Above all, I remember their joy, their hunger, and the fire of the Spirit that shone in their eyes. I had never really enjoyed working with teenagers before. I'm usually much more comfortable in the chaos of 100+ children running around than I am dealing with the moodiness and drama of a handful of teenagers. But here in Nicaragua it was different. Somehow the Lord completely captured my heart for a beautiful group of teenagers in August '08 (photo below by Katie Rowland).
My World Race team and I arrived a couple weeks after the first teenagers had given their lives to the Lord. They were hungry for more of Him! When we offered to start the first youth discipleship time at 
New Song, these kids jumped at the chance and came two mornings a week before school in order to study the Word and learn more about the God that they had just recently encountered. They were baptized. They experienced His presence. They learned to pray for one another with love and with authority. My heart was completely enthralled with the way His glory was displayed among this group of teens. I returned for them. I wanted to walk alongside them as they learned what it means to walk with the Lord.
Now, many of those teens are gone. Most have moved away to work in neighboring countries or to attend university in other cities. When I first moved to Nicaragua in February '10, I jumped right in to discipleship 
among the teenagers once again. However, slowly as I began to work more with Sunday school and sponsorship, youth discipleship was no longer my primary ministry here. I still mentor and counsel a lot of the teens that I love, but in more of a big sister role and through relationship than through Bible study (pictured left with Rosita and Gema, two of my beautiful friends that I've been discipling relationally).
Just this month, I have stepped back into a teaching role among the youth. Cadence and I had a heart to restart youth discipleship focusing on kids 13-19. However, we wanted to make sure that in everything we do, we are empowering and raising up local Nicaraguans to lead. So, we are team teaching with two of our university students who love the Lord wholeheartedly and are mature in their faith. Cadence and Kenia are leading the 13-15 year olds while Sandra and I are working with the 16-19 year olds. We want to come alongside Kenia and Sandra discipling them in how to teach and prepare lessons. We are empowering Nicaraguans to disciple in their own communities and already preparing ourselves for growth. As the group expands Kenia and Sandra will each run their own small group, disciple someone else to team teach with them, while Cadence and I each take on a new young adult to disciple and teach alongside us.
I have been so excited to see how the Lord is moving within the first couple weeks of our youth discipleship program. We have seen so many new faces arriving. We had over 20 kids the first week and more than 30 in our second week. Even though the majority of them do not have a relationship with the Lord yet, they are hungry to learn more about the Lord. Less than 1/3 of these teenagers currently claim to be Christians.
We are able to teach basic truths from the Word of God, show them the beauty of Jesus, and talk openly about the Lord's heart for them. I love to look into their eyes and tell them, "I believe in who He has made you to be!" I long to see their hearts turn toward the Lord and their lives captured for His glory. I've been echoing the prayer of Jesus over our youth… "I have revealed You to those whom You gave me out of the world. They were Yours; You gave them to me and they have obeyed Your Word. Now they know that everything You have given me comes from You. For I gave them the words You gave me and they accepted them…" -John 17:6-8a
Please join me in praying for these precious teenagers that they will come to know Jesus, grow in faith, and learn to walk in His ways.
“I believe in who He has made you to be!” Beautiful!!