G
Chris White
Chris White’s life was on a trajectory
for prison when someone at a local
Foursquare church paid his way to camp.
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F O U R S Q U A R E Leade r
od transformed my life because of the
Foursquare family, and it was all because
a small Foursquare church had a plan and
a strategy to reach the next generation.
My life today is unrecognizable to the life I had
before I met Jesus. As a young man growing up in
the largest trailer park in the U.S., I had my share of
troubles. My father, who had been abused as a child
by his father, had repeated the cycle with me.
By the time I was 16, I had been in a gang,
experienced multiple arrests, and was a drug
dealer. That I am a Foursquare pastor today is
nothing short of a miracle.
An arrest for an assault with a deadly weapon
landed me in juvenile hall, and for what can only
be explained as divine intervention, it turned out
to be my last stay there. Following my release, a
woman from a local Foursquare church sponsored
me to go to camp, where I met and surrendered
my life to Jesus. That same church welcomed me
into their family with open arms when I returned
home, and I was mentored and taught what it
means to be a man of God.
Because of you, my Foursquare family, my kids will
never know what it’s like to have their dad hauled off
in handcuffs. My wife will never know what it’s like to
have bruises on her arms. My son will never know
what it’s like to go to school and have to lie about a
black eye on his face.
This is why I’m passionate about Foursquare
today and reaching the next generation. Generation
Z is the largest generation in the world today. In
the U.S. alone, they are 26 percent of the total
population. U.S. pastors: Generation Z is your largest
people group.
NextGen
ministry doesn’t
have to be
flashy or cost a
lot of money.
But it will cost
our movement and the kingdom of God if we don’t
have a strategy to reach our young people.
My challenge to you, pastor and leader, is to
commit to, and invest in, NextGen and camping
ministries. Let’s be expectant, believing that God
is going to continue to transform lives at camps.
Then, let’s be prepared with an after-camp
strategy, ready to receive our young people with
open arms when they return home. Have your
water baptisms ready, and let your church hear
camp testimonials.
Generation Z is here; they’re ready for us.
Church, God is calling us to be ready with a plan
to receive them. He’s positioned us at this precise
moment in
history, and His
command to
us is that “one
generation
shall commend
Your works
to another” (Psalm 145:4, ESV). Our obedience to
this one command embodies the heart of true
ministry and can be used by God to transform
generations to come.
Because of my Foursquare family, my kids
will never know what it’s like to have
their dad hauled off in handcuffs.
Chris White is senior pastor of Fountainhead (Carson City Four-
square Church) in Carson City, Nev.
Watch the Video
Watch Chris White’s powerful testimony at Foursquare Connection 2018 at 4sq.ca/chriswhite.
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