Don’t Waste Your Privileges

Dear Parents of Student Ministries

It was a joy to be back with the students after camp. We started our evening on Sunday, watching a fun recap video of the memories from camp. Thank you to all who contributed photos and videos to Elianna so she could put the video together. You can download the video to see just some of the fun we had at camp. As a reminder, you can go to https://www.gbcaz.org/ministries/student-ministries/ and click on Resources to listen/watch the camp messages and all the Student Ministries messages. Most of the weekly parent emails are also housed on that ministry page. 

On Sunday evening, we watched a small portion of Zach Cann's recent Equipping Hour lesson from Papua New Guinea I Want to Know What Love Is. We watched the first portion, which focused on the Do-language literacy efforts, and I encouraged them to watch the entire message with their families. I’d love for you to follow up with them on that.

My lesson was pleading with the students not to waste their privilege. They have the privilege of a church and all that we learned at camp comes with that. This is something that many places around the world do not have readily available on the local level. This is why we must send missionaries to the other side of the world — to preach the gospel so that a local, self-sustaining, reproducing church can exist where there isn't one now. Don't waste or take the privilege of having a local church for granted. 

They have the privilege of the Bible in their own language. The whole Bible in multiple easily accessible translations is not something to take for granted. I plead with my own heart and with the students not to waste this privilege. The Canns are laboring diligently to bring the Bible into the language of people who do not currently have it. We should not waste or take for granted the privilege of our Bible. 

Finally, we have the privilege of literacy and education. Before the people of Maweroro can read and understand the Bible that is being translated, they have to learn to read. It is not a trivial thing to take symbols on the page, understand them as the words and ideas they represent, and then comprehend the message conveyed. The video showed just a small part of the literacy efforts where illiterate adults are taking time to learn to read. The students may be tempted to take their education for granted or even grumble about it instead of recognizing what an immense privilege it is that almost every single one of them currently can read better than any in Maweroro may ever be able to despite all these efforts. We must not waste or take for granted our privilege of literacy and education; instead, we must read all the more carefully and think all the more diligently about God's Word, praying that God would cause us to understand, believe, obey, and trust Him and His Words in our Bibles. 

"To whom much is given much is required" (Luke 12:48). We have been given much. We have so much opportunity and so much to give thanks for. We must not waste it. 

Please encourage your students and your own souls with these words. Thank you again for the privilege of coming alongside you in caring for–in evangelizing and discipling–your children. This is truly an unspeakable joy for me and for the amazing servants who volunteer their lives so selflessly in this ministry.

This Sunday, March 2nd, Student Ministries will NOT be meeting separately. Rather, the whole church will be together in the main auditorium. Our current plan is to follow this rough pattern of meeting together approximately monthly. These monthly meetings may be worship times together, family meetings, special messages, and other variations from our typical evening service pattern. Please don't consider this a week off, but rather a week together. 

Your servant for his glory, 

-Jacob Hantla