God Is Faithful: Zach's Faith Journey- Part 3

Hi friends! Today we begin part 3 of Zach’s faith journey. The Lord clearly made an impression on his heart through his experiences with the Wednesday Night Live program. I love that the lesson he learned about missions, at such a young age, set a desire in his heart to help those in need. As he had told me, it “informs how we move through the world.” Enjoy!

My first year of the Wednesday Night Live confirmation program was in 7^th grade.  Every Wednesday night we had worship, a message, and then broke out into our small groups that were split by gender.  We were assigned the same group of guys, which consisted of eight or nine students and two male leaders, for all three years.  The continuity allowed us to build community. 

Every year there was a retreat that accompanied those Wednesday nights.  In 7^th grade, the retreat centered on the topic of prayer.  In 8^th grade it was on dating, kissing, and sex, which I think my church did a phenomenal job with.  Finally, in 9^th grade we had the Teens Encounter Christ retreat. 

Wednesday Night Live also had a summer experience that was integrated into the program.  The first year there was an opportunity to go on a short-term mission trip.  My assignment?  Saint Paul, Minnesota.  It was located only 25-30 minutes away from my house.  Initially I felt like I got scammed.  I thought, “Don’t we have to go to some other country to do missions?”  Then, very quickly, that unexamined belief was totally obliterated.  

We did a variety of activities while we were in the inner city of Saint Paul.  We went to a community center that had a kid’s program for parents who had to work late.  The afterschool care was open until 8PM.  There, we hung out with the kids and kept them occupied until they were picked up.  We also went to a senior living community to help senior citizens that were more immobile but wanted to remain independent.  It was important to them to live in their own home.  So, we helped them with gardening projects and lawn care to facilitate their autonomy. 

What I quickly saw was that I did not need to go far to do mission work. Missions were not something that we had to go any lengths to travel to and find.  I think the problem is that if we begin to think that mission work is “over there,” it gives us a convenient excuse of why we are not doing it.  “Oh, I can’t go to Australia this weekend, so I don’t have to do any missions.”  No.  We are where we are.  Be where our feet are and be present to the needs of that community.  As Christians, we are called to make it almost a pattern of our life.  For my 7^th grade self, it was very eye opening when I realized that I did not have to be in South America or Africa to meet a need, I could just go to Saint Paul.  I could look in my own backyard.

One of the most profound moments of my faith journey would happen a couple years later.  In 9^th grade, we went to the Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) retreat.  We brought sleeping bags and pillows for our stay at the church.  All weekend long we were not allowed to know the time or have any phones or electronics.  It was TEC without any tech for three days and two nights.  Each of the three days were modeled after the three salvific events that stand at the heart of our faith.  

The first day was the cruciform day.  In a sense, a die day.  It was focused on understanding that life with Christ meant we were denying ourselves and taking up our cross.  Although we talked about how God always loves us and delights in how He made us, we also discussed how there were things that inhibited us from our full well-being.  We let the things that prevented us from flourishing wither up and fall off.  We died to them.

There was a powerful moment where every student had a chance to come forward.  In front of the whole group, they would name something they wanted to die to.  We heard everything. People wanted to die to things like lying, greed, being short tempered with family, watching pornography, cutting, stealing, masturbation, or poor body image.  As each person spoke, the leaders in the back wrote it down on little slips of paper.  They then brought the requests to the chapel where they were being covered in prayer by prayer ministers.  

After everyone had a chance to go, a profound sense of freedom hit us.  We were like, “Whoa, we actually named that.”  There was something so beautiful about verbalizing it, having people agree with us, and knowing that our struggle was accompanied by prayer.  Even though we knew that we did not have to speak it out loud for Jesus to forgive us, that experience released us from something we had been holding.  

Day two was rise day or resurrection day.  After having died to things that held us back the day before, we now welcomed new life.  So much happened that day, but one of the coolest moments was when our parents showed up.  

I know this is going to sound weird, but we were gathered in a room that was dark except for a little candle.  All the ninth graders were holding hands and singing while we were walking in a circle.  I admit that sounds so cultic.  The door opened and these people started coming in.   We could not really see their faces because it was dark.  When we finished singing, the lights came on and we looked and saw our parents!  They had shown up to pray over us.  Though my parents had prayed for me before, it was seldom that they prayed in this way, with the laying on of hands as they prayed out loud. It was really cool.  After that, they left and we continued the retreat.

The theme of the final day was “go.”  Day one we had died to the things that hindered us, day two we had risen into new life, and now we were being sent forth.  It was about mission.   The great commission given before Jesus ascended.  Again, this may sound so weird, but we were given these things we called fuzzies.  Essentially, we wrapped a bunch of string around a book, tied it together, and cut off the ends.  We were to wear this little bundle of strings on our neck, like a necklace, to school.  If people asked us about it, we shared our experience at the retreat and how our life was centered around those three movements of dying, rising, and going again. 

For over a day after I left TEC, I felt this warmth.  I don’t know how to put words to it.  I was almost out of it and had this sense of, “Whoa.”  I felt like my soul was raw, but not in a bad way.  It was more that the Spirit had been doing a lot that weekend.  Shoveling a lot of bad things out, sealing certain things in, and reminding me of who I am.  It was almost a physical assurance of something spiritual.  TEC was the last major event I went through before being confirmed in the church.

By the time confirmation came around, I had experienced so many pivotal things.  All the small steps, from baptism, to receiving my first Bible, to knowing the Lord’s prayer, to fellowship, to first communion, to mission trip, to catechesis, and a really robust sense of community that came from my small group, had all come together to prepare me.  I was ready.  I knew that when I was asked if Jesus was my Lord, I could say it.  Boom.  There was no doubt in it.  I’m in.  Where do I sign?

That fall I was confirmed in the church.  My family, friends, and neighbors were there.  My parents prayed extemporaneously over me with the laying on of hands.  I was one of three that shared their testimony.  Over 80 students were confirmed that day in front of 1,500 people.  People were moved, some to the point of crying.  It was wild.

Though all these moments were powerful, not everything was idyllic.  During part of this time there was an undercurrent of division that eventually forced me to examine different parts of what I believed.