High Impact Ministries Update
Who are your people? Think about that for a moment. I’ll answer for myself. First, I think of my family. My family are my people, and that feeds into my understanding of who I am, where I come from, the historical challenges “my people” who came before me faced, battling generational poverty, which carries a strong burden and requires a long journey to break the bonds and get your head above water. My people are my friends, I grew up with, classmates from high school and college. My people are my Christian friends, my mentors, and those who invested in my spiritual life.
These past few weeks, I’ve felt the incredible challenges some of the youth I serve are facing. Stepping into the presence of God, accepting Jesus Christ into their hearts, being introduced to the powerful impact of scripture as we studied passages in Psalms, Proverbs, and James 1, and starting to pray, for the first time, and feel God’s presence in a real way… many of them now realize “their people” don’t fit their new life in Christ.
I’ve never seen this in this way since I began ministering to high-risk teens in 2008. I’ve never seen teenage guys read verses of scripture, literally feel the message, sit back in their chairs as if they were just stunned by what they just read, and then read it again. The consistent response has been a quiet remark such as, “I’ve got some big decisions to make. I need to make some hard choices. I need to find my new people.” And I’ve experienced this happen multiple times over the past few weeks.
What is this even about? It’s the incredible reality that if I am going to truly follow Jesus, I need to find my new people. Because my current people are spiritually dark, some are gang members, some are evil influencers, some are my companions in crime, and it’s easier said than done to break those ties. But you can’t read Psalm 140, James 1, or hardly anywhere in Proverbs without a “come to Jesus” reality check that God wants to deliver you from the evil in the world.
Seven more teens accepted Christ since my last email update in January. And they need all our prayers. There have been thirteen new believers born into the body of Christ since January 1. Pray for all of “our new people” who have joined God’s family.
Also, pray for the students and me at Valley Christian School in Oshkosh, WI, where I will be preaching in daily chapel services for their Spiritual Emphasis Week, March 2-6.
https://www.valleychristianoshkosh.com
Easter will be here six weeks from this coming Sunday! We will be providing Easter gift bags and our Rise Up youth outreach project should be our biggest ever. Our goal is to provide Rise Up! Easter Gift bags to 300-500 high-risk and fatherless youth! Read all about it and how your gift of $30, or any amount, can impact youth this Easter.
https://kenturnerministries.org/easter-project-rise-up-for-youth/
