Friends,

“We need to talk to a pastor.”

Grapevine Lake

Last Tuesday night I was at a lake near our home celebrating my son Silas’ 17th birthday. As I was watching him and his friends play volleyball, one of my daughters walked up to me and said that a group of college guys we didn’t know were down at the dock asking for a pastor. This was certainly an unexpected turn of events!  As I approached, I noticed there were four guys, drinking and floating in several inner tubes near the dock. One of them asked me, “Are you a pastor?” I said that I was. Another one (that I believe may have had a few more beers than the others) yelled out, “No way, man, we asked for a pastor…and one showed up!” I asked them how I could help. They told me that they had been regularly meeting at the lake and that each time they gathered, their conversation eventually turned into a discussion about religion…and that they had questions for me.    It was quite a religiously eclectic group. One of them admitted he wasn’t sure if there was a god. One guy attended a local Baptist church a few times before he had moved away to college. The third guy was brought up by a Catholic father and a Buddhist mother, but he had recently been given a Bible and had started reading the book of Revelation. Needless to say, they definitely had a lot of questions!  We talked about Buddhist temples and the impending end of the world. We talked about the sense of invincibility people have in their teens and 20s and the uncertainty of tomorrow. We talked about partying in college, how Covid-19 impacted them, and why Christianity is different from any other religion. After an hour or so of thoughtful discussion, I was able to leave them with a basic understanding of the Gospel. I also invited them to check out the church I attend that was located just a few miles away. And I took a minute to pray for them before rejoining the birthday celebration. As I was walking away, I heard… “I just can’t believe he showed up,” and “We have a lot of things to think about.”   Although none of them were ready to make a decision for Christ in that moment…seeds were planted. Their culture was penetrated with the Gospel. On a dock, at Grapevine Lake on a hot Tuesday night in July, the Gospel found them…and I am convinced that none of us will soon forget it.

Lake Victoria

Earlier this summer, 8,500 miles away, Eagle Leader Isaac Okoth was at a different lake, but involved in a similar circumstance. He was walking along the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya. He noticed a group of young people gathered there. As he walked up to them, he said that their condition reminded him of what Jesus experienced in:

Matthew 9:36 “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

He believed God was calling him to share the Gospel with those young people. And he did. More seeds planted…into another youth culture that…in the midst of desperate situations…is asking more and more questions about life, death, and the supernatural.

Throughout the world, we are finding that there is a discontentment growing among young people. The guys that night on Grapevine Lake shared with me, “We feel like things are getting worse and worse…we think everything is ending soon.” I’m not sure what your eschatological perspective is, but for these young men, they are convinced that THINGS ARE NOT GETTING BETTER. Need more evidence?   Read about the flood of young Cubans leaving their country…            Or the young Kenyans rioting in the streets against their government…                        Or the protests in France…                                    Or the refugees in DRC                                                Or the internally displaced people (IDPs) in Ukraine. And into this moment in history…Jesus is revealing Himself to a generation that desperately needs HOPE and PURPOSE and LOVE and PEACE. And the humbling reality is that God has allowed Reach Out to partner with a growing band of Christ followers around the world who are entering this moment with courage, love, and a clear Gospel-centered message.

Here are just a few of Reach Out’s trained youth leaders and trainers from around the world….

I invite you to join with us today. Intercede on behalf of these leaders today. Pray through our prayer list each month. Click here to become a financial partner. Share our posts on our social media accounts. Recommend us to a church you know who could use someone to come alongside them in their mission to reach the younger generation.  Let’s partner together…to penetrate cultures around the world with the Gospel.

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We ask you to join us in praying for what God is doing through Reach Out and its leaders around the globe for the things in our monthly prayer requests below.

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Jesus is Lord,

Randy Riggins, President Reach Out Youth Solutions

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