By: Elita Fung - Outreach Worker in St. James Town
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During one of our training sessions for our Teens Leading Communities (TLC) programs, we covered the topic of teamwork. We began with the passage in 1 Corinthians 12 about the body of Christ needing each other with all our various giftings. It also talked about clothing the weaker parts with glory.
I left that training session convinced that God wasn't just teaching the teens that day, but teaching me. Every year, we get a motley crew of teens joining our leadership program. There are always youth who are keen, eager, and able. And then there are teens you worry about: teens struggling academically and/or socially - teens you would never imagine contributing much.
But the challenge of the gospel is not only to see the giftings of all our teens, but to actually go out of our way to honour and lift up those who seem to be "weaker", to publicly give them glory. In the gospel, we are called to recognise the weakness of those who seem strong and acknowledge that somehow, those who seem to have it all together, CANNOT fully represent Christ without their supposedly weaker brothers and sisters. We NEED those whom for whom the world has little regard. This is the power of the gospel. It is a call, a promise, for all of us who are part of the body of Christ.
In practicality, this means making sure that we find various responsibilities according to the giftings of our TLCs. It means encouraging them in front of others so that everyone can see their contributions. It means praying hard that our societal inclinations to elevate the strong and ignore the weak will subside.
So I ask you to join me in praying:
- pray for us as staff and volunteers to cultivate just such a place and attitude
- pray those teens with less confidence will grow in their understanding of their place in God's kingdom
- pray for the teens who have obvious giftings to accept others with humility
- also, we covet your prayers for Christmas, that the good news would be preached clearly and would be received by families with soft hearts