Friday night we had a Drug Awareness night. Over 90 young people came.

Our young people did a drama, then we showed a video about the other

side of drug use, and then a guest speaker spoke for an hour. The youth

were all ears. Drugs are very attractive to many of these young people,

even though they all have family members or close friends that have

died or gotten severely messed up because of it. Just last week

Railan’s neighbour stabbed the guard at the high school (two blocks

away) seven times for his cell phone. So what is the big attraction to

drugs? I can think of three.

A. It offers a temporary escape from hopelessness.

B. It’s easy money for someone who cannot read or write.

C. It is considered cool to have new clothes and cell phones while

doing something dangerous.

How can we be “Good News” to needs like these?

1. We ask God to change their hearts and make them new.

2. We give away hope, encouraging school attendance, rewarding good

grades and in some cases we can help them get jobs. We talk about the

value of hard work, stewardship, and commitment in relationships.

3. We model healthy family relationships, which gives hope. “Please

pray for my family,” is a very common prayer request.

4. We are working to build a community of peace through our church. As

the church grows we want to give these youth the opportunity to travel,

share their testimonies and help plant more churches.

5. We hope to send out church-planters and missionaries from this group

someday.

I’ve noticed that we don’t need to do huge things to make a difference,

but we need to do something. Many small steps in the right direction

will accomplish huge goals.