Church lock-ins. So many thoughts come to mind, good and bad.
But this past weekend, we had the privilege of joining a local church at their young adults lock-in. I had been a part of several lock-ins in the past with youth at my church, but never one with young adults. It was an experience I will never forget.
Our night was filled with many games, snacking, bible studies, worshiping and praising God, and prayer time.
Our theme was North vs. South Fears, so the idea was that we had people from the Northern hemisphere and people from the Southern hemisphere, and we were gonna see how our fears compared or contrasted.
I did not know what to expect, whether our fears would be different or not, but I knew the evening would not be a waste.
Once we started the Bible study, we all had to write down major fears we had and we shared them in an open group. One girl stood up and listed off a lot of different fears, but stumbled a little in saying her last one, clearly showing this was the fear that is weighing her down the most. She said she fears her dad will die without him knowing that she loves him and then she sat down. Hearing that struck a nerve in me, but I could not quite put a finger on it, because so much has happened in my time here in Zimbabwe that so many other emotions and thoughts flooded my mind.
After enough people shared we broke into groups and I was placed in the same group as this girl and two other girls. We again shared our fears and talked more of them. When the girl stated
again that she did not want her dad to die without him knowing she loved
him she broke down in tears and I finally remembered why this resonated
with me. I too went through a point in life
where I struggled to find love for my parents. Without even saying
anything, we simply sat there weeping together and praying to God.
After we finished going through the group time I was able to take her aside and hear her story. We had very different situations concerning our parents, but the bottom line was we had both come to a point in our lives where we lost love for others. I was able to share my story and how the only reason I found love for others again was through Christ. I had to really understand His undeserving love he pours out to me. I had to understand what He did for me on the cross. I had to believe in that and let Him change me and my heart. Only by Christ, was I able to find real love to have for others. We were able to talk a lot more about it, and she was so encouraged to hear someone else having struggled with the same thing before and to hear truth.
I was not prepared going into that lock-in to have my heart broken for someone else's struggle so similar to mine. To have God use such a private and not talked about much part of my life. It showed me that God uses everything in our past to glorify Himself. To draw others to Himself.
Please continue to pray for us.
-Allie
Pray for the girl I met and that she can find love for her father and others.
Pray that as God continues to show us his undeserving love he has for us, that we can keep pouring it out to others we come in contact with.
But this past weekend, we had the privilege of joining a local church at their young adults lock-in. I had been a part of several lock-ins in the past with youth at my church, but never one with young adults. It was an experience I will never forget.
Our night was filled with many games, snacking, bible studies, worshiping and praising God, and prayer time.
Our theme was North vs. South Fears, so the idea was that we had people from the Northern hemisphere and people from the Southern hemisphere, and we were gonna see how our fears compared or contrasted.
I did not know what to expect, whether our fears would be different or not, but I knew the evening would not be a waste.
Once we started the Bible study, we all had to write down major fears we had and we shared them in an open group. One girl stood up and listed off a lot of different fears, but stumbled a little in saying her last one, clearly showing this was the fear that is weighing her down the most. She said she fears her dad will die without him knowing that she loves him and then she sat down. Hearing that struck a nerve in me, but I could not quite put a finger on it, because so much has happened in my time here in Zimbabwe that so many other emotions and thoughts flooded my mind.
After we finished going through the group time I was able to take her aside and hear her story. We had very different situations concerning our parents, but the bottom line was we had both come to a point in our lives where we lost love for others. I was able to share my story and how the only reason I found love for others again was through Christ. I had to really understand His undeserving love he pours out to me. I had to understand what He did for me on the cross. I had to believe in that and let Him change me and my heart. Only by Christ, was I able to find real love to have for others. We were able to talk a lot more about it, and she was so encouraged to hear someone else having struggled with the same thing before and to hear truth.
I was not prepared going into that lock-in to have my heart broken for someone else's struggle so similar to mine. To have God use such a private and not talked about much part of my life. It showed me that God uses everything in our past to glorify Himself. To draw others to Himself.
Please continue to pray for us.
-Allie
Pray for the girl I met and that she can find love for her father and others.
Pray that as God continues to show us his undeserving love he has for us, that we can keep pouring it out to others we come in contact with.