God is using John Curiale and his “Kingdom Dream Team” of teenagers to rock THE Cause in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. I asked him to write a guest post on my blog. My prayer is that it will inspire you as it did me. My hope is that it will give you ideas on how to best kickoff this school year with your teenagers for THE Cause of Christ! Here is John’s excellent post…
“A student who recently became a believer invited everyone from the youth group and other friends from the high school to pray at the flagpole for the first day of school. This was not the typical “lets meet at the flagpole and pray†kinda thing. These students arepassionate about reaching their friends for Jesus and living THE Cause! They are settling for nothing less than campus-wide transformation!
The dream of the students this summer was that they would have a non-apathetic summer. They are not interested in mundane church programs and sitting around all day in the Florida sun, but a ministry that never stops even on summer break! They believe because Jesus’love and pursuit of His people never stops—why should youth ministry stop this summer? Their hearts were set ablaze for His presence and for His purposes for the city: to fall in love with Jesus and make disciples who make disciples. And that is exactly what they accomplished! Wow, what a summer!
The picture that God gave us for our ministry is that we are a Kingdom Dream Team that is an overcoming, Spirit-filled, youth group that is handpicked by God to transform the city with the Gospel! Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.†If we are submitted to Jesus and His Cause to make disciples—nothing will stop us—even hell itself. Just as the NBA back in the 1990’s hand selected a Dream Team to annihilate every team in their path—God has put us together as a Kingdom Dream Team that has one purpose in mind: To transform everything in our path! The students’ dream is that every student on campus will know their Father and His love, walk in community as a Family of God with love, and share this love message we call the Gospel with everyone in their path!
The morning of the first day back, students began to text each other Scripture verses and encouragement before 7:00am as a way to start their day off. The students began their day by getting rocked by God’s presence by worshiping Him with their iPods on, talking to their Father and hearing His voice, and hungering to find more about Him in His Word! Their goal is to give away freely to their friends the treasure they find in their everyday intimacy with God!
Before prayer, one student said, “This is day #1 of campus revival!†The students decided to pray in front of the school doors—visible for all to see! The huge crowd inspired many by their boldness to see campus transformation. They were so pumped to reach their friends for Jesus this Fall that they couldn’t sleep the night before!
Agree with us as we pray that our students will transform everything in their path by living THE Cause on their campus!”
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John Curiale
Pastor of Youth & Family
FACEBOOK: The Mission 28
Live THE Cause (Matt. 28:18-20)
