Retreat Report From Pittsburgh

My weekend with the students of Ruthfred Lutheran Church has been a very good one. My good friend Jim Clark, who is the Youth Director of the church, brought 49 students with 5 adults. It was quite a treat to watch them in action. Each student showed compassion towards others. There were no cliques or exclusiveness. Everyone said ‘hello’ to whoever they saw. I don’t recall a time when I saw that last. I was quite impressed. These students are amazing. They have great things to share. God is really do a Great Thing here in Pittsburgh.

Our weekend has been pretty full. It is a lot of sitting around and fellowshipping with each other. That seems to be the norm for many youth groups. I have had chance to talk with several people. I have had conversations that have been pretty intense, as well as light-hearted.

Each session has gone well. I guess I really don’t know for sure. I can never tell. I see evidence of God working though. I hope and pray that lives have been changed for eternity. They have been very attentive. On Saturday night, the title of the session was “Who Holds Your Remote?” At the end of my session they performed a human video. It was simply awesome, and all God. It was a video about slavery to sin. At the end, Jesus comes and takes the burden of that slavery, and the person is set free. It was very powerful. After, there was chance for people to respond to Jesus. Many stayed behind to pray or be there for each other. There were many tears shed in the room. You could sense God at work. You could see lives being touched. It was an awesome site!

My time here has been good. It has been refreshing. The fact that God is in control was clearly evident throughout. That has been our theme, God’s control of our lives, and our total dependence on Him. My heart has been touched. It has also been convicted and encouraged. I will walk with great joy in my heart.

Thank you for your prayers for me this weekend. I know that you were. They made quite a difference. I told the students here that you were praying for them. It is good to know that we have Christian brothers and sisters praying for us across this nation. Brothers and sisters in the Lord that we have never met. What a great thing!