Witnessing In A Public School

Background on this story: Pastor Douglass felt called to go to the school and ask them if we could come in and present about the World Race.  At first the principal was not up for it.  But there were people outside praying and the group that talked with the principal kind of just hung around and engaged in conversation.  Eventually, the principal agreed to let us come.  Come on now!  The POWER OF PRAYER! 

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We all walked to the school and waited outside for 30 minutes until they let us in.  We huddled in the library and had a big prayer.  Then we split up into different classrooms.  My team was assigned an 11^th grade class. 

We started out introducing ourselves and then Madison talked about the World Race and what we do.  Then Maria (our translator) showed a video and talked about the City of Refuge.  Shelby talked about words-how they can hurt people or raise people up, and shared part of her testimony.  Everyone was asked to write words that have hurt them in the past and put them on a poster board.  Then, the students rewrote the words on another paper and tore them up, because those words don’t define them.  The Bible shows us true worth.  Jon went next and presented on identity, sharing parts of his testimony.  Again, they were asked to write down things that people have said in the past that they thought defined them and were told that those were lies and again told about the love of Jesus. I spoke next on the “there-here-path” (Ahi-Aqui-Camino), which we learned through AIM.  It helps you point out a future goal and you develop steps to achieve that goal.  We asked a bunch of the students to share and then the teacher wanted to share too.  The teacher ended up sharing that his “there” was to work at our ministry site (after hearing all that we’ve shared!).  Finally, Lauren shared part of her testimony and about prevention strategies for drugs, alcohol, sex, etc.  A lot of it was focused on the love of God, staying in his word, and finding community in people who share those beliefs. 

The students were touched.  You could see walls being broken down, vulnerability, and some freedom.  I also saw the teacher change throughout it too.  He had this shirt on that said, “Breaking Rules” and it was black and white-stripped.  Not that his shirt should define him, but it definitely put a preconceived picture in my mind. At first, he was on his phone and when people were loud in the halls paid no attention.  But he became engaged in the activities and at one point when other classes were switching, went out in the hall to tell them to be quiet several times.  And of course, him wanting to come work at the foundation was impactful—because when he shared, all the students were listening.  The students stayed engaged for a whole hour and you could just feel the chains breaking.  We invited them all to a youth program the next day and about 5 students came.  Two of those accepted Christ!  Every victory counts!  

What lies are you currently holding on to that are defining you?  Some lies that came out from the students were:  ugly, fat, worthless, unloved, stupid, unheard, unwanted, weak. I challenge you this week to share some of those lies with someone you trust and who can speak life into you.  Until you face them, they keep holding on to your life.  They keep you captive. 

Friends, God wants you to know that you are loved and that you are his (Isaiah 43:3).  God sees your heart, not your outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:7).  You are worthy (Romans 5:6-8).  He hears your cries (Psalm 56:8-9).  He died so that you may have life (Romans 8:1)!  Don’t let the world define you!  Have freedom in the power of Christ!