Thanks so much for your prayers for Breakaway!The purpose is to have a fun event that Christian/Christ-following students can invite their friends to hear the gospel presented clearly, have an opportunity to respond (not pressured), then have a blast of a fun time for the rest of the night/morning! It was great!
One of my roles is to interview the Youth Pastors/Directors during bowling (which is after the rally when the gospel is presented), and get their best estimates to three things. From these interviews came the following unofficial results:
1. We had 429 jr. & sr. high students attend (from 22 churches).
2. We had 124 (best estimate) attend who we didn’t know if they were Christians/Christ-followers at the start of Breakaway.
3. We had 65 (best as could be seen) students raise their hands in response to the gospel invitation! Others may respond on their own later – eternity will tell – we rest in God’s timing.
Thanks for prayers for the follow-up. We know Jesus said to ‘make disciples’, not ‘make converts’.
Yet we know in order to follow Christ, one needs to first be converted – asking Christ to forgive our sins and receive His free gift of eternal life that He paid for. It’s free for us (people), yet must be received by faith (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8,9). The fruit from this event fills our hearts with joy – thanks for partnering with us in prayer!
The Christian/Christ-following students continue to see it as a safe, fun event to invite their friends to (especially unsaved friends). 29% of those who attended this year were unbelievers (best estimate), and for the past 10 years, we’ve averaged 30%!
Yes I made it all-night, but rested most of Sunday & Monday – feeling better as the week goes along – though you know the older one gets, the longer it takes to recover. Yes there were some older than me there all night!
Duane was a wonderful assistant with the Bowling – and the staff we work with at Orland Bowl have become good friends whom we look forward to connecting with each year!
FUTURE:
Thanks for prayers for upcoming events:4/6 (Sun) Twenty years ago (April 6, 1994), I was Ordained for the Gospel Ministry (at Grace Immanuel Bible Church in Jupiter, FL) – time flies! I’m thankful for those precious folks there & pray for them and other churches in South FL (FBC Tequesta, etc.).
4/7 (Mon) Host annual NCAA Men’s Final Basketball Game Party!
4/8 (Tue) Lead Soul Food Small Group (Aurora).4/10 (Thu) Lead Worship Service (Provena Fox Knoll Retirement Home – Aurora) (Mom too).
4/11-12 (Fri-Sat) Dare-2-Share Conference (Chicagoland). I plan to attend Saturday.
4/13 (Sun) Lead Worship Service (Sunnymere Retirement Home – Aurora) (Mom too).
4/15 (Tue) Lead Soul Food Small Group (Oswego).4/20 (Sun) Happy Easter – He Is Risen!!!
4/29 (Tue) CDPM Quarterly Committee Meeting (Oakbrook Terrace).
5/5 (Mon) Host C2L (Come To Life Student Ministries) Committee Meeting.
Thanks for prayers also for:
• Every other week accountability breakfast with a few local ministers.
• Multiple connections with ministry leaders – on phone, in person, etc., as the Lord leads.
• Rick Rud (my friend who had bicycle accident in AZ awhile back). He is still in very serious condition, but showing small signs of improvement. His sister sent a note with the following – “Rick was moved to a specialty hospital 2 weeks ago and is slowly becoming somewhat more alert… He has been on a respirator but they are working on weaning him off of it. It will be a slow road ahead. I can’t thank all you wonderful friends enough for all the expressions of concern and caring! Keep praying for him!” For those who missed this in “Pike’s Peek – March”, Rick’s dad was Pastor at the church I grew up attending in Chicago (Grace Ev Free). I have many great memories – both fun and spiritual – with Rick. He presently is in an undisclosed location.
Thanks for your partnership in prayer.
Grace n peace 2 u,:)Dave