Youth Conference Part II

This is a lengthy post, but I really hope you read it. The Lord did a work in our youth this weekend and I just want to share His goodness. So grab your coffee and relax.

Our Pastor was the first one up to preach Saturday morning. He was himself...and it was good! His sermon was "Being in the IN Crowd." The IN crowd being a Christian, of course. It was a great message.

And I agree with what one of the other adults on our trip said. It was wonderful to hear people that have never heard him before enjoying his preaching.



Mary Grace was an absolute angel during these meetings. She was so sweet. Here she is taking a morning snooze on the church pew. Ahhhhhh

Meetin' got on and there was much praising.


This group was singing "Two Coats" when the Lord really moved amongst the youth. I've seen my son raise his hand in church. I've heard him say AMEN. But when I heard and saw him stand up and shout, I was blessed beyond measure. It touched me and it touched the other teens in our group. You never know what obeying God will do for someone else.


I can't even begin to explain this picture. Let's just say that the Holy Ghost was on Brother Hutson and he picked it up and was carrying it across the platform. I know what you're thinking....you just had to be there. LOL


I can not for the life of me remember this man's name. But he was a great preacher. We enjoyed him so much.


This was the lunch line. Truth is...it's a VERY SMALL part of the lunch line.


Brother Hutson cracked Bruce and I up the way he would preach while the preacher was preaching. They'd say something good and Brother Hutson would pop up and shout, "That's OLD TIME PREACHIN'! I said that's OLD TIME PREACHIN'!"


This is Brother Hutson's daughter singing "Hold To God's Hand." She had the sweetest countenance on her face. I enjoyed just watching her.


There were two other preachers that preached. One was another preacher that I had never heard and then of course there was Brother Arthur. One picture didn't turn out and then my batteries went dead. So...you'll just have to trust me that they were there.

We had to leave at 3:00 because it was over an 8 hour drive home, plus time to stop and eat supper. The way it worked out, forty of us got up and walked out right when the invitation started. I was really bothered by that and I confess, I was upset about it. I felt we had quenched the Holy Spirit by doing that. I decided to just let it go...what can you do?

While we were loading the bus I was giving the kids their cell phones back (yes, we took their cell phones) and picking on a brother and sister about how they never tell each other they love the other one. I told Cassie to call her brother and tell him she loved him. She took her cell phone and called his cell phone (they were a foot away from each other) but never told him she loved him. They just laughed about it. Well, I told them they should tell each other they loved each other because you never know about tomorrow. Tomorrow is never guaranteed. Clint sat down in his seat and began crying. Clint is a very quiet young man. He's not much on words, but he's a sweet young man. Bruce and I have always thought he was a good kid. When I saw him crying I asked Bruce what was wrong with him so Bruce went to talk to him. Then Bruce came back and got his Bible. Then they prayed. Then they stood up and hugged. The kids got quiet while Clint testified that he had come to be with his friends and goof off for the weekend but that sitting in the services he just couldn't stand it. He knew something bad was going to happen if he didn't do something about it. He was under great conviction and Bruce was able to lead him to the Lord there on the bus. One of the first things he did was hug his sister and tell her he loved her. It was PRECIOUS!! Then he opened his cell phone and called his mom. Cassie and Clint almost didn't go on this trip because of school. But mom and dad decided they should go. PRAISE GOD!

The next thing you know, revival broke out among our teenagers on the bus while pulling out of the parking lot. It was like nothing I had ever seen in my life. The Spirit of God was there and moving in the hearts of these kids. Clint getting saved started a fire burning.

There was a young lady I had been praying for. Her mother and I had talked before we left for TN and we both knew that Elizabeth was under conviction. She and her mother had been butting heads for weeks. She really didn't want to go on this trip, but PRAISE GOD she had a mother that saw the need and MADE her child go. She came up to my seat on the bus and was crying and asking me to pray with her. That she had been an awful daughter to her mother and that she didn't know why she hurt her mother like she did. So we prayed and she went back to her seat. I was dealing with another girl who was burdened for her daddy. While we were praying I could hear Elizabeth's cry becoming louder behind me. Mrs. Marla went back to deal with her and Elizabeth told Mrs. Marla that she had talked to a preacher when she was younger but was going through the motions. She felt empty inside and couldn't feel the joy that other's felt. Mrs. Marla asked her what she wanted to do about it and she said that she needed and wanted to get saved. So they prayed and another teen was birthed into the family of God. As soon as they were done praying she looked at Mrs. Marla and said, "I feel it. I really feel it!" She opened her cell phone and called her mom.

We were all rejoicing at these two getting saved. Then Katherine, another girl, made assurance of her salvation. It wasn't long after that, Caleb came forward and told Bruce that he had been under conviction too and needed to be saved. Bruce was able to lead him to the Lord. Caleb took out his cell phone and called his mom. Before we left, Caleb's mom said that Caleb wasn't going to go because he had tests to take at school and homework to be done. He missed his tests this weekend, but thank God, he missed Hell.

And let me just interject something here...You all knew that Bruce was off for a while, but what you didn't know was that he had been laid off. We weren't worried about it. God has always supplied our needs. But I would be lying to say that the devil didn't put little thoughts in our heads from time to time. We know why God had him off......it was for such a time as this. These boys were lining up for Bruce to pray with them. He said this morning that the Lord knew these kids needed what they got. But He also knew Bruce needed this time too.

While he was dealing with Caleb, Corrie plopped down in the seat next to me and wanted me to pray with her. She knew she was saved, but living out of God's will. She's a senior in high school this year and we've all been worried about her for MONTHS. She and I prayed and she got things settled. Praise the Lord.

When we had the alter call after the first part of the service that morning, I had hugged Justin at the alter and he knelt to pray. I saw John H standing there and I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "God is good, John." He said, "Yes, He is, Mrs. Kristi. Yes, He is." While we were on the bus he testified that it was at that moment that he realized that God really is good. When Clint got saved John saw my Justin come up and hug Bruce. He thought to himself, "Why can't I do that with MY dad?" He came up to sit next to Bruce and talked to him about it. They prayed and John went back to his seat to call his dad and tell him he loved him. His mom wasn't home, but he was able to call her too.

Nathan came to his mom (Mrs. Marla) and confessed some sins to her and wanted to know if it would be all right to talk to Brother Bruce about it. Of course she said, "YES, I want you to." So he did. Bruce was able to pray with Nathan. Nathan is a ?mischievous? young man. But I see such a great leader in him. I believe he'll be a great leader if he'll continue to move forward with Christ.

There was not a dry eye on the bus. Three were saved, others were getting right with God, and the whole of them were burdened for others in their youth group. We had all cried so much, we had what Bruce and I call Holy Headaches. So I was passing out Tylenol. Can you picture that...me walking up the isle asking each one if they needed a Tylenol? Clint had a bad headache but said he didn't want the tylenol. Maybe the pain would help him remember the moment longer. How bout that?

I said earlier that I was upset about us leaving just before the invitation. I let it go and didn't think about it any more, until Mrs. Tammy Scruggs stood up this morning in church and said that she was upset about it at first. But then realized that if we hadn't left when we did and stayed during the invitation, God might not have been able to deal with them the way He did on the bus. It was God's perfect will to leave when we did. And she was right. God's will was done in the services and on our bus.

During their time of testimony this morning, one of the teens said that we didn't take a bus home, we flew home.

John O' testified that there was no word in the English language to describe what happened on the bus ride home. He's right.

(Clint)

It was funny because Mrs. Dana (another sponsor) heard the kids calling their moms. She jumped up and told them what she was seeing and hearing and that we were going to sing "Hello Mama." It was really sweet. The kids were so happy and light hearted.

Jeremy, raising his hand here, testified that he went for ALL the wrong reasons. But got up Saturday morning wondering what was wrong with himself. He prayed and asked the Lord to forgive him for the wrong attitude and to move in our youth group. The Lord was good to answer that prayer.

The next thing we knew, Justin had the guitar, Nathan and then Mark had the mandolin and they were singing together. Songs about salvation. "I'm A Walkin' Talkin' Miracle" "Thank God I Am Free" "Amazing Grace." What a wonderful time we had.


We stopped at a rest stop because our bus driver couldn't stand the fact he was missing out on all of this. None of us wanted to get off the bus. But we did...red eyes and all. We were laughing because we knew people were thinking we were a bus load going to some funeral since we were crying. They didn't realize we had just help birth three new babes into the Kingdom of Heaven. Mark said this morning that they were getting the strangest looks at the rest stop........when they were hugging in the bathroom. LOL

While all of this was going on, Tyler C was fighting it. The others were asking him what was wrong because they could tell something was troubling him. He told them he didn't want to talk about it. They were worried about him. They prayed for him. It paid off. Tyler came forward this morning and got saved.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but to sum it up in a few:

Registration: $600.00
Hotel expenses: $2000.00
Bus ride home: PRICELESS