Clubs and bars on the lefthand side, the beach on the right. Drug dealers strategically positioned after every twenty meters of boulevard. Guys and girls, hoping to impress, are strolling up and down to find a place where they want to spend their evening partying. And here we come a team of ten crazy young people, all dressed in bright purple, excited to be there, but with a completely different agenda than anyone else out there.
We find a good spot with enough people around, we pray and remind ourselves of the God we serve, and then decide who will start with what role. It doesn’t take long before you hear a couple of us shouting, “Win a Red Bull if you guess our message!” Intrigued by the four posters that we are holding up and the opportunity to win something without the possibility of losing anything, people are stopping.
“What do you think our message means?” “…Love divided by religion is…”
The majority of the people give up after a while, but still would love to know the answer to the riddle that we put in front of them. Now we have the opportunity to share the gospel with them. In very simple words it comes down to:
1. God loves you, but
2. Your sin separates you from relationship with him.
3. Jesus has died for your sin so that you can be forgiven.
4. How do you respond to Jesus?
It has been so encouraging to see how young people react to the story of a loving God who pursues them, despite their mistakes, and did so even unto death. We have seen so many people simply touched by the gospel message. But our purpose is not just to share the gospel. It is our heart to see them encounter Jesus. So we offer to pray for them, asking Jesus to touch them with his love.
When we ask people afterwards what they experienced when we prayed for them, these are some of the reactions we get: “Win a Red Bull if you guess our message!”Intrigued by the four posters that we are holding up and the opportunity to win something without the possibility of losing anything, people are stopping. “What do you think our message means?” “…Love divided by religion is…”
We never know exactly what God will do when we pray, but it’s been very evident that he is moving and he wants these young people to encounter Him. That’s exactly our heart for this outreach! ‘Seeing the young people in the party scene transformed through an encounter with Jesus!’
The encounter with Jesus is the beginning. For those who want to continue exploring who Jesus is, we have started this year with offering an online Alpha Course. It’s a new experiment, but a concept that we are very excited about! If it turns out to be an effective tool for God’s kingdom we might share about it in a future blog! 😉
Bart Harder
YWAM Constanta / Summer Nightlife Outreach
(Apart from our team to Ibiza we also sent a team to Thessaloniki this summer! If you would like to join one of our outreaches next year, or if you know someone who might be interested, check out our website: www.summernightlifeoutreach.com or send us an e-mail: summernightlifeoutreachywam@gmail.com)