In Rev 12:11 the bible talks about how the church overcame through the word of their testimony. They held on to the very truth of who God is and what he has done for his people. The early church faced persecution and in the face of persecution the truth of God in their lives helped them stand firm. We have seen this truth stand firm in the lives of our students. Although they don’t face persecution as did the early church, they face the hardships of life. These hardships have the same motives as persecution did which is to lead them away from God. They have used this truth to overcome many things in their life. There is something super inspiring and hope filling about a life story that has the truth of God’s plan and purpose laced through it. Even if the purpose hasn’t been fully fulfilled it’s awesome to see it being worked out in the students that share.
It’s awesome to see the faith of the students that share their life’s story made stronger. I am amazed how within just a few days of them saying “I want to share” to the day of them sharing, just how much growth takes place in their life.
Here is our process for the students who decide to share their story.
- Initial meet and greet – We basically get to know them and talk about their story and what they want to share. We give the reasons why we do story weekend. Here’s a list of the topics we cover.
- Why we share our life story.
- What are good motives for sharing your life story.
- What are bad motives for sharing your life story.
- How to write your story – most of the time this is just talking about prioritizing their thoughts so they share exactly what they want to share.
- The next meeting happens after they have written their testimony. We have a meeting with the student and their parents. We believe that before a student shares with the world their life’s story from their point-of-view, their parents should hear it first. This has been an awesome step in our process. We have had parents who had no clue what was going on in their child’s life be blown away by what they’ve heard. I’ve personally seen a lot of healing take place during this process. I’ve also had parents in my office thanking God for their prayers being answered, after listening to the great choices their child has made over the course of their life. We also make our determination if the student is ready to share at the same time we meet with their family. It also gives us the opportunity to show love to the parents as well as minster to them.
- Lastly, we do a final edit from the draft their parents heard – this is just to make sure it flows and if the parents had any input than we honor that too.
- We pray, pray and pray for and with the students and the families. The students are encouraged to pray for their peers who will be listening to them give their story.
We have seen first hand that “Stories Weekend” benefits the students that are listening as well as the students that are telling their life story. It is one of my favorite weekends that we do. Also, hearing how God used our ministry in their life is always a humbling and awesome experience.
hope it helps
ac
Would love to hear your experiences with students sharing the testimony!!
