Youth Arise

God is calling the youth of Poland to make a choice! 

Choose life, choose to serve God alone, and live! 

Choose to step into your destiny, and shake what can be shaken.

A year ago, I would never imagine myself speaking to youth, especially youth from a different country. When I was asked to help with children and youth in Poland, I was really stretched. I've worked with kids since I was a kid, but youth is another story. That hasn't been my strong suit, and I really didn't know how to minister to youth. Youth are kind of in that awkward stage of life, especially if they're in middle school. They have so much coming at them, and can seem hard to reach sometimes. Now don't get me wrong, I have a lot of people that are youth that I love. I've just never stepped out and worked with a youth group before. What was even more funny to me is when I was asked to speak on youth ministry in Warsaw. I've been in youth ministry 0 years! Hahahahahahaha! I must confess, I made an emergency phone call to my good friend Lisa Demeo back in February just for the occasion. God was not going to let me get out of this no matter what, He was the one putting me in the hot spot. I could call Lisa Demeo all I want, but I was going to be the one doing the teaching. I needed to dig this out for myself, and do it. So the end of this tale is, "Never say never." If you told God, "I'll do anything you need me to do," well don't be surprised when the need arises, and you get the call. 

I was really surprised how much I had invested in me concerning youth ministry. I had seen the right way to do a youth ministry, and knew what my pattern was going to be. I had seen Pastor James and Jill Kopang lead youth for years, and got proven results. I saw Lisa Demeo work along side of them, and be a key person in the lives of many youth. I saw Will McCubbins and his team lead youth for a couple of years now, and see the great fruit that is being produced. So, it was just a matter of testing out my ideas, theories, and putting them into practice. So far we in Warsaw have had two successful youth services. It doesn't mean everything went perfect, that is not what I was looking for. As we are building and creating, I need to see what works for this group and what doesn't. These are Polish youth, not American, and what might work in America may not work here in Poland. I need to see Polish youth arise into their destiny, and grab hold of God themselves. I need to see them have an encounter with God that redirects them into who they are called to be. God is calling the youth of Poland to make a choice! Choose life, choose to serve God alone, and live! Choose to step into your destiny, and shake what can be shaken.

In both meetings that we have had, I saw God stretch the youth. I saw youth having a real encounter with God, and watched the Holy Spirit touch hearts. When I was speaking this past Saturday night, I saw tears welling up in their eyes as I spoke. These youth in Poland are hungry for something real, and hungry for something radical. They don't want to play church, and are ready to do things for God. They're very talented, well educated, and need as many opportunities as possible to get more of God. I saw one girl walk into the meeting a little sad, and walled up. She wasn't free to worship, and didn't seem to be enjoying herself. God began to put her on my heart, and at the right moment I felt led to speak to her. God picked her out of the crowd, and begin to melt that heart. He said that she was a leader, and mighty woman of God. She doesn't feel that she is good enough, but God looks on the heart. At the end of the message, there was such a good response for prayer. Even that that girl I was talking about came up for prayer. I was very proud of her, because that was a big step. The next morning I saw her at church, and she didn't look like the same person. She looked freer, and happier. I would say that the Holy Spirit did an awesome job, and the youth did what was right. 

Again,  I would have never imagined that I would have this opportunity to speak to youth in Poland, and was surprised to see what I had in me. I remember what it is like to be a youth, and all the stuff they go through. The youth of today need a new message, and one they can relate to. Not a message that cuts corners, or gives them a watered down version of Christianity. They can handle the truth, and they need opportunities to run after Jesus. As of now, I have one more service with this group in a few weeks, and I'm interested to see what God does in their lives. Please lift up the youth of Warsaw, and the youth in Poland. It's time to see them arise into their destiny, and shake what can be shaken!

*Thank you to Aneta Szuba, Damian and Kaisa Gołoś for your heart for the youth of Poland.