March Update

Dear Team,
Desire: many people describe this word in various ways. Let me introduce you to Mike and how he recently expressed desire. I (Andrew) met Mike 10 years ago. He was in my 5th grade summer class. What a ball full of energy Mike was and still is! Even as a 5th grader, I recognized the great attribute of leadership that he expressed. It has not been the easiest 10 years for Mike but he is now 22 years old and consistently coming to our Thursday night Bible study.

Our Bible Study has been averaging about 10 guys every week, most of them coming from our basketball program. It starts at 6:00 p.m. and lasts for one hour, but for several weeks we had guys straggling in late up until 7:00 when basketball starts. Because of the interruptions we finally had to make a cut off at 6:30, meaning that if people did not show up by 6:30 they would have to wait until our basketball program starts at 7:00.

So the following week after we made this announcement, Mike rang the doorbell at 6:00 p.m. on the dot, ready for Bible study. He came to tell us that he had ordered some food across the street at the Chinese restaurant and he would be coming right back. He wanted to make sure that we did not start without him. He had confused the times and he thought that we were going to make the cutoff at 6:00 p.m. instead at 6:30 p. m. Mike did not want to be left out of the study.

This is the kind of desire that is being fleshed out in North St. Louis. There is no incentive to come to this Bible study—we do not have even have snacks! We are going over the basics of Christianity and these young men keep coming with a desire to find out what that looks like. It is an encouraging thing to witness their desire for deeper understanding.

It would have been easy to give up on Mike. His zeal for Christ has not always been active. But, we consistently prayed for him and let him know that we were always here for him. Seeing Mike grow from a 5th grader to a 22-year-old man has been such an honor. I fully believe that Mike and others from this Bible study will be the next leaders in our local churches. I take great comfort in the words found in Jeremiah 33: “Thus says the Lord: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord: “’Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.” Thank you for sending us to this city and allowing us to participate in what God is doing in these young men’s lives!

Let’s take this city for God!
Andrew & Adria Medlen