Darwin speaks to a crowd of 70 students about the importance of purity

Friday marked the last day of the “I Agree” outreach week at Calaveras High School. 25 community members came to watch and to pray for the students at the school. The Faith Club students were markedly more bold in inviting their friends and were excited to invite their speaker, Darwin, to speak about purity. He began by talking about the love of Christ and how we need Jesus Christ to have a relationship with Christ. He then talked about purity. He addressed both genders in the crowd of about 70 students about the dangers of pre-marital sex, both physically and emotionally. He also stressed the worth of each individual in the crowd. “If I gave you $5,000, would you give it to your boyfriend?” he asked. “What about $50? Then why are you giving him your body like you aren’t worth anything?”

Darwin spoke urgently in his message, weary of the prom that would happen Saturday night. He urged the crowd to abstain from parties and sex. For those who had already crossed sexual boundaries before, Darwin explained the forgiveness and restoration offered by Christ. Before the bell rang, he asked the crowd to raise their hands if they wanted to commit their lives to Christ. Over 20 hands in the crowd shot up to make that decision. There were so many that the team had a difficult time counting them. Darwin then asked if anyone wanted to commit to a restoration of purity. Even more people raised their hands.

The community gathers for a potluck celebration event to praise God for His work in their community

Later that night, the high school students, parents, youth pastors, and other community members gathered for a potluck celebration service to honor God for all He had done in their school. Many of the students shared stories of how God had worked in their life: about friends who came to the rallies, siblings changed, and boldness received. Youth pastor Bryan from Glorybound Church gave an exhortation to the students to develop their purity and to continue to reach out to their community. The students left feeling encouraged by the week, strengthened by the community, and excited for the future.

Please pray for those who dedicated their lives to Christ this week and for those who came to the rallies. Pray also that the Faith Club would continue to experience boldness in talking about their faith and that the community would know how to support them.

–The Calaveras Team

The rally yesterday at Calaveras was very encouraging, both to the faith club and our team. Dean from Radical Reality, a well-known performer who demonstrates his strength at rallies, came to share about the topic of love with a crowd of about 100 students. “Jesus didn’t come to take away your fun,” Dean explained. “He came to take away your pain.” Dean’s message was an explanation of how human love is imperfect, but God’s love is perfect and has power. Students had the opportunity to fill out response cards at the end of the rally in which one student indicated putting faith in Christ for the first time. In addition, four other students indicated that they wanted to be contacted by members of the Faith club for more information.

CJ, a Northern California youth pastor and Christian rapper, gave an invitation to the crowd toward the end of the rally asking people to come and hear his rapping and his testimony at the Unite service last night. During the Unite service, Dean again came up to speak in front and invited students who wanted to begin a relationship with Jesus to the front to pray. Four people rushed to the front, overjoyed to accept the gift that is found in the relationship with God.

Lacy and her brother, excited about what God has done in their lives

After the Unite service, the team found out that one of the people who had gone up to the front was the brother of Lacy, one of Calaveras’s Faith club leaders. She met us with tears in her eyes, overjoyed and rejoicing about what God had done in her brother’s heart. During the Monday service, Lacy had asked for prayer for her family, as none of them are believers in Christ. She explained her heart for her brother, and Kellee was able to pray with her for him. What an answer to prayer, to see her brother changed within the course of a few days!

Calaveras is hosting another rally at lunch today to talk about Truth. Please continue to be in prayer for the Faith club today, that they would have boldness and would clearly proclaim God’s truth to their friends today. Please also pray that their peers would be receptive to the message and that the speaker today would speak God’s word well. Thank you for partnering with our team in prayer!

–The Calaveras Team

Youth leader Kristyn spoke with us about her excitement in working with the Calaveras High School students.

Kristyn is a passionate youth leader from Valley Christian Center church in Calaveras County. She has been involved in planning with the high school students at Calaveras High School from the very beginning. The Calaveras team had the opportunity to sit down with her and talk to her about her involvement.

During the weeks leading up to the outreach, Kristyn met with the students on weeknights to plan and even helped the students understand the different roles that needed to be filled in order to cover the various aspects of outreach. In the team’s absence, she really helped mentor and equip the high school students.

Kristyn told us that the youth pastors at Valley Christian Center were her youth pastors when she was in high school and they really influenced her life. “They really became like my spiritual parents,” she told us, adding that they helped develop in her a heart for youth ministry. “Without youth ministry, [the students] are going to do everything that the world has to offer and so I want to make sure they know everything that God has to offer.”

Excitement was bubbling over in Kristyn when we talked to her. She told us that she was encouraged and inspired by the students’ hearts for outreach. The students don’t just want to reach their peers, but people that they don’t even know, and especially their teachers. Kristyn is a Calaveras High School alumnus and told us about the growth that has happened in the Christians on the campus since she graduated in 2006. During the week, Kristyn plans on praying with the students every morning, coming to the rallies, helping in the continuation of planning, and being at each unite service that the churches host. We really appreciate her heart and her partnership in ministry.

Today marks the first day of outreach at Calaveras High School this year. Please be praying for the students to have boldness, for hearts to be open to hearing about Jesus, and for the speaker as he talks about Faith. Thank you!

–The Calaveras Team

In January of this year, California School Project (CSP) received a call from a high school student named Brook who had previously experienced the ministry of CSP in her home county of Calaveras four years ago. Working with CSP, the Faith Club at Calaveras High School had put on events, personally shared with their friends, and connected with their churches all for the purpose of sharing the love of Christ with their peers. Brook and the current-day Faith Club have a passion to share Christ with their peers. We, the Calaveras HomeTown team (Kellee, Taylor, Robby, Tiffany, and Kirsten), have arrived in Calaveras County to help the Faith Club do just that.

The CSP Calaveras Team: Taylor (1st), Kirsten (3rd), Kellee (4th), Tiffany (5th), and Robby (6th)

After planning with us for the past few months, the Faith Club is preparing to put on their “outreach week” this upcoming week which will consist of rally events Monday through Friday and personal sharing with their peers about who Christ is and why they worship him and encourage other Christians on campus to be emboldened to step out in faith like they are. In addition, the youth groups at their churches are partnering with the students by hosting unite services during the week to support their mission and spur them on.

Along with Calaveras High School, Toyon Middle School in the area is just starting their Faith Club. Although they are unable to plan an outreach week like the high school, the team will be working with Tyler and Bryce from Toyon to fully establish their club and begin the process of planning outreach at a later time.

God is working in Calaveras County. The students and the team are excited. And one excitement for us is that we get to invite you to be a part of it. By subscribing to this blog and/or our twitter account (@CSPCalaveras), you can get daily updates about what we are doing and pray with us. We acknowledge our powerlessness without God and the necessity of prayer. During this week, please pray for:

• Boldness in the Faith Club to share about Christ
• The students who don’t know Christ
• Toyon’s new Faith Club
• The team’s dependence on God

Thank you for praying for us and may God bless you this resurrection season!

–The Calaveras Team