We had a Labor Day weekend fellowship with our sister churches from Arlington and San Antonio, Texas. It's always encouraging to get together with them because we encourage one another by showing each other that Samoan churches can survive far away from home. We give each other ideas about what works for each church.
The first night was dedicated to cultural performances. Each youth group did a great job with their performances. In fact, you can check them out at http://www.samoaitexas.org/. Sunday started with a prayer meeting and then our regular worship service at our chapel. Our choir had worked on a special hymn for the service. They spent two week learning it and I praise God that it went through without a problem.
But perhaps the part I was looking forward to the most was the final youth service. This is a service that our youth has had for several years now. It gives them the freedom to set up the entire Worship Service. It lets them participate in a meaningful way. And, perhaps, the most important part is that they get to choose the music. Sometimes it's traditional Samoan. Other times it's contemporary. Sometimes it's old Sunday School songs. But they choose.
Another important element of this service is that it gives people an opportunity to testify about the love of God. People share their joys and their burdens with each other so that we can pray for them and celebrate with them. People get up and testify to the love of God and share stories that will inspire someone going through the same thing you're going through. It's very similar to a charismatic service, but we've adjusted it to fit our needs. The purpose was to introduce the concept to our sister churches so they could take something from it.
Speaker after speaker got up and said they never planned on getting up there. But the Holy Spirit moved them to get up and thank God for this and for that. People were saying that they were changed by the mood in there. Some people who had strayed from the Lord got up and testified they wanted to get back on track. Some people who are dealing with major illnesses witnessed about the miracle that God has done to heal them, when the doctors gave them only months to live. Now one man is fourteen years past the time the doctors gave him. And on and on and on. At the end of the night, one of the pastors testified that he sees how worthwhile this service is and will try it at his church. My heart was so overfilled with joy. There's a lot of resistance in LMS churches to this kind of service. But I believe its a powerful vehicle to reach the youth. And the Holy Spirit moved everyone last night. Praise God.
The first night was dedicated to cultural performances. Each youth group did a great job with their performances. In fact, you can check them out at http://www.samoaitexas.org/. Sunday started with a prayer meeting and then our regular worship service at our chapel. Our choir had worked on a special hymn for the service. They spent two week learning it and I praise God that it went through without a problem.
But perhaps the part I was looking forward to the most was the final youth service. This is a service that our youth has had for several years now. It gives them the freedom to set up the entire Worship Service. It lets them participate in a meaningful way. And, perhaps, the most important part is that they get to choose the music. Sometimes it's traditional Samoan. Other times it's contemporary. Sometimes it's old Sunday School songs. But they choose.
Another important element of this service is that it gives people an opportunity to testify about the love of God. People share their joys and their burdens with each other so that we can pray for them and celebrate with them. People get up and testify to the love of God and share stories that will inspire someone going through the same thing you're going through. It's very similar to a charismatic service, but we've adjusted it to fit our needs. The purpose was to introduce the concept to our sister churches so they could take something from it.
Speaker after speaker got up and said they never planned on getting up there. But the Holy Spirit moved them to get up and thank God for this and for that. People were saying that they were changed by the mood in there. Some people who had strayed from the Lord got up and testified they wanted to get back on track. Some people who are dealing with major illnesses witnessed about the miracle that God has done to heal them, when the doctors gave them only months to live. Now one man is fourteen years past the time the doctors gave him. And on and on and on. At the end of the night, one of the pastors testified that he sees how worthwhile this service is and will try it at his church. My heart was so overfilled with joy. There's a lot of resistance in LMS churches to this kind of service. But I believe its a powerful vehicle to reach the youth. And the Holy Spirit moved everyone last night. Praise God.
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