It is a good and blessed moment when the door is opened and we have the opportunity to share our faith story or, more accurately, faith stories. We each have several or many of them. As time goes on, each of us will have more and more. Every now and then, take a moment to think about the faith stories you can tell about such as the following:

• Those times when you’ve been challenged by a spiritual concern;
• When you’ve experienced God’s grace, forgiveness, and love;
• When you’ve been guided in difficult situations and in decision-making;
• Those times when God has been most real to you.

Tell a story about a time when
• I was aware of God’s presence.
• I grew closer in my relationship with God.
• I felt that God helped me.
• God was watching over me or protecting me.
• I made an important decision about my faith journey.
• I experienced God’s love.

Share those stories with your Christian friends and acquaintances and within your youth group. This can be a sort of rehearsal for sharing the same stories with a seeking friend.

Important Note: You should tell what you have experienced for yourself and what you believe. You should not tell the person what he or she should experience. You should not tell the person what he or she should believe. God will deal with that. Eliminate sentences that begin with "You should …,” or “You need to …,” and “I believe …,” and so forth.

Also, talk to your youth volunteers or pastor about your faith stories. And ask them about their faith stoires, and be a good listener.

From Youth Reaching Youth, © 1998 by Abingdon Press. This material may be reproduced for educational purposes.

other articles in the Youth Reaching Youth series:
Planning Visitor-Sensitive Youth Settings.
Faith Conversation Skills.
Making Disciples of Jesus Christ.
Telling Our Faith Stories to Youth.

Brought to you by your youth ministry colleagues at Cokesbury.

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