Washington Conference leaders offered a challenge to Youth Challenge, the summer literature evangelism program, a couple summers ago.
“The focus of Youth Challenge had been to distribute the maximum amount of literature,” said John Freedman, Washington Conference president. “Last summer, we challenged the Youth Challenge participants to see how many prayers they could share house-to-house. This summer, we challenged them to seek Bible study interests and continue the focus on prayer.”
As 18 team members and five leaders worked in the Mount Vernon and Lacey communities, they followed through with the challenge and found 148 Bible study interests.
“I know I helped to plant the seed,” said team member Karsten Cook, from Chehalis, Wash., “and I know the Mount Vernon and Lacey churches are there to receive the harvest.”
In addition, Youth Challenge contacted 32,012 homes, gave 1,863 books, offered 4,677 prayers, and received donations of $29,115.72 and church offerings of $2,865.57.
“Youth Challenge is not about how many books or Bible studies we get out [though those certainly are terrific and they help a lot],” said team member Kiersten Reed, from Walla Walla, Wash. “Youth Challenge is about planting seeds in the hearts of those who need God most. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but when I learned it, everything changed.”
Youth Challenge for Kiersten Reed from Walla Walla, Wash., was a journey of faith. (Heidi Martella)
Youth Challenge participants took a challenge from Washington Conference administration to seek Bible study interests this summer. As a result, Youth Challenge found 148 interests. (Heidi Martella)
