Anthony & Jessica Amor

During Plugged-In KTown (middle school youth group) I was announcing the overnighter we are doing during Christmas break.  They asked who was going to be there and I said that it was open to any middle schooler, so they could invite their friends from school.  The response I got was pretty interesting.  Almost in unison the kids said that they did not want to invite their friends.  I asked them why and it was because that they didn’t like most of the people at their school.  Even some of their “friends”.

This wouldn’t normally surprise me for students to dislike peers they go to school with.  I remember not liking kids in middle school, but these kids claim to not like some of their “friends” and they all claim to be Christians as well.  However, after a recent survey I did of all of our kids, about 95% of them believe the following about God:

“I believe that there is a God, and that He loves me, but he doesn’t really work in my life.”

So in response to both of those issues I started our lesson series on the two greatest commandments: loving God and loving our neighbors.  We’re starting with the story of the good samaritan.  For anyone who is not familiar with the story here is the reader’s digest version:

A man is beaten to a pulp and laying in a ditch.  A couple people whom you would expect to help the man pass by him without doing anything.  A Samaritan (effectively an enemy of this man) passes by and sees the man laying there.  He helps him, bandages him up, takes him to an inn, pays for it, and as he’s leaving tells the innkeeper that he will be back to pay for any expenses that the injured man incurs there.

This story was told in response to the religious leaders’ question of, “Who is my neighbor?”  Apparently we are supposed to love everyone, even those we are hated by (or hate for that matter).  So I told my students, if you want to see God working in your life, try loving people who are unlovable.  The first step i gave them this week is to genuinely say, “Hi” and “How are you” to someone that you do not like and remember that EVERYONE is made in the image of God, and that makes all of us worth loving.

We were at a night meeting at the HYPE Internship and Alex was by himself, away from the crowd.  I admired his courage and conviction to not respond to Gospel as everyone else had, just because everyone else had.  I broke off from the crowd to talk to him and see how he was doing.  As I engaged in conversation with him we walked towards one of the open windows that peered over the courtyard of the castle grounds.

“How’s it going Alex?”

“I need to just be alone.  I’ll probably explode.”

It was stormy outside (maybe we shouldn’t be standing near an open window).  Lightning was striking almost every couple minutes.  It seemed to be an indicator as to what was going on inside Alex’s heart.  I wasn’t qute sure what to say, so I just sat there and waited and listened to see if he wanted to share more.  After about five minutes of silence he started to talk to me about how he believes in God, loves drumming, loves his country, and how he wants to sow peace and happiness in the world.  Again, I wasn’t quite sure what to tell him, because anything Christiany would sound trite, and let’s face it, a bit fake.  So I just tried to understand him a little better and help him figure out himself a little better.

“Why do you come to the Rock on Saturday nights, Alex?”

“It’s so peaceful there.  I feel like I can go and get recharged, so that I am able to handle whatever happens during the week.”

This spoke to me.  We have been longing to be a place where students can come to feel the safety and peace that comes from knowing Christ, and even though he was not ready to make any decisions about following God or not, he was feeling the peace that was exuding from those of us who do know HIM.  It is nice to know that for students who face the reality of war and death on a regular basis, the message of hope and peace of Jesus Christ is being communicated to them on a weekly basis.

It appeared that my inability to speak into Alex’s turmoil at that moment in the window was God’s providence.  I was able to not say anything so that the next day my ministry partner, Jordan, was able to talk with him and knew exactly what to say.  Alex realized that following God did not necessarily mean that he couldn’t be patriotic and decided to give his life to following Jesus.

Thanks for partnering with us financially and prayerfully, giving us the opportunity to minister on your behalf to the students living over here in Germany.  Love and peace to all of you.

-Anthony

Just wanted to give you all a heads up that our website is changing a bit.  We have added some pictures of the kids that you should check out, and we will have a page for each of our ministries, so keep coming back.