Thousands and thousands of young people in Europe pass through holiday resorts every summer, looking to enjoy the sun, the beach and the party scenes of our coastal towns and cities.
Away from home and from their daily responsibilities, their normal limits are thrown out of the window and we often find them looking for a good time through drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, experimenting with drugs, and sex.
The very things that were supposed to guarantee a good time often prove to be empty and even destructive.
What if we could be right there? What if we could offer them something better? What if YWAM starts sending teams into the party scenes of these holiday resorts, ready to love on the people, ready to share the gospel with them and ready to lead them into an encounter with Jesus?
Starting this year with our own coast on the Black Sea in Romania, we have sent teams into the party scene on night shifts and early morning shifts, six nights a week for the entire months of July and August. In the night shift we connect with people by asking them to guess what the message might be that connects the four signs we are holding up. This approach has led to thousands of people hearing the gospel message, many meaningful conversations and opportunities for God to intervene in their lives as we prayed with them right there on the street. We’ll share one exciting testimony:
On one of the Saturday nights I got to talk to a young man. The four posters that we held had drawn his attention, but because his friends continued walking on, I quickly led him through the gospel. I told him that God’s love is meant to be experienced and I asked him if I could pray for this. He was open, so I prayed a short prayer if God would fill his heart up with His love. When I was done praying he was so overwhelmed with joy because he had clearly experienced God’s touch. He hugged me, let go and then he hugged me again. He almost lifted me off the floor! Two weeks later I ran into him again. When he sees me he immediately introduces me to a female friend and tells her to go with me, so that she too can hear the gospel and experience God’s love. It turns out that she doesn’t believe in the existence of a god and our conversation ends quickly. But a few minutes later she is back, telling me that her friend is very persuasive. She now immediately opens up and starts sharing the reason why she stopped believing in God. There is a lot of hurt and questions about the way she lost her father when she was young. She is open for prayer and together we pray for to God step into her pain and to receive her in His loving arms. She is grateful for meeting us and for the prayer we got the pray!
