Waterman - A New Kind Of Stupid Hero

If you pour the same quantity of water in vase of different shapes and forms, the water will take different shapes. 

Many youths are like water. They take the form and shape of the places they go to and the people they hang out with. 

Recently, a member of our YPG in Houston told me that a young lady who she knew for a long time before coming to church, died in a car crash on a Sunday morning, around 3am. She was only 17. She was coming from a night club when the driver lost control of the car (a 20 years old young man who was apparently drunk and had no license to drive) and the car flipped over couple of times before going ablaze. 

The interesting thing is that the YPG member was coming to church Sunday morning when she drove by the accident without realizing until later on Sunday that it was one of her friends who was in that car.

A moment of sadness hit her and, at the same time, relief. "Relief?", you might be asking. Yes, relief for not being in that car. She told me she was glad that she choose to be in a different environment. She had decided not to go to these places anymore and stick to her faith. The church and the YPG molded her in to a different young woman.  

She could have been one of those youths in that car accident, which did not only kill her friend but another two passengers, all under 21. Only the driver survived and ESCAPED the scene. What a friend!

Friends, where have you been going? What places? And what kind of people you have around you? 

Careful, they will shape you.

Pr Luke Castro

YPG National Coordinator.

Amazing!

The message below was sent by a youth from our youth group in the UK. I've known him for about 3 years know. I haven't added nor taken anything away from it's original context.

"Hi Pr. Luke, i hope all is well and the YPG is breaking through. 

A couple of months ago i was feeling as if i was trapped in a box, i never knew what i wanted to do and spiritually stuck, neither moving forward or backwards. 

So after the service i came home to seek, because i knew God had a will for my life but i didn't know what it was. these were the words that i said "Lord.... right now i feel like i am stuck in a cardboard box.... I want to do sooo much more but Lord i just want to know what your will is for my life...." there was more but that is obviously personal. 

So some days after that, i started doing more such as fasting just for more of the Holy spirit and for guidance and direction, also praying early in the morning etc.. SO! a couple of weeks ago the answer came of want Gods will was for my life, and i am happy to say its to serve on the Altar :-). 

The reason why the subject of this message is 'Amazing!' is because, i never thought in a million years i would ever say this,because i said dancing is my thing so that's what I'm going to do. I thought about the sacrifice and everything that i would be leaving behind, but it didn't really have as much of an affect as i thought because i thought to myself all these material things will pass but leaving this earth knowing you gave everything to serve God and winning souls, i knew this would the best decision i had ever made. :D"

Malcom Koroma, YPG UK

How I wish more youths had the boldness and audacity to make such prayer. Many are scared of the answer. Malcom wasn't. He meant business.

Are We Immortals?

At their prime, football players are in the spotlight. All the big teams want them in their squad, all the sponsors want to be endorsed by them while all the children want to walk around with their name on the back of their jerseys… But what happens when they are past their sell by date?

They are either forgotten all together or you hear very little about them. Why? Because a new ‘star’ has taken their place. Though at their prime they may have appeared as though they would be on top of the world forever…their time came and went.

Many people fight to become immortal, whether it is through making a name for themselves in their career or literally doing whatever they can to live longer but they don’t realise that they already are.

We are made up of body, soul and spirit. When we die, our bodies go back to the ground. The spirit, which God breathed into us that we may become living beings, returns to Him. The soul, the part of you that makes you who you are, on the other end is eternal, it doesn’t die - where it goes depends on you.

You are immortal!

"Where do you plan to spend the rest of eternity

when everything passes away?"

You may have put your strength, effort and energy into enjoying yourself as is the desire of many youths. Some even know the things they are doing is wrong yet they still do it forgetting that all these things pass away; it’s just a matter of time! They spend their time and energy on what is mortal but forget about what is immortal...where do you plan to spend the rest of eternity when everything passes away? Think about it because life is short.

"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (Mark 8:36)

When we reading this verse some people often concentrate their mind on the cost of winning other people over to God but losing their own salvation. Nevertheless, it speaks about gaining money, pleasure, fame, etc. only to lose your soul!

Many youths don’t want to face the reality of what they must do. What they’d rather do is choose to gain the world. They sell something priceless (which is their soul) for the cheap passing pleasures of this world.

Our soul is priceless because it is immortal. Understand this once and for all. If you don’t, the devil will cheat you into losing your most precious asset and suffer for the rest of eternity.

"…what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26)

Pr Luke Castro

YPG National Coordinator

My 40 Days So Far

I'm sure you'll agree that for most young people, one of the hardest things to deal with, especially during this 40 Day Challenge, is family issues. But while most youths will back-chat and throw temper tantrums, Rosalyn decided to stick to her vow and deal with things God’s way. What was the result?..

"Most of the time I would come to church, leave and just go off to do my own thing. That was one of the reasons me and my mum would argue. She didn’t want me coming to church because she saw I was not serious. There were a lot of things going on in my life and with my family; that’s why I am taking part in the 40 Day Challenge. I want everything to change. When we started I got a diary and wrote down everything I wanted to achieve and let go of during the Challenge.

"Rosalyn decided to stick to her vow and deal with

things God’s way. What was the result?.."

"I numbered the days in my diary and have been crossing out what I achieve as the days pass. One of the things on my list was for my mum to be healed-she had sickle cell, an inherited blood disorder. The older you get, (like in your 30’s) the worse the condition gets, because your body can’t handle it. That’s what was happening with my mum, she was getting sick all the time and feeling weak and I started getting scared seeing her like that.

"When the 40 Days started this was on my list and it was something I prayed for everyday. Last week Friday she came home from the doctors and looked so shocked. When she told me the doctors said she hasn’t got sickle cell anymore, I couldn’t believe it. I started laughing and she started crying. This showed me that if I took God seriously from the beginning, my mum could have been healed a long time ago. Back then, I was just doing what was comfy but this time, because I decided to challenge myself and gave my all to God in this Challenge, He saw my sacrifice and answered. It’s been hard but I’m determined to make it to the last day of the 40 days."

Rosalyn, YPG UK

Food for thought: You can do something about your family problems, even if only to control the way you feel and handle yourself.

Pr Luke Castro

YPG National Coordinator

     40 days - Challenge

CHOOSE 

at least three things from the list below 

that you don’t already do.

FIND 

a partner to join you in agreement 

(you could both choose the same or different things).

DECIDE 

you’re going to take the Challenge for 40 days till the end.

MAKE SURE 

you and your partner attend all the YPG meetings 

every Sunday till November 25th.

•        Come to church at least twice a week (e.g. Wednesdays and Sundays)
•        Read one chapter of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) everyday
•        Help out in the church (e.g. cleaning, evangelizing)
•        Help out at home doing house chores
•        Wake up early 6 days a week and pray first thing in the morning (e.g. 7am)
•        Read one good book or more, specially the ones from the church’s bookstore
•        Substitute listening to music, watching TV, surfing the Internet, playing video games for something productive, e.g. learning something new, doing a home based course
•        Pray everyday
•        Be obedient to parents, do not talk back
•        Bring a new youth, like a friend, to the YPG meetings during the 40 days
•        Cut off a bad friend from your life
•        Don’t go to parties, clubs, etc.
•        Give up an addiction

Don’t break the vow!

Begins October 17th

“If you do not think about your future, you cannot have one.”

 John Galsworthy

Pr Luke Castro

YPG National Coordinator