God works in mysterious ways
Story by Amy Gruninger (Youth Ministry Coordinator)
Edited by Alice Matisz
Edited by Alice Matisz
At the beginning of this year, I started a special activity/lesson with the Holy Spirit elementary schools in Lethbridge. I got the idea from a Catholic conference I attended called Rise Up. This is how it works. There are a bunch of random words, phrases or gifts of the Holy Spirit written on slips of paper and placed in a box. You have to pull a slip of paper and the words on it are either a gift from God or something that you need to work on for the year.
When I pulled my first one I was stunned! The word was “candour”, which I interpreted as a call to be more open with my thoughts and feelings. I realised that my natural reticence might be perceived as distancing in relationships. Clearly God was working in mysterious ways in my life. I decided right then, “This is something I HAVE to do with the youth.”
Fast forward to the classrooms and it was awesome seeing the kids pull out their words. I watched as their faces seemed to ask, “God WHY?” A little while later, and with some explanation, I could see them beginning to understand how God was speaking to them.
One day, when I was in a Grade 6 class, one particular student received the phrase, “Share your Faith.” He immediately came up to me and demanded, “Amy, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? I don’t even believe in God or go to church!” All I said to him was, “Just you wait and see.” His classmates told me he wasn’t going to change because he was stubborn in his ways. But I advised them to have faith. “God is mysterious,” I said.
About a month later I was back in the same class. The boy who had pulled that challenging phrase came up to me, gave me a big hug and exclaimed, “Guess what? I’ve started going to church with my grandparents! And I want to get baptized next year.”
The same week, he joined Pulse, our youth group for Grades 6-8. Ever since, it has been such a joy to get to know him better and to see his relationship with God flourish. He has even brought three friends from his class to the youth group.
It’s amazing what God can do – what God IS doing – in the lives of our youth!
At the beginning of this year, I started a special activity/lesson with the Holy Spirit elementary schools in Lethbridge. I got the idea from a Catholic conference I attended called Rise Up. This is how it works. There are a bunch of random words, phrases or gifts of the Holy Spirit written on slips of paper and placed in a box. You have to pull a slip of paper and the words on it are either a gift from God or something that you need to work on for the year.
When I pulled my first one I was stunned! The word was “candour”, which I interpreted as a call to be more open with my thoughts and feelings. I realised that my natural reticence might be perceived as distancing in relationships. Clearly God was working in mysterious ways in my life. I decided right then, “This is something I HAVE to do with the youth.”
Fast forward to the classrooms and it was awesome seeing the kids pull out their words. I watched as their faces seemed to ask, “God WHY?” A little while later, and with some explanation, I could see them beginning to understand how God was speaking to them.
One day, when I was in a Grade 6 class, one particular student received the phrase, “Share your Faith.” He immediately came up to me and demanded, “Amy, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? I don’t even believe in God or go to church!” All I said to him was, “Just you wait and see.” His classmates told me he wasn’t going to change because he was stubborn in his ways. But I advised them to have faith. “God is mysterious,” I said.
About a month later I was back in the same class. The boy who had pulled that challenging phrase came up to me, gave me a big hug and exclaimed, “Guess what? I’ve started going to church with my grandparents! And I want to get baptized next year.”
The same week, he joined Pulse, our youth group for Grades 6-8. Ever since, it has been such a joy to get to know him better and to see his relationship with God flourish. He has even brought three friends from his class to the youth group.
It’s amazing what God can do – what God IS doing – in the lives of our youth!