When John met Rodney he realized they had a common connection. Rodney’s middle school teacher was a close friend and previous YFC volunteer. “His face lit up as he remembered that caring adult from his past.”
Rodney has had a lot of struggles this past year. He’s been checked into a mental health center a couple times and hasn’t been able to be at home with family because of their own challenges. It’s been a heavy weight to bear for a teen – let alone anyone.
One time Rodney got so depressed he stopped eating as a way to try and regain control. After a day and a half nobody had been able to get through and help. John sat down with Rodney and simply communicated the love of God. That seemed to calm Rodney down and he decided to go ahead and eat.
God used John, another caring adult, to help relieve the burden Rodeny was carrying.
Last week Friday Rodney was at the Campus Life Center and asked to do a Bible Study with John and another YFC intern David. They spent time focusing on God’s closeness to our lives and relating it to the Biblical idea of Spirit or breathe (“ruach”). God’s closeness is like that of breathing in air which gives life, sustains, and strengthens us. For those who are in Christ the Spirit of God lives within them and seals them with the promise of eternal life.
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13)
That evening the gospel clicked for Rodney and he wanted the closeness of God in his life, forever. As the sun went down Rodney gave his life to Jesus! Through caring, Christ-sharing adults Rodney experience the movement of God in his story. It was an awesome, life-changing evening.