I thank God for each of them and for the summer he gave us all. Closing ceremonies can sometimes be a very emotional experience but I have never felt as proud of our youth leadership as I did that night. A number of them were there at closing ceremonies that last Friday as well, and you could sense the power of God’s Holy Spirit as they testified publicly and privately to the way they, themselves, had seen God changing their hearts and minds. This summer saw Chis Granberry baptize 11 of the kids in the youth group as well as fifteen of them work side by side with the summer church teams - roofing homes, improving the new church building and playing with kids in Totus Park.
The idea is based on our responsibility and privilege as believers to witness and then testify to the work of our Savior. “Say so” is always a powerful end to every team week - we ask everyone if they saw God do something during the week to say so.
I want to tell you about the fifth and last closing ceremonies we had at the end of the last team week. Thanks to all of you for your prayers, support and encouragement that make our life and ministry on the Yakama Reservation possible. There are more stories than I could possibly share in an email so I have included links to our blog with stories and pictures from the summer. We (the Clevengers) have just finished our third summer of ministry here on the Reservation and it was a wonderful time of growth in the youth group. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. I don’t know what the future holds for this kid, but when he left he asked me, “Can I be your helper next week?” My heart welled up with tears and I told him: “Yes, you did a great job tonight, and I’m looking forward to next week.” How He shows us what He’s doing in the lives of these kids. It’s amazing how God works in the hearts of the children. I asked him, “Who do you love?” And he answered, “I love Jesus.” As the evening progressed, I asked the kids, “What’s something that we learn about Jesus?” And he pipes up, “He heals us!” When we did the craft, ‘the troublemaker’ painted a big heart on his page, so I asked if he knew what a heart represented and he did. I ask my boys questions from the lesson, and it got to the point where I said, “Ok, this question is for everyone else,” because ‘the troublemaker’ was answering every single one and I didn’t get to hear from the others. Throughout the whole time with the children, ‘the troublemaker’ was exemplary. He played well, ate supper, colored, sang, and eventually joined my small group. I didn’t expect much from him and kept an eye on him, waiting for him to throw rocks, hit a kid, knock stuff over, or cause mayhem. He hadn’t been around since April, and he was sent home three of the four weeks he came. I’ve to keep an eye on him and he’ll be going home soon.” ‘The troublemaker’ doesn’t usually come to Bible Study and when he does, he winds up going home early. When ‘the troublemaker’ climbed out the van, I immediately thought, “Oh boy.
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