Thank you so much for your prayers for the Legacy Conference last week. It was again, a powerful moment in history with the young people in Belize. The overall theme for the conference was “Covenant” and youth streamed from 4 districts totaling about 70, representing almost all the ethnic groups of Belize (and some new churches participated)! A couple groups from the south braved the threat of flooded/washed-away bridges! We are thankful for each student who participated, they were not disappointed – our faithful God met them – and the youth were aglow as they left on Saturday after a series of prayers of anointing over the students.
The new DTS students fully jumped in, serving right alongside the Legacy leaders in worship, small groups, prayer, and kitchen duty! Guest speakers included internationals from Norway, Trinidad and Tobago, alongside those from Belize. It’s a joy to see God use a variety of gifts to bring about His purposes in the lives of these young people.
Some highlights from the conference included a DTS student and staff member doing a dance while another DTS student drew an artistic sketch on an easel while they danced. It was INCREDIBLE to feel the Holy Spirit move through these different gifts to bring glory to the King. During the worship times some youth shared that for the first time in their life they felt the freedom to express worship to God. Another boy shared that he was healed from back pain! It’s beautiful what God can do with our willing adoration of Him!
One boy shared how teaching from Legacy a couple years ago about “Bad company corrupting good character” had challenged him to make changes in his associations. His young relative had attended Legacy also but chose to continue living in gang warfare, and currently lives a violent lifestyle. He has been sobered by the downhill path of his relative and saw what a difference obeying Truth has brought covering and blessing to his life. Also, he found grace to forgive his parents for favoritism, drunkenness and threatening to abandon the family.
Another girl spoke about being convicted by the Lord and then hearing the young boy’s testimony, she began quickly deleting phone numbers in her cell phone and wiping out contacts. THESE testimonies motivate us to continue pushing for this generation. We firmly believe God IS helping these young people choose “life”, daily and specifically. It’s humbling to see these youth, who live in compromise take a serious look at their choices and the direction they’re headed. Many asked hard questions and got prayer in small group times. It’s all worth it…
One new aspect of this conference was the community outreach time. Many of the students had never led someone to the Lord nor done any kind of evangelism or outreach of any kind. We split up into 7 different small groups and went out into the village and neighboring communities. Neither the rain or the bus getting stuck in the mud would stop the groups from launching out! While one group was preparing to leave they heard their fellow students being interviewed live on the Christian radio, telling what God was doing in their lives during the conference. Another group had the multiple kids of a poor family hanging onto them while they assisted the mom with her list of chores, and yet another group at two orphanages were interacting with the kids including creative skits and giving touching testimonies. (One of the Legacy students was himself was from an orphanage). A group of the youth went to the hospital and met with patients, while another group was pouring cement at a church/doing basic construction. Most of the groups also criss-crossed the village doing street/conversational evangelism. At least two teams were able to lead someone to Christ during their community outreach time, and since neither had done that before, it was certainly new and exciting for them. Most of the youth reported how pleased they were to have been able to go out there despite being scared at first, and how surprised they were that adults let them pray for them!
God is certainly doing a new thing in these young people’s lives. We again, are honored and humbled to be a part of walking beside these youth. It’s a joy and a privilege to share with you what your prayers have accomplished. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, we are grateful to you for storming the gates… May God continue to bless you and impact the nations through your sacrifice.
