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| Iris and Edgar in front of K-State's Old Memorial Stadium |
Thanks to some new friends from Wallula Christian Church, Edgar and Iris, two Teens Adelante leaders, were able to attend a youth conference in Manhattan, Kansas last weekend. They got to visit a college campus, meet new Christian teens, and learn and worship. The theme of the conference was "Compel," and the two of them came home with a spark in their eyes. The weekend revolved around 2 Corinthians 5: 14-21.
14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
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| Us with the Wallula teens and leaders |
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Iris was impacted by the workshop she went to about the "Body of Christ," which the Lord really used to prepare her heart for the first house-church meeting the following week. We were blessed to have lots of worship for all three days, which was a rockin', energetic experience to say the least. Edgar and Iris are both learning instruments, and have begun to play at church with both the teens and the adults, so seeing another way of doing things inspired their creativity. I am excited to see a passion growing in them for good worship music. They are beginning to realize that there is not just one form of worship music, and they are realizing they can make it their own, which is exactly what the other teens need; because David and I's taste is not the same as theirs! We are excited to see their passion for music and their passion for God melding into one thing.
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| Celebrating Edgar's 17th birthday on Sunday! |
The Wallula Church's teens and their leaders were so welcoming to Edgar, Iris, David, and myself, making us feel like we were part of the family even though we just met. We all were able to take communion together before we parted ways, and reflect on what God wanted us to take home from the conference.
