“That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” John 1:9 NKJV
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6 NKJV
It is my personal privilege to take prayer requests from people who need a partner in prayer. One of the most unusual happened in November 1997, at the end of a TTT “Mission Possible” youth evangelism and leadership training day that featured NASA astronaut Ken Cockrell.
Prayer changes things and people.
Ken shared an astronaut’s view of the world God created, with spectacular photos of specific places on planet earth from 200 miles above, orbiting at 17,500 mile per hour. When I took Ken Cockrell to the airport, he shared a prayer request: “My heart’s desire is to go via the Space Shuttle to help with the International Space Station.”
It was a thrill to witness the answer to prayer. At NASA’s IMAX theater, my wife Mary, our daughter Tami, and I watched Ken “float” from the Shuttle into the Space Station, on a mission fulfilling his dream. February 2001, Ken helped deliver the US laboratory module “Destiny,” and spent seven days on the mission while “Destiny” was attached to the International Space Station.
During the initial weeks of the COVID-19 crisis in the spring of 2020, we were limited by state guidelines to 10 people attending TTT Saturday nights in person, with the recommendation of working together to make the weekly program available online. So we prayed and prepared to share music, Tami’s Bible teaching, and my challenge “on camera,” including presenting the Gospel and an invitation to respond. God brought 10 people together, with each team member using their unique gifts.
“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them …” Romans 12:3-6 NKJV
Since March 2020, TTT has been livestreaming every Saturday, in addition to continuing to meet in person, connecting and reconnecting with people throughout the tri-state, across America, and internationally. Individuals from at least 44 states and 53 nations have participated.
TTT Christian Youth Ministries’ 2025 theme “Give the Light” is based on 2 Corinthians 4:6 NKJV: “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
January 4 will be, God willing, TTT’s 3075th consecutive Saturday. And God willing, February 1 TTT Christian Youth ministries is to turn 59.
We have been “praying without ceasing” for a plan to reach and teach more with the Gospel: teenagers and preteens, alumni, parents and grandparents, local church pastors and youth workers, prayer team, and investors of time, talent, and treasure.
Tami prayerfully presented a plan that we are endeavoring to implement. God willing, youth evangelism training partnerships will accelerate February 4 (the first Tuesday) with a 90-minute luncheon including training for pastors and youth workers in person at TTT and via Zoom.
February 8 is to be the first 2025 “Leading Youth” evangelism training Saturday, preparing for “Hosanna Highway” March 1 through May 3.
“Hosanna” Saturday is to be April 5. The week the world forever changed. Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding the colt of a donkey, His betrayal, His death on the cross paying the price in full for our sins, and His bodily resurrection: Easter.
On the 7th and 27th of each month, a prayer update is available via email to each person willing to pray diligently, consistently, and specifically.
“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all … But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:5, 7 NKJV
You can have the true Light when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Will you?