Today (Monday) we traveled ninety minutes to the village of Menegers, located right on the US-Mexico border. This village contains about thirty-five homes, no stores, one small Catholic church, and a nice recreation center built with money from the Indian casinos near Tucson. It’s odd to see the quality of the recreation center in the middle of such otherwise poor conditions; but it was a huge blessing for us as it made for a natural gathering for ministering to the kids.
We had over thirty kids attend our morning and afternoon camps. We also had several parents who stayed and learned the Bible verse, sang songs about the amazing love of God, worked with a craft project about Jesus as the bread of life, and heard the gospel message presented in a simple yet complete manner. In another message this week I will highlight a family I met who demonstrated such a wonderful joy with life, but today I need to share a little about our youth. And what I need to share is, well…they smell.
2 Corinthians 2:15-16
“For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to the task?”
Youth are an interesting group to try and understand. You pray for them; you teach them; you try to lead by example; and literally years can go by without any significant indication that anything is penetrating to the heart. And then, God allows you to see something amazing, or maybe I should say to smell something wonderful.
I have been allowed to see things in our youth that I didn’t know were there. Our youth have been praying together, worshiping together, ministering together, and having special quiet times with the Lord. In the last few days, seeing this has been my biggest blessing. Sure, we are currently in a unique environment which allows for a better spiritual focus; but perhaps if we could find more ways to encourage this same focus, or to allow this focus to come to the surface, more of us would be allowed to see the awesome heart of youth all around the world.
Yes, I need to tell you that our youth smell. And that smell is a sweet aroma to God, and to me the fragrance of life! This is my report from the nation of Tohono O’Odham – Day 2.
Have a Christ Centered Day!
Steve Troxel
God’s Daily Word Ministries
