Day 5 – Treasure Hunt + Application Night
Our last full day is upon us. With each night the sleep has gotten better, and the Lord has been faithful to give us rest. Some of the girls woke early to watch the sunrise, but after a few minutes of seeing God’s magnitude, they decided that feeling the warmth and rest God can provide in a bed, rushed quickly back to inside for a little more sleep.
After breakfast we spent some quiet time with the Lord and then went into a teaching about how we are Jesus’ disciples, and a disciple listens to his master. We talked about how Jesus’ job is to speak, which He is faithful to do, and our job is to listen.
Today was the most beautiful day that we have had here with tons of sun and much less humidity than the past couple days. With temps in the low 70’s we got the opportunity to get outside and play a big game of capture the flag! We had so much fun with the red team winning 2-0.
Listening Prayer
In preparation for our afternoon outreach, we took some time to put into practice actually listening for God’s voice. Each of the four teams (same teams, for the most part, as Tuesday) sat in a circle and asked God to speak and then just sat in silence listening. We were instructed to speak anything we felt the Lord was trying to say to us or show us (ex. dog, pink shoes, bus stop bench, ice cream shoppe, etc.).
Each team wrote down several things which was for us to use after lunch in a treasure hunt.
Treasure Hunt
So, we had lunch and took off into downtown Madison in search of the treasures we felt God wanted us to find. The goal behind this of course was to hopefully see someone with a dog, or wearing pink shoes, or sitting on a bus stop bench and strike up a conversation with them and pray with them. I was so proud of the students at their boldness to see something that was previously prompted by the Holy Spirit and be resolved to approach these perfect strangers and offer the love of Jesus. It weas super cool to see. There were absolutely some amazing God moments that, too many to write here. Also, I would just love for your child to be able to share these moments with you face-to-face.
Before we left town we got to head out onto a terrace and get some cool views of the lakes and the capital building.
Sassy Cow
The YWAM facility that we have been staying at, the TC, is located just a few miles from The Sassy Cow. This is a local creamery that sells all things dairy, including some pretty amazing Ice Cream. YWAM treated us to a cone, and many of your children bought a t-shirt or sweatshirt to remember the trip. However, before even making it into the building one of our students spotted something that God had shown her in prayer earlier in the day, and so unprompted and without a leader’s help, along with two friends, went over to these perfect strangers and prayed with them! I was so proud!
Application Night
As a way to bring it all home, we had what would be considered application night, or challenge night. With all the things that these students had learned, and all the ways that they have grown this week, we know how easy it can be to go home and fall back into “the way things were” before the week started.
Ayantu kicked it off by leading us in the worship song “The Blessing”. What a special moment that was to be led by one of our own in just a beautiful song which really is just singing a blessing over those you love.
We were all challenged to write some things that we felt that God grew us in this week, some things we felt he had impressed on our hearts.
After that, we got to watch a YouTube video called “Listen to the Voice”. I had seen this video the last time we were here and requested it again because I just loved it. Click HERE if you want to check it out. It’s about listening to God’s voice which will keep us from destruction. It is very powerful!
We were also encouraged to think of some things that God was asking us to let go of so that we could walk courageously with Him. We then had a time of writing these things on lanterns and lighting them and sending them up to God. This just really gave us a physical representation of the fact that we were giving these things to God, and we weren’t going to take them back home with us!
We then all signed a piece of art that a few of the girls in particular had been working on this week, making the promise to try our best to daily give these things to God.
And we ended the night with some awesome worship led by the YWAM staff. Students with hands and voices raised high, jumping up and down because of the joy and hope that they have inside. This was special!
I am now in a room full of teenagers talking as loudly as they can, getting excited about things that I certainly don’t understand, but then also getting into super serious conversations about real-life things, about their friends, their family, their faith, their future, and so much more. It really is a beautiful thing. These kids are growing up, your intentional parenting is paying off. The future is bright with this group!
And now it’s bed time.
*more pictures to come later due to bad wifi