Several years ago, I visited a church in Columbia that had a youth ministry which had grown dramatically into the tens of thousands. I had the opportunity to speak to a few of the young people who were part of this ministry. I asked how many people were in the small group networks (cell groups) they all led. I was astonished to be told all of them were leading groups between four hundred and one thousand. I’d never heard of anything like this, yet I was seeing it in front of me.
A year later our church sent teams to work with a few Gypsy churches in Serbia. There I met the young couple in this picture. The young man was pastoring one of the churches which was growing remarkably well. He was fifteen when he became the pastor.
To be honest these types of stories don’t fit within the mindsets of the western church. I believe Jesus’ disciples were young people but in Columbia I was actually seeing it active in the church. It was incredible and almost hard to believe, but it was certainly real.
When I think back on these meetings, and others I have since experienced, I can see there are some common factors between them all. They were completely devoted to Jesus, they had faith and believed they could be used by God, and they had someone who believed in them.
The young people I spoke with weren’t left on their own. They had leaders who were helping them, equipping them, praying they would succeed, and releasing them into ministry. They were doing for these young people, what Jesus had done for the disciples.
Find someone who believes in you.
– A Story from the Before You Say Goodbye Book