really needed to talk to me.  She was having some family problems and needed my help.  I know God was using these people to show me I needed to stay right where I am. 

     That night, as I went to bed, I was in tears.  I prayed so hard.  Before I fell asleep, I knew God was telling me to stay.  So I finally said, "OK, God, I'm staying.  I know that's what you want me to do."  I didn't have anymore doubts.  After that, I felt a peace come over me.  I felt so much better.  It didn't take me too long after that to fall asleep.

     God wasn't finished with me yet, though.  During the night, He gave me a vision about having some kind of youth center at our church where teenagers can come and play games and hang out and learn about Jesus.  Let me remind you, we had no children and teenagers at the time- just my two.  I talked to the pastor about it and I spoke about this vision one Wednesday night at church, which is a miracle in itself, because I cannot get up in front of anybody.  I am a very quiet, shy person.  There were only about 10 people, but it was still very hard.  God was with me and I got through it.  Everyone thought that was a great idea and supported me on what I felt God calling us to do.  We started working shortly after.  We had a two car garage at the church and we turned it into our new youth center. Thanks to everyone contributing supplies, including campers on mission, who were able to start the work.  They are a group of men who help churches with different building projects.  Thanks to people donating game tables and furniture and just for everyone working together, we were able to open our new youth center in just 4 months.  Most of all, we thank God for allowing us the opportunity to have this place for teenagers and for providing the workers and everything we needed to make this happen.  I praise Him for all He's done.

     It's been 3 years now.  We've grown from 2 children to over 40 children and teenagers.  We've had several to commit their lives to the Lord.  They are not all there at the same time.  Sometimes we may just have a few, sometimes we'll have a church full, but we're growing and reaching out to those in our community.  It has been such a blessing.  I pray we can continue to share Jesus with them and help them grow in their relationship with the Lord.  We have some very dedicated people in our church who works with our children and I thank God for them.  We also, as a church, prayed for someone to come and work with our teenagers.  We wanted someone who felt led by the Lord to minister to the teens and dedicate their time to teach them about Jesus and build relationships with them.  A few months later, our pastor got a call from someone he knew very well.  This person felt God calling him to be a youth leader.  It's so neat how God works.  It's so exciting thinking about this; I don't know how to word it all.  Ok, first of all, our pastor used to be a youth leader at another church.  He was also our youth leader several months before he started preaching at our church.  He is our full time pastor now.  My oldest son was in his youth group and was a great influence in his life.  He helped my son in many ways and was always there for him- he was with all the teenagers.  I thank God for him and appreciate all he does for everyone.  He's very dedicated and tries to be the example God wants him to be.  This person that called our pastor was also in his youth group from another church.  He was a big part of his life also.  Come to find out, he is my cousin and he is also the owner of this website.  He has been our youth leader now for over a year and is doing a great job.  He has such a love for the Lord and wants everyone to experience a relationship with him.  We work together on reaching out to these teenagers and other ministries in the church, which I will talk about in my next story.  It's been so great seeing God work in all these things. 

Romans 8:28 says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

  Please pray for us and all the children and teenagers in the world.  Jesus loves them and he wants us to love them like he does.