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Teen Revival
Mad about our Savior
By Kalista King

This week, I have the privilege of sharing about a recent Youth for Christ retreat I went on called, Go Mad. This event is a retreat that is meant to reach out to hundreds of teenagers from all over who are involved in Youth for Christ's Monday night "Campus Life" program.

Now if you did not know, I have been involved in Youth for Christ (YFC) since my eighth grade year of school, and I am currently involved as a junior in high school. YFC holds a very special place in my heart because it has helped me lay a foundation in which my faith can continually grow. I am very passionate about our local Youth for Christ organization, and I think it is important that you know ways in which this organization is reaching out to teenagers.

This year was my third year going on this retreat with Miami Valley Youth for Christ. We had a much larger group this year than any of the other times I have gone, which included teens from Central Campus life (Greenville), Arcanum Campus Life, and Eaton Campus Life.

As we set out for our journey to Fort Wayne, Indiana, many of the first-timers were trying to picture what the weekend ahead of them was going to be like, and many of those who had been there before could hardly wait for another year of Youth for Christ madness. Instead of going through every single thing that happens at Go Mad, I will just highlight the most important events that take place.

All the Youth for Christ organizations that attend this retreat get to stay in the same hotel which is across from the conference center where the sessions are held throughout the weekend. When everyone first arrives at the hotel on Friday night, they are told to check in and go to the conference center for the opening session. At the first session, we pile into a giant room in the conference center where we are introduced to the band who performs at each session and also the speaker for the weekend. After everyone is dismissed, we go back to the hotel for a pizza party where everybody gets to meet and mingle with each other until bed time. The next day is an adventure filled day consisting of another session, some free time, games, a cookout, and "The Big Show," which is the third and most powerful session of the weekend. At this session, the speaker gives the teens a chance to make a decision for Christ.

This year, he presented everyone 3 options. Option 1 was that we could choose to live our lives for ourselves and how we want to and see how it ends up. Option 2 was that we could choose to live our lives for others, trying to please other people by becoming who others expect or want us to be. Option 3 was that we could choose God and give our lives to Him in order to discover the life that He has planned for us. Three chairs were spread out in the back of the room, each with a different word; "Yourself," "Others," and "God." We were told that each chair could be used as a spot to pray for whatever we were feeling lead to pray about. Whether it was giving ourselves up, praying for ourselves, deciding not to live for others anymore, praying for others, making a decision to give our lives to God, or recommitting our lives to God, we were given a choice to make. It was truly incredible to see hundreds of teenagers get up from their seat at this time and go to a chair where they prayed and cried out to God.

After a long prayer time and some worship, each individual YFC group got together to share with one another about what God had spoken to everyone about that night. As the teens in Miami Valley Youth for Christ shared what was on their hearts, a lot of tears were shed and many hearts were freed. The bond that was formed between everyone in the group during this time was amazing. We became a family that night, especially during the sharing time. There is nothing greater than uniting with other Believers to form a family in Christ. Saturday Night was a night that we will always remember.

The next day consisted of the final session in which the teens were reminded of the decisions and commitments we had made and were sent out into the world to be ambassadors for Christ. Though nobody really wanted to leave, we knew we had a mission to win our cities over for Christ. We were ready to go mad for God despite the cost, and it starts in our homes, our schools, our workplaces, and our churches.

Last weekend, a bomb exploded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as hundreds of teenagers went mad for the Lord. As each YFC group went their separate ways, I had a clear picture of everyone carrying the heat of the explosion with them, back to their hometowns. I believe each group is stationed exactly where they need to be to bring revival to a lost generation. Though we are now apart, each group is still connected through Christ, and until we reunite next year, we will spread the fire in our hearts to our own communities. And if anyone asks why we are so fanatical about all this, we will simply say that we are mad about our Savior, Jesus Christ.


 
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