I have stated many times how blessed our church family is to have such dedicated youth workers. They teach the Bible with passion and a desire to see the lives of our students changed. I have also talked about the many ways our students have served faithfully and have gone beyond worldly expectations to share the love of Christ. In this story, both passionate youth worker and dedicated student cross paths.
A year ago, one of the youth workers approached me about allowing our youth to participate in a letter writing program to US soldiers serving overseas. I immediately said "yes." Regardless of your position on our military involvement on foreign soil, praying for, encouraging, and sharing the love of Christ with our soldiers is biblical and our political convictions come second to our walk with Christ. I shared the idea with our students and encouraged them to take the name of soldier and write to them. Many of our students did just that.
This past week, I was informed by the youth worker that one of soldiers had sent a card back to a student who had been faithfully writing over the past year to this particular soldier. Here is what the card said:
"It is with great pleasure to let you know I have returned home safe and sound from Iraq. It has been an honor to serve our country during "Operation Iraq Freedom" I would like to say Thanks for your abundance support through cards,letters,and care packages, but most of all through your prayers. Without your support the time away from home would have been more difficult. May God continue to Bless You & Your Family. Continue Praying for the thousands of Soldiers still serving overseas."The Soldier while serving overseas:
Safely at home:
I can't tell you how excited it makes me to see God working through my workers and my students. Thank you both for your willingness to go an extra step to share the love of Christ. You took the ministry of NEHBC all the way to the Middle East without ever leaving our country, and you can be certain that your efforts and prayers played a part in bringing this soldier home safe to her family.
As you celebrate Christmas with your family, will you take the time to thank God for the safety and grace He gave to this soldier? Will you ask Him to do the same for the rest of our troops? If you are interested in writing and encouraging a soldier, please contact me and I will make sure you get the opportunity. twheeless@nehbc.com
I found an article today that I thought my parents should see. The report is about teens and "sexting." This is where teens send sexually explicit messages or nude/nearly nude pictures to other teens via text message. It is usually done between teens who are in a relationship. Unfortunately, once that picture or message is sent, it cannot be taken back, and it will travel a lot further than the sender ever intended.
