Young Christian Leaders' Alliance

What will you be doing this year to support your school?  Have you considered starting a prayer group to uphold your friends, leaders, and teachers before the Lord?  The YCLA will be pressing forward once again in the 2010-11 school year with our Operation Pi vision: a “Prayer Initiative” for our education, in which you can be a part! 

If you are not praying for your school, you are missing an amazing blessing God wants to give you.  However, even if you already pray for your school on your own, it is still a great idea to begin praying regularly with your friends.  Not only does this action allow you to better track God’s workings and acknowledge Him to others, it creates a spirit of teamwork between students with a heart for Christ. 

The YCLA has developed two web pages that can aid in assembling such a group.  Go to www.YCLAlliance.org/operationpi.htm for more info on this project and to join our Facebook page!  Or, for resources and support in getting started, you can check out www.YoungChristianLeaders.org/prayer.aspx.

You may also email yclalliance@gmail.com with any comments, questions, or ideas.  Thanks for working with us to reclaim America’s schools!

By R. Josiah Magnuson, YCLA President

This past month, thanks to the prayers and support of many of you, and the skill and devotion

of the many trip organizers, I was able to spend ten days in Nicaragua on a senior class mission

trip through Kingsway Christian School. My group ministered to numerous children and

families in this Central American country. We were able to work with a team from King’s Castle

Ministries, a Latin American organization which trains kids, teens, and college students in

evangelism and missions.

When we first arrived in Nicaragua, I thought I knew what to expect, and in many ways I did. I

know what poverty means and have seen endless pictures of foreign countries. But nothing

could have prepared me for the actual experience. There are simply some things which can

never be done justice in a photograph. These things included, for me, such lessons as the

humanity and value of every person, true joy in Christ, and the power of relationships.

First, God impressed me with the fact that every person is a real human being with the same

needs and desires as everyone else. The Nicaraguans have a desire for food, for dignity, for

improvement, for love, just like anyone in the United States. They have so much less than us,

but they are no different. I already knew this fact with my mind. It’s a lot different to absorb it

into one’s soul.

Second, God gave me back a true joy in Him on this trip. Even though I’ve had a lot of

disappointments in my life, I realized that my heart can sing to Him no matter what is going on

around me. The kids in Nicaragua are a prime example of this joy. Many of them (and

especially the Christian kids) are enthused and energized people, showing huge smiles at the

slightest act of friendship, even amid constant stench, hunger, sickness, and political

uncertainty. We can learn much from the way the people of Nicaragua find satisfaction and

beauty in little things.

Third, I learned that relationships truly are more important than material “stuff.” Friendship is

indeed based on the intrinsic value of others. And, ministry can be built around friendship,

rather than around money. In America, it tends to be the case that ministry cannot happen

without material things. We wait to go on God’s vision until we have amassed a vast stockpile

of resources. But in Nicaragua, we learned that God can use anything He wants to. Whether

through a simple soccer game, or playing nose flutes, or praying for a sick mother, or doing

dramas with a gospel message, God brought light to people’s lives. We went into numerous

schools, a jail, a hospital, and an orphanage. In each place, we saw terrible and sometimes

unspeakable conditions. But in each place, Christ seemed to shine through us to work in the

hearts of those we ministered to. And thus, our group drew closer not only to the Nicaraguans,

but to each other as friends.

I had not expected to experience a country so modern and yet so unmaintained. I had not

expected to experience a city with streets where the smell of trash and smoke could not be

escaped. I had not expected to see such a low level of poverty on such a grand scale. But the

thing I may have least expected in Nicaragua was the lesson that joy is possible, in the middle of

it all. God can work in any place at any time, to fulfill the lives of those who trust Him.

I asked Oliver Morales, the 26-year-old leader of the King’s Castle team we worked with in Nicaragua, what he believed was the essence of leadership. He responded with four main points, which I will share here. –

RJM

1. Do it first. If you tell someone to do something, you must be willing to do it yourself (be an

example).

2. Keep your word. For example, if you say you will be on time and you are late you lose

credibility.

3. Be consistent. Showing forgiveness as a leader can be good, but not if you’ve already given a

warning. The rules must apply equally for everyone.

4. Have respect. The more respect you have for your team the more respect they will have for

you.

Here's a link to, and text of, my speech I gave this past Monday night, March 29, 2010 for an oratory competition.  I didn't win, but I think God used my speech to help some people understand the true nature of this issue better.

http://youngchristianleaders.org/Documents/Abortion%20Solution.wma

Worldview Transformation: A Plan to End the Abortion Tragedy

By R. Josiah Magnuson, March 29, 2010

Abortion: seldom in American history has a problem come about with such enormous and tragic consequences, and yet so few forthcoming solutions.  Every day, over 3,700 U.S abortions take place, amounting to close to 1.4 million abortions every year.  According to this conservative estimate from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion source, over 50 million individuals have thus been brutally brought to their graves through a legalized extermination, an amount greater than that of those killed by Hitler, Stalin, and Mao combined.  Yet, our country stands still and watches.  

While politicians make empty promises, the media conducts interviews, and lobbying groups send out petitions, innocent children are being slaughtered.  Why?

The fundamental problem in America is not a political issue, but a moral one.  The right to life is only one moral principle which must be upheld.  God’s commands to abstain from sex outside of marriage, love Him before all else, and love our neighbor, are concepts which will, when followed, completely eliminate the abortion problem.

First, the fact of premarital sex is one of the leading causes for abortion.  64.4% of abortions are performed on women who were never married.  According to David Barton of the organization Wallbuilders, premarital birth rates have increased over 200% since 1963, the year the Supreme Court ruled that Bible reading was not permissible in the public classroom.  God commands abstinence before marriage.  Children must be taught from an early age to honor Biblical authority, if they are to be expected to honor it later.

Second, God commands us to love our neighbor.  Abortion is not an act of love.  It is an act of violence.  How can we claim to be Christians and not stand against this practice?  Nearly 20% of women who have abortions currently identify themselves as “Born again/Evangelical.”  We should be ashamed.

Third, God commands that we love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.  Children in a mother’s womb are the creation of God.  They are not evolutionary tissue, nor are they a “problem” or simple “inconvenience.”  Americans have become wrapped up in materialism, in maintaining our standard of living, and in doing what we want.  Have we forgotten that God is our Creator?  Have we forgotten the words of the Founders, that “all men… are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights”?  Have we forgotten that among these rights is the right to life, for all?

Abortion will end when the people of the United States turn back to God and allow Him to transform their worldview.  But transformation does not start “out there” – it must start in our own hearts and minds.  We must commit to upholding the authority of God’s moral code.  We must prepare ourselves to teach and train others.  We must pray and fast – and we must love God first.

When the people as a whole recognize the disaster of abortion, wheels will be put in motion which no one knew existed.  Perhaps Supreme Court justices will finally be appointed who will overturn Roe v. Wade.  Perhaps bills will be passed to take the abortion issue away from Federal court jurisdiction and return it to the states.  Perhaps abortion will be regulated out of existence.  But perhaps, the abortion clinics will close on their own, because there will be no more demand.

Samuel Adams once wrote: “…I have long been convinced that our enemies have made it an object to eradicate from the minds of the people in general a sense of true religion and virtue, in hopes thereby the more easily to carry their point of enslaving them.  Indeed, my friend, this is a subject so important in my mind that I know not how to leave it.  Revelation assures us that ‘righteousness exalteth a nation’….  The diminution of public virtue is usually attended with that of public happiness; and the public liberty will not long survive the total extinction of Morals.”

In conclusion, the plan to finally end abortion is one of more than political action.  It must consist of a consistent moral training operation in our own homes and families.  It must include a Biblical foundation which affects our entire worldview.  It must be a return to the God-honoring principles of America’s Founders.  Respect for life will be regained when we regain a lifestyle of respect.

The solution to the abortion problem does not revolve around who we elect.  It revolves around who we are.

The above is the title of the August, 2009 Voice of the Martyrs Magazine. The communist government of the People's Republic of China has recently intensified its campaign to squelch the gospel through state-sanctioned internet censorship and radio jamming, as well as the customary harassment, arrest, imprisonment, and torture of witnessing Chinese Christians.

However, the 73 million strong Chinese communist party has failed to foresee that they are fighting a losing battle. The power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to save men and bring true hope and fulfillment transcends opposition and persecution. As one communist official stated (paraphrased), "We arrest and bring to justice illegal Christian missionary, [sic] and five more spring up suddenly."

Please continue to work and pray by witnessing in your own community and praying for our persecuted fellow Christians around the globe.

Here is an update from China Aid:

Youth Camp Raided in Henan; Two Christian Leaders Detained - July 28, 2009

HENAN - A Christian youth camp was raided in Nanyang city, Henan on July 23. More than 20 students were participating the summer youth camp were gathering at No. 23, Lizhuang, Pushan town, Wuolong district, Nanyang city, Henan when they were raided by a number of Public Security Bureau (PSB) and Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) officials. The raid took place at 12 noon, and all of the students were taken away for further interrogation. The students, who were all under 18 years old, were released and dispatched back to their homes in the afternoon. Two instructors, Mrs. Cheng Ping, 40 years old, and Mrs. Miao Miao, age 30, were sent to the Yongan Lu Detention Center of Nanyang city. They were reportedly sentenced to administrative detention. The lengths of their sentences are unknown because the church leaders who organized the camp were threatened by officials not to speak to the public about this case.

Contact the Chinese embassy and ask for the immediate release of Ms. Cheng Peng and Ms. Miao Miao. Urge Ambassador Zhou to guarantee freedom of belief in China as stated in China?s Constitution.

Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong

3505 International Place, NW,

Washington, D.C. 20008

Tel: (202) 495-2000

Fax: (202) 588-9760

More Information:

China Aid

Voice of the Martyrs

Many young people settle for being Young "Christian-ish" Followers.
Only a few give the extra effort to be Young Christian Leaders.
A Young Christian Leader is really just a normal young person who decides to be a servant in everyday life.  

He does not work to stand out or be popular, but if he should attain the attention of others, 

he strives to use it as a resource for better service and influence. 
He defends the Truth with everything he has.
 

-R. Josiah Magnuson