4.1 Reflect on event or encounter described
Background information: Our church started Teen Sunday Service since 3 Apr and it is for secondary 1 to secondary 4 students. Before Teen Sunday Service started, sec 1 & 2 students were in Sunday School and sec 3&4 students were in Sunday Service. Three people are in-charge of Teen Ministry: one as advisor (Mr. Pet, a father of two teens) and two as coordinators (Fen and me).
Reflection: In our church monthly meeting on (Sunday, 10 Apr), my senior pastor advised all advisor and coordinators of Teen Ministry to come out with a list of names of all the teens and to pray for them regularly. We think it is a great idea and we decided to pray for them every day. I am in charge of sending Mr. Pet and Fen the prayer lists every morning through emails. We currently have 16 names in our list, so we would pray for 2-3 of them each day from Monday to Saturday, while every Sunday morning we would pray especially for Teen Sunday Service.
This idea of praying for them (and for us coordinators) every day turns out to be very enriching and beneficial because:
It cultivates a heart of gratitude
When I send e-mail to Mr. Pet and Fen, I would include a word of thanksgiving. There are many things to be thankful for: for newcomers (we started with 11 people and now we have 16), for the better fellowship among them and between us and them, for every opportunity to share to them, for the gifts that God gave them and their enthusiasm to use them in ministry, and for many other things. Sometimes Mr. Pet and Fen would also reply with their words of thanksgiving.
It cultivates a heart of dependence to God
Prayers truly humble us. We are made realized that it is God who starts and who nurtures. We are just tools in His hands. Before we started Teen Sunday Service, one of my classmate shared to me about her youth ministry experience in other church. There was once when she lead worship, none of the youth sang or responded to what she said or asked. As a result of hearing that story, I always ask Mr. Pet and Fen to pray in our preparation of Teen Sunday Service and to pray for the teens so that they would gladly sing for the Lord and eagerly listen to Word of God. We humans definitely have lots of limitations. Our words alone will not be able to drive them to worship God. It is the Holy Spirit. Thank God in every Service most of them sings and listens carefully to the sermon, some of them even take note.
It cultivates a heart of caring
When we started to pray for them every day, we would start to think what to pray for them. This encourages us to approach them every Sunday to talk to them, asking them about school life or family (in Singapore or Indonesia). Sometimes we would call/sms/send message through Facebook to follow-up with them during weekdays.
In conclusion, prayers grow my relationship with God and with others (Mr. Pet, Fen, the teens)
4.2 What would you do differently if you could do it all over again?
No regrets in starting this daily prayer list. We have been given an exhortation to pray without ceasing, and yes, we would surely do.
P.U.S.H! Pray Until Something Happen
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