When I was in my late 20s, I found myself not "fitting in" with the college students I was ministering among. At that time, the Lord impressed upon me the first 7 verses of Psalm 78. I recognized I was ministering to the "next" generation. "What I have heard and known, what our fathers have told us...the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, the wonders he has done," we are "not to hide" these things but "tell" them to the next generation. (Psalm 78:3-4) The impact of imparting these things to the next generation reaches "the children yet to be born and they in turn will tell their children... then they would put their trust in God." (Psalm 78:6-7)
In Chinhoyi, we are applying these instructions as we labor to see God's kingdom advance now and in the years to come. Our spiritual input focus from the beginning has been with young people. As their parents and caregivers noticed the impact of discipleship with this generation, the older women and men requested discipleship, which resulted in the Women and Men of Hope groups.
We have "discipled," or trained, the parents and caregivers in feeding their families through effective farming practices as well as income-generating entrepreneurial projects. As the younger generation has reached the working age, we are mentoring them in these same ways. This month we held a Foundations for Farming training for our young adult group, "Chosen Generation," so that they can assist their families in growing food. We are looking to launch them in income-generating projects in the coming year, so pray with us as we instill the value of work in the lives of young people.
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| Chosen Generation receiving Foundations for Farming training at the LTLA Community Center. |
We are also reaching the next generation of young men through soccer. This month the Life to Life team traveled to play a soccer match with youth from a farming community where we hope to launch a satellite ministry effort. We are grateful to Cathy Twito, fellow Overflow Thrift Store co-founder, who secured Ames Soccer Club uniforms for our team.
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| LTLA soccer team at the farming community soccer "pitch." |
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| Team members hamming it up for a "selife" in the back of the LTLA truck. |
So the next generation knows,
Mike Sulc
Life to Life Africa
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