I was really excited about this trip even though my main goal was actually all about going back to my high school. Yes, I admit. =)
ROFL Youth Retreat
You can't have a better name of a youth group - ROFL? haha. I believe one day they will see their name being manifested during their Friday night meetings! (really rolling on the floor laughing in the Spirit!)
There were fourteen people in the youth group, most of which are middle school and high school students, and a couple of them are hearing back from colleges such as HARVARD and YALE, to name a few BEST UNIVERSITIES. (One kid got an 2400 score in SAT with a 4.79GPA. Yes, SoCal kids, we are too distracted by this world. They live in the middle of nowhere, that could be the reason why they are so smart.)
The River of Life Church in Boston started in January 2006, and ever since God started to manifest His presence and His power in New England. There is no Chinese churches like this one that is exploding with God's testimonies -- sick being healed, chains being broken, people being set free by the LOVE and the POWER of Christ! The leaders are such humble and sweet servants of God who constantly seek Him in prayers and thanksgiving!
Their youth group, ROFL, is led by Pastor Jocelyn's son, Tim, who is a third-year student at Boston College. Tim leads worship and sings his heart out and he loves Jesus so much I could totally feel that passion in his worship to God.
Jack shared on the first night on this amazing story of Lazarus in Luke 16. This story always brings tear to my eyes because I see the hunger in Lazarus wanting to the face of Jesus and also the determination of Jesus telling Lazarus to come down from the tree, and saying He "must" stay at Lazarus' house because He sees his hunger and his passion. Jack encouraged the youth to give the key of their houses to God and to invite Him to come in and dwell within.
That night, I was praying the God (and so was Jennifer) what He wanted me to share the next morning. I was going to share either about faith in the storm or be a dreamer, but somehow I went into a different direction, which became so cool because it was the Lord speaking through me. And guess what? Jennifer got the same message but I basically said everything that she wanted to say (funny, Lord.). However she did a wonderful job further explaining what I shared visually! And Eric, who arrived in the morning, encouraged the youth to keep sticking together and encourage one another and seek God's presence during meetings and press in to see good fruit in the next season! That morning we really mentioned how the level of our hunger for Jesus would determine how much He would pour out according to our capacity.
In the afternoon, we watched the documentary movie Furious Love and afterwards the entire room was in silence. We worshiped, many encountered the love of Jesus in tears. There was no extreme physical manifestation, just tender encounter with the love of Jesus. That afternoon, I knew that these youth are so ready for an encounter with Jesus Himself. They were hungry.
The worship during the night session was powerful: we entered into a time of spontaneous worship and many of them started to raise their hands and arms to express their love and hunger for God. It was definitely a night of breakthrough for this youth group and I believe that God will bind them closer to each other because they are creating a family culture in their midst. Maybe there is still a gap between me and them, but I felt like I was a part of this small and intimate family.
Father, I thank You for what You're doing in Boston, the state of Massachusetts, and the region of New England. You are still very much alive and active, and these people are hungry for more of Your presence and Your Kingdom, and I pray that You would just give it to them until their cups are overflowing with Your love! I pray that the signs, wonders, and miracles that has been happening in the adult congregation would go to the youth group as they recognize their original identity and take up their kingdom authority and advance the Kingdom by sharing Your love and demonstrating the power of the Holy Spirit!
They are super amazing and cute.... kneeling on the floor!
They are all going to be revivalists!!
ROFL, we'll be back again! Love ya'll! =)
Johnny
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