God did great things during the summer of 2005. We'd like to share with you some of the great things He did. Click on any of the names below to read a personal testimony from an OYC 2005 team member or scroll down to read the stories one-by-one.
| Beth | Jessy | Sarah |
| Brian | Logan | Scott |
| Craig | Mariel | Sharon |
| Crystal | Matthew | Tim |
| Gina | Nikki | Tina |
I learned this summer that you cannot escape God’s will. If He wants something done, it will get done no matter what you do.
For about 3 years, my cousin Brian Stone has told me that I should join OYC. Every summer, I’ve put it off, saying other things were more important or making the excuse I couldn’t do it because I was in the wrong state at the time.
This year I was back in Oregon and decided that if God wanted me to be in OYC, He would have to make sure that I didn’t get a job that would get in the way. After praying that prayer, I started looking for jobs and filling out applications, spreading my resumes to area business. I then, sat and waited for the phone to ring—nothing happened. Finally in May, well after the application deadline, I applied for OYC.
I am now glad I came to OYC. I have had a lot of fun with the group, but it would not have been possible if I had not opened myself up to the Lord and let Him come in and lead me where He wanted me to go. It has been a blessing to go door-to-door meeting new people, helping them to know God a little better by just being there, saying a prayer, singing a song, or just simply by saying hi.
When people open themselves to God, wonderful things happen to them, as well as to the people around them. They aren’t thinking about themselves, but about God and how they can serve, and not be served by, others. Canvassing has been a wonderful experience. I’ve learned a lot about God, other people and yes of course, myself as well. I believe that everyone should canvass at least once in their life. It will be a blessing, teaching them to rely on God.
As I was flying past Mt. Hood, I could see Portland in the distance with rows and rows of houses. I wondered what kind of experiences the summer would bring, what kind of people I would work with, what kind of people I would meet at the doors.
I had been told that Portland was definitely not the Bible belt. In fact, the deciding factor for me in coming to Oregon Youth Challenge was that I had been told that there were lots of Agnostics, Atheists, and New Age people there. This information put a sense of need in my heart. I wanted to make a difference in a place where people had no hope. Well, the plane has landed back on the eastern side of the country, the summer is over, and I have made no difference. I haven’t changed anything, but I have stood at so many doors and watched the God whom I serve make a difference, in so many lives including my own.
Spending time with friends that are strong Christians has been one of the best influences God has made on me. Wholesome conversation helps me to keep my mind on good things. Being able to share what we have read in our personal devotions helps me to spend more time in my Bible. This summer I have come to enjoy reading the Bible like I never have before. Most of all, talking about spiritual things has helped me to find a fresh walk with God. My friends this summer have been a big part of the difference God has been making in my life.
I’ve seen my need for God very clearly this summer. Everyday I meet people who need to be pointed back to their Savior. A man told me how his sons had gotten in trouble. After I prayed for him, he began to pray and tell God how thankful he was that I had come along to remind him that he needed to pray more often. Even that reminded me that I need to have a constant connection with God. That is the only way I can survive. Through sermons, people I’ve met and in my Bible, it seems like that is one thing that God has been teaching me—I need Him!
God has changed me this summer. I felt young like Jeremiah did when he said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” Jeremiah 1:6. But this summer I have realized that God also says, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.” Jeremiah 1:9. What an awesome thought that God will give us his words. When we give our lives fully to God, He will make a big difference! He will give us a new heart so that His words flow out. Have you realized that your life needs to be changed for something new? Give everything that you are to the Potter, and He will make a difference.
This summer, God has blessed me in many ways, not the least of which was monetary. God saw my need for many things and always provided. On days when people would get me down, God always helped me back up through my group, and there was never a question that God had a plan for me.
I started this summer off in a bad way. Not knowing my entire canvass, I worked hard to become a good canvasser the first few days, in spite of my procrastination. I prayed that God would help me to become a better canvasser, even though I secretly wished that people were not going to answer their door for the first few houses. I eventually got over my fear and realized that God would go with me wherever I was, so I had nothing to fear.
I really enjoyed the group I was given. It was a perfect mix of people. We had the carefree, the fun, the sarcastic and the driven. Our leader, Gina, is one of those extremely driven choleric types — which is nice for a leader. Jessy is a happy-go-lucky sanguine with a lot of phlegmatic. Crystal was a lot like me: a people loving sanguine and an all-around fun person. Logan was our dry humor section. On slower canvassing days, one could always count on Logan for some hilarious sarcasm.
After experiencing divine appointments, like the time people told me that I was the angel God had sent in response to their prayers, I knew that God had a plan for me. Regardless of how people responded the first time to my canvass, the results will only be fully known in heaven. I am satisfied with the seeds I have planted with God’s help and I am confident that the Holy Spirit will do the rest.
One old woman will always stand out to me. I had been having a bad day until I came to her house. This lady proceeded to tell me her list of ailments and family issues. I patiently waited until I had an opportunity to ask if I could pray. She consented to my prayer and I prayed for her. After the prayer, the woman’s voice changed and she asked me to lean forward. As I leaned forward, she proceeded to take my head in her hands and kiss me on the forehead, telling me that God had sent me to her.
In conclusion, God did have a plan for me this summer. The verse “All things work together for those who serve the Lord” has held true. Even when I did not see how I could possibly work for God through my own problems, He worked through me, in spite of me. All I had to be was willing. I often sang to myself “I’ll go where You send me”, and “I don’t need excuses when I am Your hands and feet” and these words gave me strength through hard times as well as the wonderful team God blessed me with.
I hope to come back next summer a stronger Christian, and one who has used the talents God has given me to further His kingdom. I will take this summer and by God’s grace have a similar school year. God will lead in my life, in spite of me, and simply because I am willing and He is able. To those who made OYC possible, God bless and thank you for this opportunity to grow in Christ. I will be back :) Amen!
This summer I have learned that I cannot do anything worthwhile without Jesus. I have grown a lot this summer, but not in strength. I have grown in recognizing how truly weak I am. My experiences, both good and bad, have all lead me to reach the conclusion that Jesus is everything. As I went door-to-door, I learned that it was not me who was out there doing the work. Some days, I would go out there with disgust towards my job, but God would still use me.
Recently, in an attempt to waste time, I accepted an invitation to enter the home of a lady who wanted to sell me some candles. I knew good and well I was not going to buy them. By the time I left the house, I had sold her a God’s Answers to Your Questions, which was good because she is a Catholic. God used me in the middle of my efforts to waste His time. Experiences like this one are one way that I know Jesus is doing all of the work, not me.
During the last half of the summer, I stopped offering people the opportunity to sign up for community services. I felt like since I didn’t offer, I wasn’t good enough for God to use me. Psalms 44:22 says “Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” What I like about this verse is that it doesn’t say “Return to me and I will redeem you” but points out that we are already redeemed. God knows what is hard for me and I have learned that if I just come and hand it all over to Him and surrender my will, He has already redeemed me and is already using me.
To sum up what I have learned this summer, I would say that the power of God is all that I need and I am absolutely nothing without it. The days when I tried my hardest to make sales were the days when I did the worst. And, the days when I ask ed God to bless me with good experiences and didn’t think about my sales were the days that I did the best. I have learned that we all need to take the yoke of Jesus on us, surrendering our will to Him, and He will give us rest. We may have days where we are physically exhausted from our work, but Jesus, and only Jesus, can keep our spirits always peaceful.
Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest; And he that reapeth recieveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. John 4:36
We have completed the summer. We have experienced God’s providence. We have seen the harvest. Now there remains for us, if we remain faithful, a reward in heaven. Father, let us not believe that our reward is a only in our scholarship for school. Let us not assume we can, by moving, leave the harvest fields. Let us not forget that Your calling on us encompasses our entire lives. We have given You a summer, but let us not be content with that. Wherever You send us, may we there see the harvest fields stretching before us.
I have heard your stories this summer and it has fed my soul and touched my heart. I have had the opportunity to labor for souls with you side by side as we persuaded people. We have together felt the power of the Holy Spirit as we stood in prayer with fellow believers, Catholics, Baptists, Pentecostals— brothers and sisters who saw beyond our cookbooks to our mission and desired to bless us.
We have seen the Great Controversy rage within people as they agonized over purchasing books. We have known the perfect timing of God as we arrived at houses not a moment too late or too soon. We have heard stories that saddened us and stories that thrilled us. We have helped people pray their first prayers. We have watched some take their first steps to Jesus. We have also watched some turn away and have grieved at the loss. We have found that trials only bring us closer to the throne of heaven and the One who suffered and now sits there.
It is not a coincidence that God has brought each of us together this summer. We have been His apprentices learning the work of our Father. Let us carry these lessons with us. Thank you all for sharing with me. Have you ever had that unquenchable urge to give up this world-as-we-know-it, move to a strange town in Africa, and spread the word? Or maybe what you want is to share God to a mad pack of savages on a cannibalistic island in the middle of nowhere. Well, guess what? You can do extreme things for Jesus without leaving your hometown! Welcome to Oregon Youth Challenge.
We, with the Holy Spirit, spent the summer spreading the word of God to one of the most pagan, God-famished bunches in the world: the people of Portland. If you thought the cannibals or the unknown worlds in Africa were the only people that needed help, then I suggest you try this group and see the hundreds you will reach who desperately need Jesus. This is more than just a summer job: you will make incredible friendships, see God in action at doors, and most importantly, see Him change your own life.
Oregon Youth Challenge has 16 young people who all share the same incredible zeal for serving God. It may have crossed your mind that spending every waking hour of eight weeks with the same people could get a little unnerving, but on the contrary, you grow inseparable bonds. These people share your good days, bad days, or just plain crazy days. It becomes, for lack of a better phrase, one big happy family.
Probably the most tangible ways I have seen God work are at the different houses we go to in a day. I have seen God do amazing things just to bring a person into my path. Some have been stressed and only needed prayer, but for others, my visit was a matter of eternal life. I believe that my books helped point them to the Source of eternal life. It has been delightful to see God put books like Steps to Christ in their hands.
The work that God has done for people I meet doesn’t equal the things He has been doing for me. I felt so disconnected before I came, but when you leave the normal life of homework and drama, join a team working for Jesus, and give your all to it, you need Jesus for support! You will suddenly really value your devotional time and crave to have the same mindset Jesus had, helping the people. I’ve never felt closer to Him than as a part of Oregon Youth Challenge.
When you work for Jesus, spreading Him to people who need it so badly, you will have an incredible experience. You will develop strong friendships, see His working hand at doors, and have your own life completely changed.
Wow! I can’t believe this summer is already over. It has been an awesome experience for me. I have made so many friends and have seen God work in mighty ways. I’d like to share with you some stories of how God has helped grow my faith this summer.
God has strengthened my faith a countless number of times by blessing me while out canvassing. One particular story sticks out in my mind. One day, I was having a hard time not getting discouraged. I had gone the entire day without selling a single book. At my last house of the day, I showed a lady a cookbook. She seemed interested, so I continued showing her the rest of the books in my handset. When I finished, I asked her which ones interested her the most and she said, “I’ll take them all!” It was so awesome to see that God had not given up on my day even though I had, and He still had a blessing in store for me.
It has been so awesome this summer to see God use me to touch other people’s lives. One time I was visiting an elderly blind lady. She was poor and was using all of her money for medications. I was able to talk to her awhile and figured out she was a Christian. I offered to pray for her and she gladly accepted. When I finished praying, she started praying for me. In her prayer, she mentioned that she had asked God earlier in the day to send someone along to cheer her up. It was so cool to see God use me to answer someone’s prayer.
Another time, I was talking to a Catholic guy. He, as well, was not able to help much, but he was interested in our church and in our program. We talked for awhile and in our conversation, I was able to pick up that he was out of work and was discouraged. I offered to pray that God would help him find a job and bless his family. Halfway through my prayer, he started praying and thanked God for sending this “angel” to come along and cheer him up. It made me so happy to be able to cheer him up.
It has strengthened my faith so much to see God in action this summer. It has been so awesome to see Him use me to reach others, and I have been blessed by Him so many times. If you put yourself in a position to be used by God in His work, you will experience awesome things and your faith will grow in ways you never thought possible. All you have to do is put your foot in the water, and God will do the rest.
In Matthew 10:38, Jesus talks about taking up your cross and following after Him. During the times that Jesus walked on this earth, it was common for a prisoner who was condemned to die to have to carry his cross to the place of his crucfixion. Jesus Himself was ordered to carry His (or was it my?) cross.
The call to take up my cross and follow means that I must be ready to surrender and die to self that I might gain Christ and all that He has planned and ambitioned for my life. For me, part of this has meant canvassing for seven summers. Were there extremely hot days where my eyeballs rolled back into my head? Yes. Were there grouchy people who would not listen to a word I had to say? Yes. Were there times when I wondered where in the world God was, and why on earth there was only lukewarm water in the car to drink that had sat in a plastic bottle for two days? Uh huh. But I remember that little girl I met my second summer who said that I was the first person in the world to tell her about Jesus and sell her mom a book about Him.
Then there was that whole group of neighborhood children who insisted on going door-to-door with me while I was canvassing their street. At each child’s home, the group talked their parents into buying story books for them. There was the woman who said I was an answer to her morning prayers, and the man who bought a Great Controversy and said “This is just was what I’ve been looking for.” The list goes on and on.
What on earth draws me to this work? It’s Jesus. He becomes the center of my life and I lose sight of myself as I see Him work miracles to directly answer my prayers. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”
When I think about this, I am willing to take up my book bag and handset (my cross) and walk down a street on a hot summer day to be the hands and feet of my Savior who walked the road to Calvary for me. I am learning that the whole process of dying to self and surrendering my life to God must be accomplished daily. When I focus in on Jesus, the “things of this world grow strangely dim.”
The prayer of my life is that I can say with Paul in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
God has worked miracles in each one of our lives this summer. By going door-to-door selling religious literature and being a Christian example to the community, each one of us has come to be more dependent on God. There are two parts of success in literature evangelism — human effort and divine power. Without either one of these, you will have fewer achievements and a less successful experience.
This summer, I have seen how important this equation is. I started out working on the human effort by memorizing the canvass and practicing my sales pitch. Working on my exterior appearance, I forgot a key ingredient, divine power. Going out with my group on the first day was one of the most nerve-racking events of my life and I prayed constantly for calmness and blessings. However, as I got more confident in my own skills, I started to leave God out of the equation. As time went by, my sales slowly fell and I started to feel down and depressed. I knew I could do so much better, but I could not figure out why my sales kept on dropping. I was soon only averaging two to three books a day. I felt angry at God for allowing me to do so poorly.
This continued through week five of the program. It was then that a guest came to speak to us about canvassing success. She told us about the success equation and its two parts. That speech turned me around. I made a commitment to spend more time with God, pray more often, and turn my sales over to him. By the next Monday, I could feel God working through me. My sales jumped and soon I was feeling more confident and happier.
By depending on God for the divine power and using human effort, my sales were growing and I was feeling happier. More divine experiences started to occur and I started to think that I was making a bigger difference in the community. I felt I was leading people in the community to Christ. I then discovered the only way to succeed is through involving God daily in your life. This is one of the most important lessons I have ever learned and I could not have learned it if I was not involved in Oregon Youth Challenge.
My summer with Oregon Youth Challenge has been incredible. This was not my first summer as a Youth Challenge member, but it was by far the best. God has blessed me so abundantly this summer, and I don’t mean just in sales — I mean in my spiritual growth. This summer I have learned to depend on Him as I never have before.
There has not been one particular experience, but rather a summer-long encounter that brought this dependence about. He was always there for me. On the hardest days and at the scariest doors, He was there. In 2 Thessalonians 3:3, Paul says, “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one” (NIV). As I got out of the car each day and went up to my first house, I claimed this promise. As the day stretched out seemingly unendingly before me, I knew that Jesus was there with me, surrounding me, protecting me, and supporting me.
This experience has served to deepen my thirst and intensify the love I have for Jesus. I have learned that Jesus is there for me when no one else is. He is the only thing worth trusting in this world. Other people are going to fail me and I certainly can’t trust myself, for I know better than anyone else what a miserable person I am.
It was when I was the weakest at the doors that Jesus shined the strongest. There are many people who are there for us when we are strong, yet walk away from us when we are weak, but not Jesus. When I was at my weakest, Jesus spoke through me and touched peoples’ hearts, and as He did this, I found myself longing more and more to lean only on Him.
I’m so thankful for the relationship I’ve developed with Jesus throughout this summer. It’s an incredible thing, going out on the streets day after day, so tired and defenseless that turning to Jesus is your only viable option. Without Him, I couldn’t have made it through this summer. I’m so grateful to Oregon Youth Challenge for the opportunity it has given me to grow closer to my Savior.
Oregon Youth Challenge 2005 certainly lived up to its name this summer.
As I started out this summer, I wondered if God had really sent me here and several times I thought about going home. Had He led me to here to endure scorching hot days and 20 doors slammed in my face in a row? Yikes!
However, things changed a bit when one evening. As Eddie and I worked together in a newer section of homes, we came to a house with the door wide open. In the home, we saw kids running in circles all over the place. The lady of the house turned off her vacuum and in an annoyed voice, exclaimed, “My children don’t read.” Her facial expressions showed that she was impatient about two “salesmen” coming to her door.
When we showed her some adult spiritual books, the Holy Spirit began to soften her heart. Unfortunately, she said, she was a stay-at-home mom and had no money. So Eddie asked her if we could pray with her. After we prayed, she told us that she believed God had sent us there. She was thankful and I felt excitement and was so blessed. I have been reminded so many times that God is working through my efforts. And though I may not feel that I’m doing as much as I could, God continually blesses!
I enjoyed cool experiences as well as good times hanging out at the river, playing kickball or just sitting around chatting with awesome friends.
Well, finishing this summer has proven my doubts wrong. Many people’s lives have been touched this summer. I may have had hard days, but through God, awesome things happened! Mathew 10:10 says, “A worker is worthy of his food” and Philippians 2:13 says, “It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Praise God!
All missionaries have a common goal: to bring about the end of the world, inviting and re-inviting people to choose to live forever. With the strangle hold the evil one has on this world, this would be impossible if not for God’s promises to “be with [us] always, to the very end of the age” and to “pour out his Spirit on all people” in the last days. According to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, we are indeed living in the toenails of time.
Oregon Youth Challenge is one of the many implements to wage war against unseen powers. It’s a scholarship program in the same way that mountain climbing is a way to stay in shape. There are far easier ways to earn money and stay in shape, but a deeper conviction and love pushes ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
On the last Tuesday of the program, I was moving through an apartment complex when I met a young man about 17 years of age. I showed him one of our devotional books, but he looked somewhat overwhelmed by it. I asked him whether he liked to read, and he replied, “No, I spend all my time in computer games.” The distractions of the world had stolen away his attention, yet he still had some consciousness of his need for spiritual direction. I prayed a quick prayer for wisdom and then showed him God’s Answers to Your Questions, a book which answers questions about life, with authority straight from the Bible. After showing him the book, I did as I was trained and stood silent, waiting for his decision.
The Spirit of God, as described in Acts, worked on his heart, and in that silence, the Still Small Voice spoke to him. Responding, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a $10 bill. Perhaps for the first time in his life, he was searching for a deeper knowledge of God.
He asked me, “So, if I have any Bible question, this is going to answer it for me?” The book, of course, doesn’t encompass the entire Bible, but it is ideally suited for his purposes, so I answered, “Yeah, pretty much.” In that instance, the Holy Spirit was victorious. The book was his, and my labor in that home was finished, although the important work had only begun. His parting words were, “Yeah, I’ll read that.” This reminded me of the promise in Exodus when the Israelites were facing an advancing Egyptian swarm, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Ex 14:14). A drip of sweat falls slowly down my brow and splashes far below on to my hands which grip five books, 17 magazines, a pad of community programs, and a Happiness Digest. I take in a deep breath, say a quick prayer to God, walk up the last step, knock 7 times to the tune of, “I-have-something-good-for-you,” smile, and begin. After 98 hours of intense training, heavy memorization, moving, and an anointing ceremony, the 8 weeks of incredible literature evangelism work has begun. Since that moment, I have been blessed beyond imagine.
This was my second summer as a member of the Oregon Youth Challenge. Honestly, the summer of ‘04 was the best and worst summer of my life. I was determined not to return, but God knew what He was doing. And now as I look back upon the last 3 months, I realize what awesome plans God has for those who give their lives completely into His hands.
This summer, God did truly awesome things. He led me to pray with families who received news of a death minutes before I arrived at their door step, to walk up a long cemetery road and find a little house with a lonely lady who needed a hug, to get a Steps to Christ out to a couple of teenagers playing drums in their garage, and to be asked by a little girl in an apartment why Jesus died for us. He’s given me the chance to pray with a brother in Christ for the first time in his life, laugh with strangers, receive ice cream from the same lady who moments before had yelled at me, and be told by a women that in me she sees so much of Christ’s presence.
Everything I have done, every step along the long way, every piece of Christian literature I’ve gotten out, has all and only been possible by God, our loving, Heavenly Father.
God is so awesome. The Lord truly lives! Praise be to the Rock of my defense. He is my Savior. Let Him be exalted forever! Psalm 18:46 … Nothing but goodness is found in Him. Psalm 92:15 Blessed be the name of the Lord now and forever. From the sun’s rising to its setting, may the name of the Lord be praised. Psalm 113 Lord, I love you. You are my strength, my defender and my Savior. Psalm 18:1
The first time someone told me that by reading The Desire of Ages, I’d fall in love with Jesus, I fully and indisputably made it a personal goal to attain that type of relationship. It was my prayer that I would truly fall in love with Jesus Christ. Well, I still haven’t read the whole book, but my walk with Jesus is so much stronger. Through the hot sun and rain, one door at a time, by completely surrendering my life to God and jumping in, I have fallen in love with Jesus Christ. And that is the greatest and truest joy in life!
P.S. Training was actually only a few hours long and “jumping in” is a metaphor to describe doing God’s will. In my case, it was joining OYC.
Jesus said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:39.
This summer has taught me a lot about surrender. I was expecting to do something else this summer, but God let those doors close and opened the door for me to come to OYC. I had plans that didn’t work the way I wanted them to, but God has something better in store. As I think back, I realize how silly it was for me to think the plans I had were better than God’s plans. He is in control and because of that I don’t need to worry — I just need to make God my first love.
At the beginning of OYC, I was planning to leave right after the program ended for South Korea, to teach English for a year. Then, right before the program began, I talked with a pastor from Washington state and got my hopes up about working with him after the summer. I waited for him to talk with his church about it, but complications arose and that didn’t work out. By then I had decided not to go to Korea, but rather look for something more in the line of ministry I want to pursue as a career. Praise the Lord, God opened the door for me to go to Upper Columbia Academy to be the assistant chaplain there.
Going to doors this summer has reminded me that I can’t reach people for Christ on my own. I have to surrender myself and the work we are doing to God so that I can be filled with His Spirit to touch people’s lives. As we put our lives in God’s hands, He can make us who He wants us to be.
I am learning more and more that I am not my own. God created me and died for me. I am His and He is mine. I can find peace and contentment in God. He loves me more than I can imagine. He is the one who is directing my life. I am confident in his promise- “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11.
Joining Oregon Youth Challenge was a very extreme decision that I made in an attempt to let God change my life. In my lifestyle, I went from one extreme to another, and God blessed me and helped me to change. Throughout the eight weeks, I struggled with many challenges, but God was always there to help me. God reminded me that if I was willing to give my 100% for Him, He was willing to continually bless me.
During this program, our leaders would often tell us, “skip a house, skip a blessing” and every day God would remind me of that and make it real to me. One day, I went to this house and the front gate was locked. I tried to open it but had no luck. I was wearing a skirt and I wasn’t sure if I should jump over the gate. At that moment I heard the leaders in the back of my head saying, “skip a house, skip a blessing”, so I decided to jump over the fence.
I talked with the lady at the house and was able to share Jesus with her. She was very excited to purchase “Peace Above the Storm” from me and accept Jesus in her life again. She was also able to show me an alternative wayto leave her yard. God showed me in this experience that if I am willing to give my 100% to him, He will bless me.
Giving up all my wants this summer was a big struggle for me. Changing my lifestyle and my outlook on life’s issues was frustrating and challenging; however, once I was able to change myself, I then was able to see God working in me and was able to help others change.
This summer, it has been an awesome experience to work with our team members. I believe that without the support and prayers of our team members no one would be able to share Jesus with the community like we did.
Working with the people in the community opened my eyes to the need that is out there. It not only opened my eyes to the need in the community but opened my eyes to the need that was right in front of me — the need that I had. I knew that I was searching for something, but found myself always covering up my emptiness with something of the world. I wanted something better for my life, but was not willing to commit all to God. God wants us to commit everything to Him and even though it is a challenge, He will help us through it. When we give God 100% of ourselves, He is there to back us up and help us when we are about to fall.
God calls every one of us to reach out for Him and do His work. We all have our sins, our past, and our temptations; however, we also have a special plan for our lives. When I joined OYC I didn’t know why I was here. I didn’t know how I managed to get myself involved in something so “religious”. This was an extreme change in my life and as I worked each day, God reminded me of why I was in the program. When we work for God then we will be willing to give 100% to Him, and when we give 100%, He will bless us forever.
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