HOLINESS. YIKES!

REMEDIOS' YOUTH RETREAT in GIBARA, HOLGUIN  -  JULY 22 - 26

Teenage years should be renamed peer-pressure years.  No doubt it is one of the stages of life most vulnerable to peer pressure.  For the last three years the themes of the retreats have been centered on helping young people stay focused on the kind of life God wants us to live.

This year the Bible study was about living a holy life and I am the Bible Study teacher.  Yikes!   I wonder if I can really tell them something that is new and relevant.  So after a lot of prayer, I share with them about being created in God’s image to be a reflection of God; about God’s holiness; and about the battle for the mind, the will and the heart.  The concepts make sense to them and they can speak to how they can relate them to their lives.

I heard their stories.  They go through a lot of difficult times at school and the military service. It is not easy.   Some of the young people who attended the retreat last year are not here this time. A few because they have fallen by the wayside; others because of work or family obligations.  But the majority  have returned; and there 10 new young people who recently came to know God.  

I see these young people as today’s example of 1 Timothy 4:12.   I can see that they are an example to each other and to others by the way they speak, how they live, and how they strive to apply God’s Word in theirs lives.

They were blessed and they are indeed a blessing.

Rachel