The boldness of Gen Z on mission

Eden Benton is a 17-year-old from South Carolina who loves Jesus and boldly shares the hope of the gospel with her friends via social media and one-on-one evangelism conversations. She hopes to reach, disciple and encourage her generation to remain obedient to God’s calling, despite the pressures of today’s society on youth.

Stats

Around one-third of today’s college

students don’t identify with any religious tradition, making the newest generation the one most likely to reject any and all spiritual institutions. JOHNNY HUNT: Eden, let me tell you why

I’m so excited about us having this conversation. In our research, we’ve found that basically every great move of God involved teenagers; so, we at the North American Mission Board are really excited to have

you! Tell us a little about yourself.

EDEN BENTON: It’s a dream to be here! Well, I surrendered my life to Christ at an early age during a revival at my church, and I grew up in a Christian household with a solid home church. But I knew those things weren’t enough for me.

JH: Tell us about what happened at the

Winter Xtreme event you attended in Gatlinburg last December.

EB: Well, as you were preaching at Winter Xtreme, you asked us specifically about who we were going to bring to heaven with us, and I really thought about that. You used the illustration about the casket and being at funerals where friends have questioned where their loved ones would be in eternity. I started thinking about how many times I was with a person I had the opportunity to share the gospel with, but didn’t, and I couldn’t get over that thought.

JH: I’m so glad the sermon resonated with

you — where did asking that hard question lead you?

EB: So many of us are believers, but we don’t really take our faith to the deeper levels that the Lord actually calls us to. That question of who I was bringing with me got me thinking about how God could take my ordinary life and do some extraordinary things with it. He meant for us to go and make disciples of all nations, so I just started to do something about it.

JH: That’s right, He absolutely can. So what did you feel the Spirit prompting you to do?

EB: That night, I had texted a friend of mine, and she’d actually said to me, “Hey, I need some advice, and it’s too long to text.” As she was talking, the Lord told me, “This is the one.” I felt the Holy Spirit tell me that what she was really missing in her life was something that wasn’t of this world. I could just sense that she was searching for peace

and love in all the wrong places, and I knew that God had opened her heart for me to share Jesus.

JH: I know sharing the gospel for the first

time or even the fortieth time can be nerve-wracking, so tell us a little bit about how you navigated that conversation with your friend.

EB: A lot of times we really bulk up the gospel and make it so complex, but it’s so simple. I shared my story of how I’ve not been perfect and how I’m still not close to perfect, but the Lord changed my life. And I told her, the same way I allowed Him to do it, she could, too. She just broke down in tears and responded to accepting Jesus as her Savior and now she’s on fire for the Lord!

JH: Amazing! So, does that sort of finish

things up for you? I mean, now that you found your one, are you done?

EB: No! I think it’s so important for me to not just stop here. If the Lord is the most important thing in my life, I’m going to make Him known, especially knowing what He’s done in my life. I would never imagine I’d be sitting here today having a conversation with you about how the Lord can take a girl’s life and use her mightily in the kingdom, but He can. He can do it through anyone!

High school student Eden Benton takes the Great Commission as a personal challenge.

Listen to the “Evangelism with Johnny Hunt” podcast for more interviews and evangelism ideas to implement in your church.