American Missionary Fellowship

This weekend I spoke at a church that supports Teen Challenge, an international drug and alcohol rehabilitation program started by David Wilkerson in New York in the 1950s. It was amazing. They brought a choir, and every member of the choir had suffered from drug and alcohol addiction. Most of them have been clean only for one week to four months.

They sang about how they were born again; they sang about amazing grace. I thought to myself, This is what the body of Christ should look like: people who are redeemed by the King, people who are redeemed by the person and work of Jesus Christ.

One young woman, named Anna, gave her testimony. It was really easy to remember, maybe a dozen words. She simply said, “I did a lot of bad things, and Jesus has made me whole.” I thought, What a great testimony! What an opportunity we have to share the body of Christ!

It was amazing, because as I preached to a mostly white, “together,” economically solid congregation, on both sides of the room were these young people whose lives have been redeemed as a result of going through Teen Challenge. It was quite a contrast, and I wish we could bring more people into our world who have had the obvious, life-changing experience with Christ that these people have had.

I spoke about Moses and about how the presence of God – the pillar of fire and the cloud – moved between the children of Israel and Pharaoh when they were at the Red Sea. I talked about how the presence of God is powerful. The presence of God is an amazing experience that reduces us all to sinners in need of a Savior.

When Anna spoke, I could sense the presence of our God. Hats off to Teen Challenge! Hats off to what I saw this weekend when I preached!