Heta Erika gets excited to see young people making commitments for our Lord. She shares with us such a story from Carrum Downs Samoan Church, where some young people and a parent committed to following their Saviour, resulting from friendships as modelled by our Saviour Himself.
After the Revelation Today program last year, I started visiting with a family consisting of a dad and nine children.
Our conversations eventually led to the dad wanting his children to know about Christ and His kingdom. We arranged for three of them to have Bible studies at church after the divine service. it was announced at church that there would be a study group and any youth interested were invited to join in.
All together, we had ten youth attending the ”Stay Alive” studies. When the topic of baptism was discussed, their parents were encouraged to join and be a part of their children’s discovery.
Eight young people made the decision to accept Jesus and be baptised and one parent decided to renew their relationship with God.
Love was the basis of Jesus’ life and He challenged us to have the same foundation. Peter obeyed and later challenged believers to love each other deeply and offer hospitality ot each other without grumbling. Jesus clearly commanded us to love one another as He loved us.
And He modelled intentional relationships throughout His life where He clearly prioritised building relationships with people. He set a perfect example for us to follow.
And yes, we are still trying to do this through social media during this pandemic.