Hello, welcome to 2020 friends!! I have just come off of summer break and let me tell you it has been a wild ride in the best of ways!
In December, we had a church camp for the seniors in Umina Beach. It was a special time as the 12th grade girls I have been mentoring reflected on advice they would give to their younger peers and reminisced about their time in youth. During our last Bible study at the camp I was in tears as I realized that these girls may be the most important reason God brought me to Australia. And I would do it all over again for them in a heartbeat.
The following month brought a flood of youth-related events with EV Church. Every year in January, EV puts on an intensive week-long outreach called Summerfest. During the week, all of the leaders live together in homes of church members or in local schools. We put on a program every night that ends with a big party on Friday night with almost 300 teenagers from around the coast.
During this week we also do door-to-door evangelism and invite people to the programs that are happening. The church also does a survey around the Central Coast, and this year we went around asking people their thoughts on “What brings satisfaction in life?” We had many conversations with people in the community and invited them not only to the midweek programs but to the 5-week series we have going on at church, with the last service being that Jesus is what brings satisfaction.
Throughout the nights, we would play games, listen to a series about choosing a life with Jesus or apart from Jesus, and we would play more games and feast afterwards. Throughout the week I had conversations with one student in particular, and two weeks ago she told me that she was going to decide by the end of this term if she was going to become a Christian or not. Please keep her in your prayers as she negotiates that following Jesus means giving up your life and picking up your cross.
Here is a little snapshot of the numbers for the senior program sent out by one of the pastors:
25 new professions of faith
276 at Friday night PULP (Friday night’s party)
227 average attendance each day
70 totally new students, many who had not been at youth for a long while
Thank you for reading. Thank you to everyone who has reached out. I would love to pray for you so send me any request any time!
Love,
Amber Ross