crystal rains
Allies for Christ
allies n. pl. 1. Those who are united with others in friendship or relationship. 2. Those that come together for a common purpose and shared goal.
Crystal Rains had enjoyed a couple of amazing summers as part of a high-powered summer camp. Revival seemed to be a daily occurrence with students responding to energized worship and messages about salvation. Then, toward the end of her second summer, between her junior and senior years in high school, God began to stir something new in her soul.
At first it was just an idea. But then the idea began to grow. While Crystal had seen many come to Christ at camp, her thoughts began to turn back home. “A compelling passion for my lost friends pulled me to my knees in prayer,” she says. “I couldn’t really stop it, even if I’d wanted to.”
As she prayed, the idea began to expand until it was far bigger than she was—but in no way bigger than the God she knew. By the time the camps were over, her idea had become a vision. Crystal knew what she needed to do: one way or another, she wanted to see every middle school and high school student in her city have an opportunity to hear about Christ. She just wasn’t sure how she was going to do it.
Back home, she began to talk with her close friend, Renee. “She was immediately excited. We had been leading an on-campus Christian club at our high school called Allies. This new passion seemed like a natural, yet much bigger, extension of what we were already doing. It was scary, but we felt God telling us we needed to try.”
But there were plenty of obstacles. For starters, the city where they lived was divided by a mountain, which pushed the city into an east side and west side. Each side had its own high school and several middle schools. The mountain was not the biggest barrier, however. A bitter rivalry between the schools had recently erupted into fights and vandalism. Several students ended up in the hospital, others landed in jail. One weekend, the administration canceled a football game and other activities for fear of more east-west violence. If Crystal’s vision was to become a reality, she would need to build a bridge over the mountain, across the prejudice, and through the violence.
Crystal, an “east-sider,” had one connection on the other side of town—a friend named Nick. On the day she called him, he just happened to be meeting with Drew and Timmi, the other leaders of the Allies from the west side. “That alone seemed to be an amazing ‘coincidence,’” Crystal said. “By the end of that phone call, everyone was all for it.” The Allies from each school came together as a single team. United with one desire, they would give every student in town an opportunity to hear about Jesus.
They planned to begin by mobilizing citywide prayer and support through churches, then launch three citywide rallies where students could come and hear the gospel. “Through prayer and compromise we made it happen,” Nick said. “We had to learn to flex and forgive like never before. We had to respect and rely on each other’s gifts and skills.”
First they needed a name for their outreach. The city’s youth were in trouble. Suicide and drug abuse had taken the lives of several students the year before. Rape and alcoholism were draining the life out of many, many others. Therefore, the Allies decided to call their plan Desperate for God, because that was exactly what their city was.
The first rally was a mobilization event for other Christians. It was packed in the school’s theater that night. God was raising up an army of youth groups behind the Allies, and the word began to spread. The second rally exceeded everyone’s dreams. Every seat in the auditorium was taken, the band was awesome, and when the speaker gave an invitation to receive Christ, the aisles filled. As students walked down front, tears streamed down Timmi’s face. She held the door open for them to enter the counseling room, where they opened the doors of their hearts to Christ. It was an amazing night, and the whole plan seemed to be right on track.
“We needed to raise over fifteen thousand dollars to cover all our expenses,” Crystal recalls. “One day, we were short a thousand dollars to pay a band. That day a man came into a church and donated just the right amount to make the payment. It was one of those stories about God’s faithfulness that you read about, but it was our story.”
In May, however, just before the third and largest Desperate for God rally, every one of the Allies was under pressure. Crystal seemed to be struggling the most. “It was a huge mental and spiritual battle. In my own heart I was fighting insecurities and physical temptation with my boyfriend. I kept thinking, I don’t have time to struggle like this! I’m supposed to be a leader. I can’t do it! Two days before the rally I went to the park alone and completely broke down before the Lord, repented of my selfishness, and gave my struggles to Him. It was a small breakthrough, and I left feeling God would be sufficient in whatever came our way.”
On the morning of the final rally, a heavy cloud seemed to hang over the team. “We read together from the Psalms, and that gave us some hope. We prayed and believed, but we didn’t ‘feel’ much peace. We clung to His words, but we still felt only tension and stress. I had never experienced spiritual opposition like that before,” Crystal says.
During the setup, the sound system blew fuses and the lights didn’t work. The stage crew was having lots of trouble, and arguments flared up. When the band members flew in, they were tired, frustrated, and angry—and that night their music sounded like it. A special evangelist flew in, but when he spoke, his words seemed to bounce off the walls, echoing without meaning in the hollow gym. As he began to make an invitation to come to Christ, several groups of students headed for the door.
But then something happened—something beyond what could be seen, beyond all that had been done, beyond the bands and the lights and all the money that had been given. God began to touch desperate hearts with His Spirit, and slowly, one by one, students came forward to give their lives to Him. The floor of the gym was crowded that night with students. Those who came with a need left with eternal life.
“That’s when I knew this was all about Him and not about the Allies,” says Crystal. “He had chosen us for His service and brought us together that year for a specific purpose. He was the one who was at work, not us.”
How many students did the Allies reach that year? Only God knows for sure. All we can tell from this side of heaven is that the world and eternity will be different because one young woman listened, prayed, and obeyed—and then saw God build a team of allies who invested their senior year of high school in something that would last forever.
In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
(1 Peter 3:15)
WEEK FOUR JOURNAL
• If God were to ask you to take a major step of faith, what might it be?
• Right now, where could you be investing your time, energy, and creativity in things that will last for eternity?
• What kinds of “allies” has God placed around you?
• How could you work together with others to fulfill a common vision?
• What Bible verse or passage of Scripture has been most meaningful to you this week? Why?