The blessings of the Lord at Link Up

Four days before Link Up, we found out that the advertised venue was not available. There was a mix up in communication, and the management at the Youth Center had no idea that we had applied and were granted approval for the use of the venue. We prayed for favour, and asked her if there was anything she could do to facilitate us, since it would be very difficult for us to find an alternate venue at this late stage. 

Volunteers praying before the start of Link Up

She remembered us from the last Link Up, and, although she had initially said that all the conference rooms were booked, she agreed to make some changes to allow us to use the biggest one. However, we had to promise not to make noise since this would disturb the other activities. I promised that we would have all our noisy activities outdoors. I asked people to pray for good weather so we could maximise our fun in the sun.

Beautiful weather for our outdoor activities

The day of Link Up, it rained. Really, really hard. There was flooding in certain parts of town, and some villages lost power for a couple hours. But the God that I serve is a Mighty God. He hears the prayers of His children, even the ‘insignificant’ ones like “Please don’t let it rain until we finish our outdoor activities”. 

Praying for God to hold up the rain

We began our program with a getting to know you activity that had everyone laughing as we got to know things about everyone that no one else knew. This was followed by a time of worship led by students from TAMCC.

One Thing You Don't Know About Me

Hearts united in worship

 We had a moment of silent prayer to lift up the friends and family of Yana Terris, the staffworker from St. Lucia who died earlier that week. Later on in the day we took up an offering to help with her funeral expenses. We then broke up into groups to pray for the needs of students from 15 countries with IFES movements. This formed part of our World Student Day of prayer activities as we united with students all over the world in praying for one another. We were grateful for the opportunity to show the Grenadian students that they are a part of an international fellowship.

Praying for the needs of students from different countries

Just before the sun became too unbearably hot, we shifted location to the conference room where the speaker, Pastor Royston Isaac, delivered a powerful message about being transformed based on Romans 12:1-2. He used examples of Abraham and Paul being transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and made the message relevant to the young people and the challenges that they face, and how they too could be transformed. Many of them listed this message as the part of the program that had the biggest impact on them. They recognised that they have value as children of God created for a purpose, and saw the importance of being willing to change rather than conforming to the world around them. 

Pastor Isaac delivering a powerful message about transformation

After the message, they broke up into small groups where they were given case studies which illustrated the theme “Transform Us” in a practical way that they could relate to. There was a time of questions and discussions and then prayer for those who wanted to commit their lives to Christ.

Committing to live transformed lives

After a short lunch break, the gray skies which were lurking in the distance began drawing closer. We quickly put the students in teams for our last outdoor activity – an exciting treasure hunt! They had a ball running around outside, trying to decipher the clues and searching for the next hint. In the meantime, some of our volunteers were praying that the rain would not wash out the treasure hunt. As soon as the winning team located the treasure, the raindrops started to fall. As soon as the children were all safely indoors, the heavens opened and there was a downpour. Talk about an awesome God!

Winning team with the treasure

The teams were then given 40 minutes to prepare a presentation which would show what they learnt through the message and small group discussions. I continue to be amazed at the talent that is evident in the Kingdom of God, as these young people were able to come up with items which included poetry, drama and song to illustrate what they had learnt.

One of the dramatic presentations

Thanks to the generosity of our corporate sponsors, there was high energy throughout the entire day as $5 digicel top ups were given out as prizes during the course of the day. There were snacks and worship CDs as the prize for the treasure hunt, and the winning team presentation was awarded with snacks as well. Due to the great timing of a shipment of Christian resources from a ministry called Resourcing Now out of the States, we were able to give a bible to each student who attended. The school with the biggest crew, Boca Secondary, received two free pizzas to share amongst the nineteen students who came. 

Free snacks!

Out of fifty-one students from seventeen different schools, ten young people gave their lives to God for the first time, and thirty-two students rededicated their lives to Christ. Link Up “Transform Us” was a resounding success!

ISCF Grenada celebrates World Student Day of Prayer

ISCF Grenada celebrated the World Student Day of Prayer for the entire week of October 13^th – 18^th 2014. On October 14th at Anglican High School, the students did a Bible study on prayer, examining what the Bible taught about prayer. 

Anglican High School students unite in prayer

At T.A. Marryshow Community College on October 16th, there was a teaching session on fasting: what is fasting, it’s purpose and benefits, and some practical tips. After the session, they committed to pray and fast next week Tuesday for one of their members who has a brain tumor and needs surgery.

TAMCC students taking in the session

 The ISCF meeting at the Grenada Boys’ Secondary School on October 17th was the second meeting for the term, and many of the students were new so they had questions about ISCF. The first part of the meeting was spent answering questions that the students had asked about ISCF – how it started, why it exists, where it operates etc. This provided a good foundation for the introduction to the IFES world student day of prayer, the day set aside to pray for students from countries all over the world. There were specific requests for each country where IFES has a movement, so the boys were put into three groups and assigned a country to pray for.

Praying in groups for Syria, Israel and Martinique

It was amusing to see them fighting over who would pray “I am a pastor, I will pray!” “I go to church every Sunday – I know how to pray”. Eventually they broke up the requests so they were each able to lift up the requests before God in prayer.

Pastor Jerron leading his group in prayer

The final activity was Link Up on October 18th – a student rally which involved students from schools throughout Grenada, even schools that have no ISCF group at present. Following a time of worship led by students from the community college, we had a moment of silent prayer to lift up the friends and family of Yana Terris, the staffworker from St. Lucia who died earlier this week. Later on in the day we took up an offering to help with her funeral expenses.

Students leading in prayer

We then broke up into groups to pray for the needs of students from 15 countries with IFES movements.

Praying for countries from each region where IFES exists

We were grateful for the opportunity to show the Grenadian students that they are a part of an international fellowship. 

1 Corinthians 12: 12 - 14

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

One year later...

On Saturday 11th October 2014, ISCF Grenada held it's first ever Annual General Meeting. Although the attendance was small, we had a great time celebrating what God has done through the ministry over the past year.

Here are some of the testimonies shared by students on the impact of ISCF Grenada over the past year:

“Ever since joining ISCF, God has gracefully blessed me;

He has given me the strength to be faithful and respectful.

He makes me more responsible and appreciative of what God has done in my life.

The ISCF group has helped me to remember how important God is and to always put Him first in everything and all the other things will fall in place.

Although temptations may intervene, I learnt that by knowing God’s Word we can resist them all.”

- Cassida Mapson

“ISCF has helped us to have faith in God.

To believe that everything and everyone was created for a reason

To know that there is a living God out there

To know that He loves us and will forever love us

ISCF has helped us to develop confidence in ourselves

To know that what we have to say is important

We now value our opinions, everyone is heard

ISCF has helped us to make lasting friendships with others and God

ISCF has taught us how to listen to what others have to say

It has also changed what people have to say about us

ISCF has transformed us into people with a purpose

A purpose to change our community and our country

To teach the Word of God

To know Christ and to make Him known”

- Hope Mitchell

Registration table

CARIFES representative and founder of ISCF Grenada,
Josephine Romain meets IFES representative Paul Borthwick

Rodney Mc Intyre, our new Board Chairman

Thanking God for His faithfulness 

Welcome by chairperson of the Interim Committee, Joan Purcell

Attendees at AGM

Hearts united in worship

Privileged to be a part of this historic occasion

Paul Borthwick brings greetings on behalf of IFES

Josephine Romain represented CARIFES

Joan Purcell giving the report of the Interim Committee

Sharing the staffworker's report of activities for
the year October 2013 - August 2014

Evette John formally appointing the first official
Board of Directors of ISCF Grenada

Board members and staff of ISCF Grenada

Students from Boca Secondary sharing their testimonies

Pastor Marcus Christopher bringing the scriptural challenge

Arlene Marcell giving the vote of thanks

Thanks again for those who have partnered with us since ISCF Grenada has been revived, and we look forward to your continued support.

The group with no religion

We first started meeting with students at Westerhall Secondary School in the third term of the past academic year. Four young ladies faithfully attended the meetings where we examined salvation, what a Christian looks like and shared our personal testimonies. We went through the responsibilities of the Executive, and they accepted positions.

The Executive at Westerhall Secondary

We had agreed that meetings would be held after school on Fridays, since all their other afternoons were booked and lunchtimes were too short and noisy to have effective meetings. The difficulty with Fridays, however, is that it is usually the day when school is dismissed early if there is a staff meeting or some other school event. We missed many Friday meetings last term because of this.

We had plans to start ISCF meetings for the general school population this term, so I spoke to the sponsor about getting permission to address the entire school at assembly to promote the ministry. We went to the principal (whom I had not met the term before, since he was on sabbatical) to discuss the idea. 

* Sponsor introduces me and explains what ISCF is about and how it works*

Principal: When do you plan to have meetings?

Me: Friday after school, because that is when the Executive is available

Principal: What about Friday mornings?

Me: What happens on Friday mornings?

Principal: From 8:00 to 8:30 leaders of various denominations come to teach classes, but there are many students who do not attend because they say they have no religion. Would you be willing to teach these students in ISCF?

Me: *Trying hard to contain my desire to jump up and down and scream in excitement because this is precisely the students we are seeking to impact* Sure! No problem

I was super excited about this open door that God had provided into Westerhall Secondary, to have an opportunity to share with these students who would not otherwise have been exposed to the Word of God. I had no idea how many students would come, or how they would behave, so I called in the reinforcements - Arlene, who is a Board member and one of our faithful volunteers.

We had our first meeting last week Friday. The principal handed us over to the Executive and we walked around the school looking for an empty classroom to use. We finally decided to use their classroom, which was close to the stage. This was an ideal location, since we had the space to be flexible in our activities, without being constrained with desks and chairs. 

We passed some boys in the corridor who wanted to know what religion we represented. I invited him to come inside and find out, but he refused to come until I told him. When I told him we were not any particular religion, he and his friend agreed to come. We started with those six students, but by the time we were finished, there were about twenty students there.

Playing an ice-breaker

Writing topics they want to discuss in ISCF

Arlene sharing with the students
the love and purpose God has for their lives

Praying for the students

After the meeting we went to the principal to report how the session went. He was happy to hear about the response, and warned us to expect even bigger number this week.

Please pray for us as we minister to this 'group with no religion' :)