“THIS IS SO LIKE A FIELD TRIP.”
Lance looked at Molly. “It does feel like that, doesn’t it? Except, who takes a field trip to church?”
“Hokey people like us,” Timmy said.
Lance laughed as he walked into Living Word with Trey, Molly, and Timmy. Molly couldn’t remember the last time she’d been to church. For Timmy, it was never. But they’d been hanging at the house last night, asking questions about what Living Word was like and the kinds of things they did, and Lance suggested they come check it out.
“But seriously, do I look all right?” Molly smoothed her ripped jeans and plucked at her platinum-red hair. “I look too crazy, don’t I?”
“Since when do you care?” Trey asked.
“Oh, Moll, I forgot . . . ,” Lance said. “Actually, they won’t let you in the service without a skirt and brown, black, blond, or naturally red hair.”
Molly stopped, eyes wide.
Lance pulled her along. “Girl, get in here.”
She trudged forward with a side-glance at Lance. “Dude. Seriously.”
Lance had told them they could drive separately and meet him for second service in the main building, but they wanted to check him out, too, as he led the youth. Their field trip would span the entire morning.
Timmy watched the people filing in. “I find it fascinating that scores of teens fill this building every week,” he said. “They’ve probably heard Bible stories and messages all their lives. And others like me have heard nothing. I want to tap them on the shoulder and say, ‘Don’t take this for granted. Soak it up.’ ”
Lance nodded. “It’d be nice if we could pour the knowledge and wisdom we’ve gained into the next person so they’d get it and run with it.” He eyed a particular circle of teens who’d grown up at Living Word and gotten caught up in bad behavior. “But God has to do an individual work in each heart. It’s amazing, really, how personal He is.”
“I’ve seen it this summer more than ever,” Trey said. “I didn’t think I could experience God in such a personal way.”
Lance noticed Molly was quiet. “You okay, Moll?”
A couple seconds lapsed, and she nodded. “I’m cool.”
“All right, guys,” Lance said, “I have to make sure everything and everybody’s set for service. I’ll see you after.”
Lance couldn’t help praying for them as he walked away. He cared for them as if they were his own kids. Lord, I pray right now that they would each know You in an intimate way.
The service kicked off with worship, then Lance had everyone sit to hear a testimony from a young woman named Heather who’d started a ministry for women dealing with heart issues surrounding sexual immorality. Lance didn’t mind the guys hearing, since they needed to know those issues, too, and would hopefully think about it next time they were tempted to lead one of these young women astray. Next week, a guy would talk to them about the same issues from a male perspective.
Heather took the stage. In her twenties, dressed in faded jeans with blond hair in a high ponytail, she looked as youthful as the teens.
“My name is Heather Anderson, and I want to talk to you about sex. And don’t look embarrassed because I know among this very group of high schoolers, some of you nice, Christian kids are having sex.” She walked to the edge of the stage and looked from side to side, scoping them out. “Uh-huh, and I know exactly which ones.”
They laughed, pointing at one another.
“How many of you have heard that sex before marriage is wrong?”
Almost every hand went up.
“How many of you have heard that you should be striving to remain pure?”
Hands went up again.
“How many of you have heard these things from a fornicator and adulterer?”
The room went quiet as the kids exchanged glances, looking as if they weren’t sure they’d heard correctly.
Heather raised her hand high. “I’m that person. I didn’t make the right choices. In fact, I made terrible choices. But I’m not here to talk about the rightness and wrongness of those choices. You all already know right from wrong.” She took her time, letting her gaze crisscross the audience. “I want to talk about the heart behind those choices. What’s going on in the heart of a young woman who gives herself to guy after guy? Why would she so freely give her body to someone who’s given her, not a wedding ring, but a few crudely strung together words in a text message?”
Hoots and hollers sounded around the room now, from girls affirming the lame communication efforts by the guys.
Heather waited until the noise died down. “I’ll tell you what’s going on, more often than not, in the heart of that woman . . .”
Lance, Trey, and Timmy were ready to head over to the main building, but Molly was still talking . . . to Heather. Heather had told the young women she’d love to talk or pray with them afterward. Lance knew from experience that many of them wouldn’t, self-conscious as they were about what others thought. But to his surprise, Molly had gone right up to Heather as soon as the group was dismissed, and the two were now sitting down and talking.
“I’m wondering if we should wait,” Lance said. “Molly won’t know how to find us.”
“I’ll text her and tell her to come to the main building when she’s done,” Trey said. “Then she can text me, and I’ll go get her.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
The three of them walked across the parking lot and into the main building, where it was always crowded as first-service people left and second-service people arrived.
“Lance!”
He turned to see Cyd coming toward him and walked to meet her. “Cyd, Heather was awesome, just like you said. I’m glad you told me about her ministry.”
“I wanted to be there,” Cyd said, “but I got held up with Kendra when I stopped by with a breakfast casserole.”
“Did something happen?”
Cyd looked perplexed. “Did she say something to you about changing her treatment regimen?”
“Yes, the doctor told her the chemo cocktail will change.”
“No, not that,” Cyd said. “Kendra says she researched alternatives online, and she’s no longer doing aggressive chemo.”
“What do you mean, no longer doing it?”
“That’s what she said. That it didn’t make sense to go through all the pain for nothing.”
Lance was ready to run out the door to talk to her. “The thing is,” he said, “she doesn’t know it’s for nothing. It could extend her life significantly.”
“You know,” Cyd said, “I had a friend who opted not to do aggressive chemo and radiation because she preferred a better quality of life for the time she had remaining. But she’d really prayed about it and consulted with her doctors and family.”
“That’s the problem,” Lance said. “I’m worried because Kendra’s not herself right now, and she’s not listening to the people around her.” He sighed. “I’m praying she doesn’t make a life-altering decision in this state.”