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!