Andrew* was a bit of a mystery to all of us! At YFC camp last summer, I remember watching him participate in all of the activities with a cool, practiced indifference. And when it came time for anything spiritual, he made it abundantly clear that he wanted no part of Jesus. Anytime YFC has camps during the summer we always survey the students at the end. The survey helps us improve how we engage students, but the most important section of the survey is the journey timeline that helps us understand where the students are spiritually so that we know how to minister to them. For Andrew, he made it very clear where he stood when he marked on his survey: “I don’t care and not open to Jesus.”
Our model of ministry and evangelism here at YFC is relational. Yes, we share the gospel with students (often), but we don’t just share the Gospel with them, we share our lives with them as well, because effective ministry and discipleship takes time. Andrew continued to participate in Campus Life last year and, at the beginning of camp this summer, he still made it clear that he was not at all interested in Jesus. But, by the end of camp something had changed. This time (after 2+ years of ministry) he marked on the survey “I’m open to Jesus, but haven’t done anything about it.” While the change may seem small, we believe this is an extremely important step for Andrew!
Would you pray with us for Andrew and students like him? He is not there yet, but we believe God is at work!