February 2023 Update
C. S. Lewis once said, “Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God who will make him happy.” Recently I spoke with one of our leaders regarding an event we held this past month. At our monthly events, one of our leaders shares a story of how God changed his/her life and how our students can have a relationship with Jesus. This event was no different, however, the very next week this leader, brokenhearted, shared with me that her family member decided that she didn’t need God for true happiness. Many times, we face this situation with both teens and adults. It can become wearisome when we hear the common theme of people trying to “find happiness” that replaces God, yet we know that there is no lasting joy without our Creator. It is my prayer that as we continue walking with this student through High School, that we can help her to see the necessity of giving her life to Christ to find true fulfillment.
Speaking of Lewis, we are still in the process of finishing up his book Mere Christianity in the discussion group for 19 to 29-year-olds, the Next Chapter. The conversation is always very interesting and there is no telling in what direction it may go. Jen Ceccarelli, the Oasis leader who graciously hosts the meeting at her home and provides baked goodies and coffee, is a wonderful sport, willing to discuss any topic or question our young adults want to pursue. This is a very good thing, as there are no topics that are off limits and because of the world they are living in and the ideas they are consistently bombarded with, they need a place where all concepts can be looked at from a biblical perspective. We desire to remind them that there is nothing in God’s world that He does not have a say in. Too often, I’m afraid, we as Christians shy away from uncomfortable topics and this has been at times a detriment to our evangelism. Please pray for this discussion group, that we would continue to be a place where no topic is off the table, but that we would have the wisdom to correctly relate all things back to Jesus and His lordship over all of reality.
And, referring to uncomfortable conversations, at the Well the high schoolers and Jr high students have both been engaging in less than easy discussions. The high school group, who are continuing their trek through the Old Testament, recently did an evening overview of Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs; the talk about Ecclesiastes went well enough, but when we got into Song of Songs they became incredibly uncomfortable, making excuses to leave the room for more snacks, the restroom, or whatever. It was oddly encouraging, as I would have thought that they would not have batted an eyelash over the book considering the sex-saturated culture they unfortunately live in. We did not go very deeply into the book, having spent most of our time in Ecclesiastes, but they were given an overview and reminded that sexual love within marriage between a man and a woman is a gift from God. The Jr high students, on the other hand, have been having difficult conversations of a different sort—they have been looking at how Christianity compares to other current worldviews that compete for our attention in modern America. While this is certainly heavy stuff to discuss for our Jr highers, the conversations have been going very well. We often find that when challenged with difficult concepts or topics, young people rise to the occasion. We are so thankful for our volunteer leaders who are willing to take their valuable time to study and prepare and teach these precious young people in topics that encourage their walks with Jesus.
On another note, Mentoring Moms, a new Oasis ministry is set to launch the first week of March. It is going to be a small group Bible study for young mothers and will begin with the involvement of 3-4 moms. Please be in prayer for the leaders and mothers who are beginning this exciting new ministry!
Thank all of you so, so much for your continued prayer and financial support for the work that God is doing here among young people in northeastern Arizona! May God richly bless you! —Jerad & Carrie Burgess