A lot of young Christians spent part of their summer doing something more exciting than hanging out at the mall: being missionaries.
...They are among the new breed of short-term missionaries who say they are not too young to serve and want to make a difference in the world. Many say they have made a decision that they are going to be real about their faith, not just play church.
...The teens find a world of difference overseas from their wealthy suburban lifestyle. Many say they are impressed at how happy poor people are, prompting them to question their own materialistic, stressed-out lifestyles when they return home.
...Sixteen-year-old Josiah Holmes of Mobile, Ala., ordinarily spends his summers surfing. This year he traveled to eastern Malaysia, where he shared the gospel with children and former headhunters, ate python meat, and sampled a drink made from a bird's nest, according to Religion News Service. Holmes, a member of River of Life Family Church, a nondenominational congregation, says he is excited about a trip to Peru next summer, RNS reported.
...This summer broke records for World Changers, a Southern Baptist missions program for youths. More than 17,000 teen-agers helped rehabilitate houses for low-income residents, and 1,539 people made professions of faith to become Christians, up substantially over last year, according to Baptist Press.
...Thousands of people became Christians last summer as a result of teens traveling abroad for Teen Mania, spokeswoman Julia Jenkins told Religion Today. The ministry takes teen-agers on overseas mission trips as well as producing Acquire The Fire regional youth conventions.
...A teen-ager named Julian was among 20 young people and 32 adults who did street evangelism among Jewish people in July in New York City. They distributed tracts and talked to people all over the city, telling them that Jesus is the Messiah that Jews still seek. The city is home to nearly 2 million Jews.
...The group sometimes found itself facing hostility from "anti-missionary" organizations, according to Chosen People Ministries, which runs the Jewish evangelism program. A group of protesters formed a human chain, blocking traffic and creating a public disturbance that required police intervention during a coffeehouse outreach in Brooklyn, according to the ministry.
...The evangelists said they were happy that at least they got people's attention. "I would rather be cursed than ignored," Julian said.
...The appeal of missions among young people is at an all-time high, said Phil Evans of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. "We're trying to tap into a cultural trend that's happening. What we're really excited about is that students want to take their passion for knowing God to help the nations discover the God that they worship," he told Mission Network News.
...Nineteen thousand young people are expected to attend Urbana 2000, an InterVarsity conference for students interested in global missions. It is scheduled for Dec. 27-31 on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Students will spend time seeking God's will for their lives as they worship, pray, study Scripture, listen to speakers, talk with missionaries and development workers, and collect information from 350 missions, seminary, and graduate school exhibits.
