Hi Team!

I hope you enjoyed meeting Esther last week and hearing her share about military life. This week, I’ve asked her to share about the Malachi youth group she’s a part of.

Unlike the average military teen who moves every 2 to 4 years, Esther’s family has remained in Okinawa for awhile. So Esther is unique in the sense that she’s been able to experience Malachi youth groups throughout her middle and high school years.

“Quest [junior high group] and Impact [high school group] have played a HUGE role in my spiritual life. It helped guide me and it put me in a supportive and stable family of Christians who encouraged me to grow spiritually. It also gave me access to wiser, Godly people (particularly staff) that I could trust and ask about the Bible and get solid answers backed up by the Bible. It also surrounded me with Godly examples and gave me a chance to minister to others as well. It helped me grow so much. It was crucial in my spiritual life, especially at the beginning.”

Again, Esther emphasized the importance of community. As a youth leader, one of my main goals will be for students to not only cultivate relationships with peers, but with staff too. I think it’s so important for students to be discipled by Godly adults. Deployments and training exercises leave military families in a constant state of changing from dual parenting to single parenting. As a result, youth workers often become surrogate parents during these times.

I praise God for the opportunity to come alongside students and point them to Jesus. I’m thankful that you’re joining me in this Kingdom work through your prayers. Would you pray this week for Malachi staff and adult volunteers who are currently discipling students. Pray that God would encourage them and give them wisdom and courage as they demonstrate God’s love, and invest in the lives of military teens!

I leave on Tuesday for a two week trip to South Dakota. I covet your prayers for this trip. Winter driving in the upper midwest can be sketchy. While in SD, I’ll be nannying for my favorite 3 year old! Also, I’ll be sharing about Malachi with a local church ... more on that in next week’s update!

For the Gospel,
Beth