This past weekend I was asked to be a leader of a group of girls from my home church. I immediately said "yes." I love working with students! It may be because I don't want to grow up...don't tell anyone! I prayed all week for God to move in their lives. I prayed they would experience something radical. I prayed they will open up to each other in small group time and just live life together. Little did I know, God was going to work in my life.
Being a leader for a retreat is different than just being a student. Not in a bad way. All weekend, I got to pour into students' lives and let them know they are loved not only by me, but by the God of the universe too. During our small group time the girls were quiet until it was over. They began to open up to Alyx (the other college leader) and I. We shared tears, hugged, prayed, and simply loved on the girls. This life is hard. That is why there are people who are willing to go through life with you. I am so blessed for the students to accept me into their group and feel comfortable enough to share their secrets with me.
I got to see first hand what it feels like to be a leader and to be so proud of the students. At this retreat there were 1,000 students from churches across the county who met in one location to proclaim the name of God. On Saturday afternoon, everyone was given FOUR hours to raise money for Compassion International and for the local ministries of the county. Our goal was $20,000! My group of girls started calling people they knew asking for donations. People were willing and we just met them to pick up the money! Part of the group helped clean up yards while the other half spoke between Upward games at the church asking for donations. Our group alone raised over $800. They were so excited and I was amazed at what God allowed to happen. The students from our youth group raised $1200!! As the service was ending one of the leaders went on stage to announce the amount of money we as a community raised. The crowd was anxiously awaiting the good news. Not only did we meet the goal, with God we raised $28,000! Incredible.
The last session was honestly the best session of the weekend, not just because of the money we raised, but because of how God worked in every student's life. As I looked around the church during worship and with tears filling my eyes, I saw hands lifted high in surrender to the Lord Almighty. I could not be more in awe. I got to sit back and watch these students give all their cares to the foot of the cross.
I was blessed to work with these students all weekend. They LOVE God. They LOVE others. They are willing to SURRENDER..something that many of us have problems with because we want to be in control. This generation is the future...not in a couple of years, but RIGHT. NOW.
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