Impacting Teens

Last night we again went to the mall to witness. Sarah and I had been at RAGBRAI earlier that afternoon and had the incredible privilege of talking to two 18-year-olds about salvation. I was so pumped thinking what a difference that conversation could make in those boy's lives, their future families and maybe their future churches. We told them that meeting us was not a coincidence!

Kathleen was with us at the mall. She has never been fishing with us before. She wanted to walk with me and watch me share Christ. I asked her to stand a little ways away and listen and pray. The first people I felt led to talk to were a group of teens hanging out on the benches in the center of the mall. They looked like they could be a tough group to talk to, so I was hesitant. Suddenly I felt pulled to them and asked Kathleen to pray really hard.

I shared the smart card with one of the girls asking her, "Have you ever seen one of these? You put your thumb here for 15 seconds and if it turns green, you're a good person. Do you think you're a good person?" She answered, "Oh, yes!" and put her thumb on the spot. When it didn't turn green, the girl next to her said, "Let me try that!" and proceeded to put her thumb on the spot. I asked the first girl if she knew that being good meant being morally perfect. She said something like, "Oh, that's not me!" and realizing I was going to talk about God-stuff, walked away with her friend. That left me talking to the two boys.

The young man on the left quickly admitted to breaking several of the Ten Commandments and told me he thinks he will go to hell. I asked him if that concerned him and he hesitated and then said, "No". We then proceeded to talk about his and the other boy's spiritual beliefs in detail. They were very open!

At one point in the conversation I realized there were several people around me. I was very aware of Kathleen's presence directly in front of me, behind the bench of boys I was speaking to. I reminded myself several times that she was praying (thank you Kathleen!) and felt God's peace filling me with a calm that could only come from Him. I knew someone was making some kind of gestures behind me, but I ignored the urge to turn around. Kathleen later told me he was mocking me. She also said the security guard at the mall was standing directly behind me. She counted 9 teens!

As another person came into my peripheral vision, I turned to look at him. I could tell he was planning to talk to the boys I was talking to (and was probably planning to pull them away from me somehow) but I met his eyes and smiled at him. He smiled back and the majority of the group walked away.

The young men I was sharing with had so many thoughts about God and religion. People love to tell you what they believe! I continued to try to turn their hearts to repentance and an admittance that they weren't able to have a relationship with our Holy God because of their sin. But they were intent on making up their own gospel and conjuring up a God of their own imagination. Because they weren't humble, I didn't give them the message of grace. I knew the law had to break their hearts before they could see their need for a Savior.

At the end of the conversation, I was amazed at how thankful these boys were for our conversation. It made me wonder how many other 45-year old women had taken the time to love them and talk to them respectfully. Their wide-eyes, lined with black eyeliner, will haunt me for days. I keep seeing the horns and spikes pierced through their youthful-facial skin. I keep hearing one of their words, "It was adults in my church who sold me drugs the first time." I felt the sadness God must feel when people are so wounded and disillusioned by the world, yet they think they have all the answers within themselves. It makes me weep.

It also motivates me to witness. Please pray for God to show you one soul to testify to about Christ today.