CONTAGIOUS! That's the name coughed up by the high school youth group of Grace City Church a few years ago. While the original members have graduated and moved on, they spread their fever for Christ onto the younger ones and Contagious continues to catch on to this day.
Kenny (right) directing Act 2, scene 2 of "the Prodigal son returns"
This year we decided to spread the love to our university students and beyond and the youth were keen for that. So, many of the international students who attend our church are now Contagious too! God has also brought us a few post grad students and young professionals who are just learning about God and Christianity. They continue to come and learn, and we continue to pray for God to give them new hearts and put His Spirit in them that they may receive the faith to believe.
I am so grateful for answered prayer. I sought God for direction on how to best serve ISMNZ as a part of Grace City Church’s leadership team, and He guided me to become involved with the student ministry. Their current youth leader, Kenny Wong (from Brunei) had a lot on his plate and had been praying for God to bring more help. So, along with me and one of our elders Kellis (from Fiji) Jing Xiu is serving the ministry as well as Ian Lim, one of our Malaysian post grad students who is also a graduate leader of OCF (Overseas Christian Fellowship). God put together a good team!
We launched the Contagious spread with a BBQ. Then spent the follow six weeks studying at the feet of RC Sproul (DVD series ‘Choosing My Religion’)! While RC is a deep thinker, he is also very gifted in teaching deep things in a way that students can relate to. The series focuses around the parable of the prodigal son, and we spent time having discussions around the tables about “who is God?”, “What is a Christian?”, relativism, absolutes, the Law of God, the wrath of God, sin, grace, forgiveness. The students were really focussed and asking some awesome questions.
At the end of the series we threw a celebration banquet, “Welcome Home” in honour of the prodigal son’s return. It was an outreach to the university students who are in the midst of their end of semester exams. But, it was also an opportunity for talented musicians to literally throw together a praise band (they practiced after high school every day that week) – and fulfill a vision they had for Contagious. It is so exciting to see them grow in Christ and seek ways to serve Him and reach out to their classmates and others!
CONTAGIOUS LIVE on stage for the VERY FIRST TIME!
Please continue to pray for Contagious. They have a ‘Dream Box’ where they put in their requests and ideas. One major request is “we want to participate in a prayer retreat”. As a result, over these next three weeks we will have studies on: “Model prayers: Lord teach me to pray, the prayers of Jesus, the prayers of Paul” – then “how to spend a day alone with God” – and “Praying as you go – a look at prayer walks”. Then, we plan to have a prayer advance overnighter at a beach nearby. To God be the glory for His love growing in the hearts of the students!
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