Life-transforming truth

Dear friends,

It’s such a joy to share with you another season of Connecting You. We are so grateful for your partnership in the gospel and hope that the stories and daily prayer points in this edition will guide and inspire you as you continue to pray for God’s mission here at Scripture Union.

The common theme that runs through each of these stories is the way in which God’s unchanging truth brings transformation and healing in the lives of those who hear and seek to live by it. I vividly recall the impact on my fledgling teenage faith when, as an assistant leader at SU camp, I not only saw young lives transformed through the truth they were encouraged to find in Scripture, but my life was transformed through the witness of older leaders who prayerfully opened their Bibles, expecting to be spoken to, and determined that it would shape their lives.

‘Truth’ can be so confusing in today’s world, with so many different voices, and Pilate’s response to Jesus’ statement that he came to proclaim the truth – ‘What is truth?’ (John 18:38) – suggests that perhaps in some ways this has always been the case.

But we also know that the truth that Jesus brings really is the truth. As he said, ‘You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ (John 8:32). When Jesus says this, he is encouraging his followers to truly become his disciples by living out his teaching.

This is our prayer for the children and young people who discover Jesus thanks to their Faith Guides who draw alongside them; that they would not only hear the truth, but would hold to it and become disciples, and in doing so be set free.

MacBean, National Director

In the Winter 2021 edition of Connecting You, we introduced you to Lox and Ruth Busisa, pastors of LifePoint Church

Pembrokeshire which is located on a deprived estate in Haverfordwest. Through your support, SU trained them as Faith Guides and helped them start connecting with young people. A year later, some of those young people have decided to follow Jesus.

During the pandemic, SU helped Lox and Ruth to start making connections with young people in the community through sports ministry in the local park. LifePoint also gave out food parcels and supported the community in other ways too. On Sundays, they would have a short vibrant service, Church in the Park, open to all. ‘That’s when we first met Sammi and two of her children, Ali and Ethan,’ says Lox. ‘We got to know them and that autumn, when we started a Friday group to connect with local teenagers, Ali and Ethan were among the ten young people who joined, and later they made a commitment to follow Jesus. So did their mum, and the three of them were baptised a few weeks ago!

‘Last summer, we invited them to come on SLAM, a short sportsbased residential on the Gower in South Wales, organised by Jack (SU Mission Enabler, Jack Newbould) for Faith Guides and their young people. We took a group of young people at different stages of the faith journey, including Ali and Ethan. Over several days we shared the gospel and our own testimonies of God’s goodness.’

Exploring faith together

Ali and Ethan also come to Lox and Ruth’s Wednesday evening youth group which is more of a Grow Community. ‘There’s greater spiritual content than in the Friday group,’ says Ruth. ‘We have worship, Bible study and prayer, which they love –they are amazed they can speak to God and he hears!

‘We use the SU Rooted journals to spark discussion. These young people are really open to exploring faith and they have lots of questions which is great. It means they’re really into it! Most of them don’t have church backgrounds and what’s in the Bible may differ from what they’ve been taught at school.’

Lox adds, ‘Yes – at school there can be many opinions and young people get confused about what is right and what is wrong. They are astonished that our views always stay the same, even if our view as Christians doesn’t align with popular opinion.

‘That consistency can really speak positively to young people. For example, their popularity is everything – how many views you get on TikTok, how many likes you get on Instagram. But it’s dependent on getting your clothes, makeup, hair, and so on, right, in line with the latest trends which can change overnight. That constant need to compete and

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live up to some sort of unrealistic expectation messes them up.

‘Recently I spoke to our Wednesday group on Psalm 139. I explained how the Bible says we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” and that God thinks they’re awesome as they are. He doesn’t look at their makeup, their hair, how they dress or their social media ratings. He sees through all those layers and loves them anyway, with a love that doesn’t change.

‘You could sense the relief from them. To know that God loves them, whatever their popularity rating, is something very unique and precious for them to be aware of and to hold onto, especially in these times of so much change.’

It’s only thanks to your generous gifts and prayers that SU can support and train Faith Guides like Lox and Ruth. Your support ensures that children like Ali and Ethan get the chance to discover that Jesus loves them along with opportunities to grow in their faith. If you can give a gift to enable vital work like this, please donate online at su.org.uk/donate. Thank you!

FEBRUARY 26

Prayers

Please pray for all Faith Guides and the children and young people with whom they are sharing Jesus’ message of hope.

Sunday 26

Praise God for raising up Faith Guides like Lox and Ruth and for their inspiring and faithful commitment to sharing Jesus with children and young people who feel so lost in a post-pandemic world.

Monday 27

Praise God our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1) and Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Please pray that children and young people across the country will grasp that truth for themselves.

Tuesday 28

In today’s world, with social media and personal opinion having so much influence, young people struggle to know what truth is. Praise God for the faithful witness of Lox and Ruth in helping young people to know the truth that will set them free (John 8:31).

Wednesday 1

Please ask God to draw new young Christians close to him, including Ali and Ethan, and help them to grow in faith and understanding.

Thursday 2

Please ask God to speak to the hearts of Christians across the UK, that many more will be moved to share the hope that Jesus offers with the next generation who are so in need of hearing that message.

Friday 3

Ask God to help every child and young person to have the opportunity to hear about Jesus in a way that they will be able to understand, even if they have no church background or knowledge of the Bible.

Saturday 4

Please pray for God to guide Scripture Union’s content developers, so that they make it possible for children and young people without church backgrounds to understand and grasp the amazing message of Jesus.