Saturday, April 11, 2009

Road Trip Diary - The Brookhill School - Tyler, TX



Written: April 8, 2009

Team: David, Chad, Lindsay, Terrie, Johanna, Missy

Tyler, Texas. I have to admit that I pictured dusty brown ground and lots of cattle and cowboys, as I told one of the students jokingly this week. Tyler was a pleasant surprise with its budding greenery and flourishing grass. It was quite a pleasure to experience a change of scenery from Colorado Springs this week as we ministered to middle school and high school students at The Brook Hill School.

The principal, staff, and the students were welcoming to our crew of six and they soaked in the information that we shared about media, music, and worldviews. Many of the students were challenged when we used their favorite artists and songs as examples of the basic worldviews: naturalism, spiritualism, and theism. From my perspective, it was a little frightening to address their questions at first, but we made a special effort to be responsive and very loving toward the students. I remember an encounter with a middle school student that seemed to be more than just chance. I was very tired and I decided to find a place to rest for a period. God had other plans and I ran into two boys in the hallway. We had a good conversation but one of the students was really struggling with some things that we had presented and he needed to vent a little bit. I was amazed at the timing of the encounter and I sensed that God was using me to encourage this young student to keep pursuing God. He expressed that he was mostly an atheist and was having trouble believing that God is there. It broke my heart to hear the edginess in his voice and I wondered what he had experienced that had made him so jaded about the Christian faith. After giving him a bear hug and walking away, however, I knew that God had done something to change his life in our brief encounter. I have continued to pray for him because it would be a shame for such a bright student to turn from the faith because his questions were not welcomed or addressed.

Later that same day a teacher asked us to speak in her classroom because one of her students was troubled that we seemed to be taking artists’ work out of context. After three of us attended the class for an open discussion, this student was relieved and had a genuine appreciation for what AXiS is doing. This was a prime example of why the relational focus of AXiS is so important. Unlike many other guest speakers that travel to schools, we spend the day in students’ classrooms to help them process what we presented and to build relationships with them. There were many opportunities for us to bond with the students during two and a half short days but some were deeply impacted. One student even had tears in her eyes when we were saying goodbye to her!

Many of the students were moved to greater openness or passion by our visit. One atheist student said that chapel for her is boring but she really enjoyed and learned from the AXiS presentation. She identified with the cartoons that we had presented and expressed that now she has a different perspective of God. Another student expressed that she has a renewed passion about her faith and she was even interested in working for AXiS someday! Other students asked us questions about how to more effectively share their faith, how to remove the fake identities that they wear in school, and some just needed to vent about things that they felt they couldn’t tell anyone else. We spoke with vibrant Christians, nominal Christians, Atheists, and Muslims. A team member was even able to dialogue with a student from Saudi Arabia.

The students and staff had such a positive response to our team and the material that we presented that the principal invited AXiS back for next year!

Right now we’re on our way back to Colorado Springs, exhausted but very content with our visit and the ministering that we were able to do. This part of Texas is flat and green and the sun is setting in a gorgeous orange and purple display on the horizon. There couldn’t be a more perfect way to wrap up a trip than with a team of friends, beautiful scenery, and the contentment of knowing that God used us during the past few days to touch lives deeply.
By: Missy1

Notes
  1. This was Missy's first trip with AXiS. Missy is currently a student at the Focus on the Family Institute (FFI) and an alum. of The University of Connecticut. Every semester, several FFI students are able to be interns with AXiS and travel all around the country with us ministering to students.

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