Create a great circle with everyone joining hands. Pray a prayer to dedicate everyone who chooses to give everything to Jesus Christ.

about the writers

day 1: jesus

Britney Verduzco is a fifteen–year–old sophomore in an Adventist academy, who lives in Tennessee with her younger brother and her parents. Being creative, reading books, playing the piano, and talking with friends fill her spare time and bring a smile to her face. She enjoys backpacking, camping, and spending time with her family. She loves Jesus and says she cannot wait to spend eternity in heaven with Him.

Katherine Hesler just finished her first year at Collegedale Academy. Her family moved to Collegedale, Tennessee in 2010. She enjoys reading, playing soccer, turning average activities into exciting adventurers, and being with friends. Her favorite subjects in school are algebra and biology. She hopes to someday be either a scientist, teacher, or both. Her favorite Bible verse is Proverbs 3:5, 6, which reminds her that when she trusts and submits to God she does not need to worry because He is guiding her.

Macayla Raney is a growing disciple of Jesus Christ. She is an academy senior who loves singing, playing the piano and guitar, writing, and spending time with her friends and family. She preached an evangelistic series in Nicaragua when she was twelve and went on a mission trip to Fiji in the summer of 2010.

Michelle Suekert is a seventeen–year–old senior at Collegedale Academy. The summer before her 9^th grade year her family moved from Charlevoix, Michigan to Collegedale, Tennessee. She enjoys reading, horseback riding, hanging out with friends, daydreaming, and walking in the rain. She has grown a lot closer to the Lord this past year, and is still getting closer to and deepening her understanding of Him. Michelle says “God is my lifesaver and I don’t know what I’d do without Him!”

day 2: explore

Amanda Ruf is a senior at Collegedale Academy in Tennessee. She loves stories of all kinds, in every medium. She is endlessly fascinated by the spiritual questions in life and takes every opportunity to seek out the truth.

day 3: come

Kaitlyn ElizabethVerrill is an eighteen–year–old Lancaster, Massachusetts native, who relocated with her family to Collegedale, Tennessee. A student of Southern Adventist University, she has a passion for people, music, writing, and leading. She has worked full-time at a summer day camp at the Collegedale Church as a small group counselor and children’s pastor. Kaitlyn loves God and desires to do His will. Kaitlyn says, “I am excited to be included in two projects involving the world church this year, including the Inside Out Leadership training this past winter and the world church youth week of prayer project. I am grateful to all of you for this opportunity. God bless.”

A bio-physics major, Paul Miller is a freshman at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee. He enjoys playing and watching all kinds of sports and loves to swim, run, hang out with friends, travel, write, build and design rockets, hike, and enjoy the outdoors. Above all, he loves spending time with God. Born into an Adventist family, Paul says his walk with Christ became real at the beginning of his senior year. He has recommitted his life to Christ, which he says is a daily choice. He says, “Christ has displayed Himself to me in many ways, and now I have a driving desire to tell others about Him.”

day 4: trust

Eighteen–year–old Kelsey Elliott has a passion for hiking and spending time with family. One day she hopes to be able to see the world and capture it with her camera to educate others. She is a freshman at Southern Adventist University and is eager to see how God will work in her life.

Mindy Harvey

graduated from Collegedale Academy in the summer of 2012. She is currently completing her general education subjects at Southern Adventist University, and hopes to be accepted into their Nursing Program this coming January, or the fall of 2012. Mindy plan to use the skills she will acquire in the mission field.

Sara Fernando was raised in an Adventist family. She has two brothers and a sister, and attended Adventist schools her whole life, and is currently a freshman at Southern Adventist University. She enjoys horseback riding, camping, and general outdoor activities. Playing the piano and organ are also a major part of her life. She is currently a music major, but has no idea what her final career goal will be. Although she loves the idea of mission work, she is waiting to see what God has planned for her.

day 5: surrender

Alexandra “Alex” Pervis enjoys hiking, playing instruments, drawing, and spending time with friends. But her relationship with God comes first. She feels blessed to be a part of the writing process of this Week of Prayer. She says, “It’s is a wonderful thing to see God working through young people. I pray that this Week of Prayer will be guided by the Holy Spirit.”

Julie MacLafferty is in 10^th grade and goes to Collegedale Academy Tennessee. She enjoys reading, writing, the outdoors, and spending time with family and friends. A love for languages, cultures and world traveling make her life interesting. Her ultimate goal is to live a crazy life following wherever Jesus leads.

day 6: ask

Evan Moses is an avid reader, enjoys games, laughing, and friends. He likes working with kids and showing them Christ’s love.

Travis Crumley is a freshman at Southern Adventist University, majoring in Computer Software Engineering and Music, with concentration on the French horn. Travis enjoys riding ATV’s, writing, singing, and performing in the university orchestra and band. He also enjoys computers in general, but in particular programming various things, including games. He’s hoping to eventually join one of the major technology companies as a software engineer in the future, but he says it all depends on where God leads him.

day 7: love

Brenden Dodd attended all nine years of schooling in Collegedale’s Seventh-day Adventist school system, graduating from Collegedale Academy May 2011. He is currently enrolled at Southern Adventist University, with an interest in the languages of the world. He lives with his parents, younger sister, and two dogs in Apison, Tennessee. He enjoys writing, hiking, reading, and playing the banjo.

Garring Steele is a graduate of Collegedale Academy. He currently works at Southern Adventist University as a janitor in the Hulsey Wellness Center.When Garring was a young boy he enjoyed an engaging life of home schooling with three siblings in a small house on a large, wooded property. He spent much of his time climbing trees and working alongside his mother in the garden and doing home repair projects. He was strongly influenced by the morals of his father, who passed away when Garring was seven years old and by the old-fashioned climate of country living where neighbors help neighbors and watch out for each other’s needs.

day 8:

what if you gave god everything?

Angela McPherson loves using words to serve Christ. She is twenty-six years old and a recent graduate of Southern Adventist University, with a degree in Mass Communications. She has pastored a small non-denominational church (and shared the Advent message while she as at it), travelled to multiple countries on mission adventures, and written for various church publications. She is currently interning with the Georgia-Cumberland Conference assisting in the Communications division, and will be an assistant chaplain for Georgia Cumberland Academy this coming fall. She longs for knowledge in many areas, but craves most to know the depth of the heart of God and to magnify His character.

Heather Kalua was born in California, USA, and lived there until she was twelve, when she and her mom and three other siblings moved to Tennessee. Now she is seventeen and loves living in Tennessee! She has always loved animals and has lots of pets—cats, dogs, rabbits, horses, and goats. Heather just graduated from high school and is planning on starting college. She hopes to find a career where she can help people in a way that she is good at and that she enjoys. She is excited to see what her life will be like in a few years.

Jacklyn Ruth moved from Laurel, Maryland to Tennessee in 2010. She just completed her freshman year of high school at Collegedale Academy. Jacklyn enjoys singing, reading, and listening to music. Her friends like to give her nicknames like: Cracker Jack, Sunshine, Jackie Chan, Giggle Box, Canned Peas, and Smiles. She adores little kids and enjoys having fun, and hopes to learn to play the guitar someday. Despite her nonstop talkativeness, she is very shy. She is eager to get her drivers license so that she can drive on her own. During class she sometimes doodle hearts and sunshine on her papers, and hopes someday in her future to get a great job. Jacklyn wants her life to be a reflection of Christ.

Morgan Williams is a senior at Collegedale Academy in Tennessee, USA. In her spare time, she enjoys horseback riding, drawing, exploring the countryside, and singing in the choir.

HOW IT ALL CAME TOGETHER

Carol Raney provided editing support and opened her home and provided delightful suppers for the students.

Dale Cady was the person who kept it flowing. She has been with the KID Ministry since February 2011. Prior to that she was administrative assistant to the principal of Greater Boston Academy in Stoneham, MA and then administrative assistant to the Dean and Assistant Dean of Students at a public high school. Dale enjoys working with young people of all ages.

Don MacLafferty is the founder/director of Kids in Discipleship (KID) Ministry Center. It began as a ministry of the Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church in 2002, and transitioned to a ministry of the Georgia-Cumberland Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in May of 2011. KID continues to be dedicated to equipping parents to spiritually nurture their children to have a personal, meaningful, and fruitful relationship with Jesus Christ.

Lynne Macias is a teacher who provided editorial support for the Week of Prayer project.

Scott Douglass is a community member who was instrumental in the editing process.

How It All Came Together

Dear Week of Prayer Leader,

A group of young people prayed earnestly for the Holy Spirit to give them words that would challenge their peers around the world to hold on to their calling to discipleship, and to call those who have not stepped up yet to join them in becoming disciples of Christ now! This Junior Youth Week of Prayer is their voice, their words, their passion…their heart cry.

For many weeks I met with these youth as they wrestled with how to best invite youth around the globe to discover Jesus Christ for themselves. As they studied the life of Peter through the Word of God and the writings of Ellen G. White, their hearts were deeply moved. If the Holy Spirit could change the rash and self-centered Peter into a Christ-like, bold disciple, He can do the same for them and for you!

This Week of Prayer is about Discipleship—living your life as a disciple of Jesus Christ now!

It begins by lifting Jesus up as the One who longs to turn your world upside down with His love, grace, and forgiveness. Each day that follows provides a powerful portrait of Peter’s faith journey as a follower of the Master Discipler, the Carpenter of Nazareth.

This year you will have two options: the traditional way of a daily sermon with questions at the end of the lesson, and a new format where there is no sermon and the lesson is studied in a small group. Each message begins with an activity to prepare the youth for the relevant, powerful Word of God. The message ends with a spiritual challenge to be completed before the next evening. The messages and small group options are not merely the sharing of information, but rather an intentional discipleship process to encourage each youth in making decisions for Christ and acting on them.

God loves to reach youth through youth who walk with Him! Prayerfully consider equipping the youth of your church to lead out in this week of spiritual awakening. Encourage these young leaders to personalize these sermons and small group Bible studies by inserting their own stories of God’s life-changing grace and His power to speak and work through their lives.

Above all else, pray for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to call the youth to follow Christ now. Pray that the Comforter will bring healing to young hearts. Pray that this Spirit of the living God will completely fill up the lives of our youth. Pray that He will send them out with a holy fire in their veins to once again turn the world upside down with their teaching, preaching, and living for the sole glory and honor of their Elder Brother, their Savior and their Friend, Jesus.

Your friend,

Pr. Don

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Date: 2015-02-16; view: 495