It’s the After-the-Fact Blog!

Theme verse

Originally, the purpose of the hometown trip blog was to inform people of what was happening throughout the week and how everyone could be praying for us. This blog didn’t quite work out that way. This will be more of a reflection on the week and what God has been teaching us through the work we have been doing.

One of the most interesting things about this week has been the fact that the rallies have not been quite as…impactful/red-letter/mind-blowing as the witnessing has been. As I look through the stories that all the team members have written, most are about witnessing. God has blessed our personal interactions with the students beyond what we ever could have imagined. He has proven that He will work beyond our expectations if we rely on him.

However…someone has to at least mention the rallies since they were a big part of this week…

Bakersfield High School (BHS) had rallies on Wednesday and Thursday this week. Both days the rallies were held in the gym which means we got to share the good news of what Jesus has done for us! The first day a college pastor came and spoke. I was a little bit discouraged at first because some of the first period lunch students started leaving when they realized that the rally was all about Jesus. However, by the end, many had stayed (we think about 200 hundred per lunch) and after both lunches, the response cards indicated that 80 students had accepted Christ into their lives. On Thursday, two students from the Christian club gave their testimonies and again there were about 200 students per lunch present. The most exciting thing about the BHS rallies was the amount of literature handed out. The first day we passed out dozens of Bibles, over a hundred tracts, and completely ran out of gospels of John. I am encouraged by the thought that even after the rallies are over the students have an opportunity to seek God out in His word. Today (Saturday), team leader Ollie and team member Marissa met with the BHS Christian club to talk about how to follow-up with those who have made a decision for Christ. Because we had response cards (cards with the contact info of the student and what sort of impact the rally had on the student), the club members will be able to personally reach to many of the students who attended the rally.

Shafter also had rallies on Wednesday and Thursday. They were held in a grassy area in a corner of campus. Even though they were outside, they were considered free-will assembly rallies since the students generally didn’t eat lunch in that part of campus. However, there were a lot of students gathered there who heard the message and received Christian literature. We think that over 200 students were present both days. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning our team and the club members had been out witnessing before school and it was exciting to see the students we had been witnessing to show up at the rallies.

More to come about other outreach week happenings!

-Betsy Yee