Love Them Well

In the short amount of time I have spent in Detroit, the Lord has put so many amazing people who live there in my path that I have grown to love a lot. Realistically I could write a very long list of all those people, but last week I really saw the Lord working in the lives of the teens who attend Big A (the daily VBS our teams do). When it comes to Big A, Kayla, the other staff member this summer, is our preschool leader while I get the privilege of spending every afternoon with the wonderful teens who come. A few of them are kids I remember from 2017-2019 when I came as a student to Detroit, and getting to see them grown up and more mature has been such a blessing!

While God is constantly moving and encountering kids at Big A, I am in total awe of how He moved in the teen room last week through both the kids and the leaders I had the opportunity to serve alongside, Lucas and Landon. When Lucas, Landon, and I sat down at the beginning of the week to plan everything out, we weren't really sure where to start at first. Sure, we had some ideas of Bible stories we could easily go through, but we didn't want to just do something because it was easy or common. We wanted to go deep with the teens, pushing them to ask questions and truly encounter the Lord. We also wanted it to be His plan, not ours, that was followed throughout the week. We realized that many of them hadn't heard in depth the most important message they could ever hear: the gospel. The Lord made it clear that He wanted us to go through it in detail, sharing as much as we could about each aspect of it. So, we got to work praying and coming up with a detailed idea of what each day of the week would look like. We decided what activities we would do, snacks we would eat, and verses we would read. Monday we were going to talk about creation, and man's separation from God. Tuesday we would cover Old Testament law and why they had to do the things they did. Wednesday we planned on looking at some of the prophecies about Jesus, while Thursday we would talk about Jesus, His life, and what He did for us. We would end the week discussing what all of that meant for us in our lives now.

But God, in the funny way that He does, shattered those plans every. single. day. We got the deep conversations we sought, more so than I could have ever imagined. We, also got the questions, which were much more difficult than I had anticipated. The things we talked about led to conversations that were so fruitful and beautiful, and the Lord used it to grow me as well. Watching the Lord work in the teens and through Lucas, Landon, and I was such a blessing. We talked about things like the trinity, and how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were not created but always in existence and active. We discussed how people were saved before Jesus took on our sins, and what happened in the 3 days between Jesus' death and resurrection. Many of the questions asked were things I didn't fully know the answer to, but He provided answers not only in my own mind but through the other leaders in the room, and it was such a joy watching them share truth and love with the teens.

Along with watching them share the gospel and truths about the Lord, I watched Lucas and Landon share themselves and their stories with the teens. With me being 21, and them being 20 and 18, we had a room full of young people who were able to connect on a different level than is typically possible during our ministry. I watched amazing friendships bloom in the span of just a few days, and saw the two genuinely excited to spend time with the teens. Whether it was playing basketball together, sharing a meal, or laughing over icebreakers, I watched the Lord work in their hearts as they grew to love the teens in the same way us staff at Detroit Love do. By the end of the week we were writing letters for them, Landon was buying them Oreos because they were sick of Goldfish, and Lucas was going around the table intentionally and individually telling each student the attributes he has seen in them that the Lord has given them. There is nothing better than watching others love the people that you care about well, and I got to watch those two do it SO well last week. I am forever grateful for my job, and getting to watch growth like that happen. I not only get the joy of spending my summer with these amazing kids, but I get to meet pretty cool people on the teams and watch them realize how amazing the kids are too!

I pray the Lord puts people in the kids lives to love them that well every day, even when we aren't there. I pray they recognize that HE loves them more than any other person could, and I pray that they seek a genuine relationship with Him as a result. I pray for the teams, and the love that the Lord has put in their hearts over the past three weeks. I pray that they continue to think about and pray for the kids year round. I also pray that their hearts are open to love those around them in their daily lives the same way they love the kids at Big A. He has amazing plans to use them at home, most likely even more than He used them in Detroit, and I hope they recognized and lean into that, trusting Him and His plan fully!