Transforming TeensOM InternationalA small investment pays big dividends in UruguayThey had come to the little city of Playa Pascual, Uruguay, to help a tiny group of believers reach their local young people for Jesus. The year was 2002, and the small group were part of a “Teens in Missions” outreach following Uruguay’s second TeenStreet Congress. During the next four days, 35 people accepted the Lord. After a good follow-up program and training a pastor was installed. 40 new believers were baptized, the majority of them teenagers. This ministry has now grown to include 80 children who hear the Word of God every week. Last January , four teens from this new church had the privilege of experiencing TeenStreet for themselves. The reality of sharing Jesus sank into every fiber of their young lives and they lost their fear of standing up for Him in their high school. In the middle of 2005 the pastor of this (only) evangelical church in the city was invited to the office of the local high school principal. The man wanted to know if the church could help. The school was having a big problem with teenagers who showed no interest in studying and took drugs into the school, causing unrest. The principal said he was hoping for help from the pastor because he had been impressed by the behavior of the four students who had been at TeenStreet the previous summer. These teens showed a genuine concern and love towards many of the problem students. The school wasn’t their only mission field, however! As they walked home each day they noticed an old folk’s home, inhabited by a group of lonely, forgotten grandmas and grandpas. Hardly anybody ever visited these pensioners or showed them love. The teens knocked at the owner’s home but learned that they could not visit the pensioners.--In Uruguay, no religious group is allowed to share their faith in government-approved old age homes or any other public buildings or parks. But the teens had learned to look to God for help. Mother’s Day was just around the corner, and they knew for sure that few in this home would receive a visit. So they decided flowers were the answer. On the holiday they knocked again to ask if they could just go in and deliver a flower to each grandma. Such love could not be resisted. From then on, the teens from this small church have been allowed to pick up everyone in the home for the Sunday service. All but two residents have given their lives to Jesus. The excitement is building in this growing church. This January, more teens have raised money to attend TeenStreet . OM would love to invest in the lives of many hundreds of other youths. Teen Street allows them to see Jesus in a whole new way, and shows them how to express His love to the lost around them. This is the driving force behind OM Uruguay’s “Eagles Wings Project,” a vision of providing ongoing Bible and vocational training center for teens from all parts of Uruguay and surrounding countries, at a more affordable rate. The center will also be used for conferences and retreats, with sports and recreation areas and a farm to supplement income. A substantial amount has already been raised toward the first stage, the purchase of a 35-acre plot of land near Montevideo.--But there is still a long way to go before this eagle can take off. For more details about the project or information on matching funds now available, contact country leader Siegfried Klassen [
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].
Credit: OM International
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