I ran my usual Wednesday evening “bus route” a couple days ago, picking up girls in Rolling Hills and St. Michaels to take them with me to Bible study in Tokio. We pulled into the Dacotah Oyate Lutheran Church and were a little surprised to see the parking lot full of cars and people standing outside the church . . . it turned out to be a birthday party for Pastor Larry’s granddaughter! We enjoyed eating pizza and hanging out with the birthday crew until they had to clean up and head out. The four high school boys were quick to help put away tables and chairs and when everything was cleaned up, we started our Bible study on John 6. We talked about the importance of feeding our spirits on Jesus, the Bread of life. Just like physical food enters the body and gives energy and strength, we need to let Christ enter our life, let Him be in us, and give spiritual energy and strength.
The past couple of weeks, the youth kids have seemed to enjoy hanging out at the church after Bible study, too. We hang out, eat Doritos, drink Mountain Dew, and joke around together. Last week they were telling me about strange looks they got from “white people” when a group of them went into a restaurant in Fargo. They laughed when I told them about being in Africa and a little boy crying when he saw me, thinking I was a ghost (he’d never seen a white person). This past Wednesday, one of the girls asked me if I had ever been high. They were surprised to learn that I hadn’t and they couldn’t believe that I had never even experimented with marajuana. I almost hated to admit that to them because, in their minds, it might make me seem naive and self-righteous. They were sharing “funny” stories about being high the night before and implying that that is something I should see. In love, I told them about my 3 years of working with drug-addicted teenage girls at Minnesota Teen Challenge and explained that it is hard for me think that drug use is very funny. I explained that even smoking pot (which many youth today consider a very mild drug) is dangerous because it often leads to using more harmful drugs. At that point in the conversation, one of the boys lifted his sleeve and showed me what I can only assume were marks of shooting up . . .
I cannot express to you all how incredibly blessed and thankful I am to have the opportunity to build relationships with these youth. I cannot tell you how amazed and grateful I am to have them at the church with me on Wednesday nights. I cannot find words to describe the joy (and sorrow) that I feel as I spend time with them and get to know them. Each one is amazing and precious to me, and more so to their Creator. Please thank Jesus with me and ask Him to bring freedom to these young leaders through His truth!
