The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Kristina C. during the 2009-2010 League.
Mission: Tactics - Promote SSI
After being involved in Detroit Bible Quizzing for several years, I decided that this would be a great place to promote SSI since there are dozens of Christian teens. I then asked the coordinator if I could have a few minutes to promote SSI, and to my surprise, he said that he wanted me to give the devotional. I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to share what God has done in my life through SSI. So I prepared a devotional which ties in with SSI's mission statement for about 200 people (the majority being teenagers).
Having only about five to ten minutes, I jumped right in with my favorite Bible verse: 1 Timothy 4:12,14-15, which says, "Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them so that everyone may see your progress." Before promoting SSI, I talked about God how uses us even though we are young to be a shining light in the world of darkness. I talked about how I have seen people waste their gifts when God wants to utilize them. Then, I outlined the five types of "hard" things to do according to Brett and Alex Harris' book, Do Hard Things: 1) Things which are outside of your comfort zone. 2) Things which are beyond what is expected or required. 3) Things which are too big to do alone. 4) Things that do not earn an immediate payoff. 5) Thing which challenge the cultural norm.
Trying to relate my devotion to my SSI mission of promotion, I then introduced the program. I explained that SSI challenges teens to be more involved in their community and government. I also explained that SSI challenges teens to do the "hard" things. I then talked about how SSI strongly focuses on preparing teens to use their God-given gifts according to I Timothy. I also elucidated things that I have learned at SSI, and how God has used me. SSI has definitely challenged my ideas of God's purpose for my life. I now know that He has a perfect plan for me and is using me while I am young to prepare me. Afterward, I gave information about the summer camp, website, and upcoming brochures.
Afterward, many teens and parents came up to me complementing my devotion and asking for more information on the program. Several teens mentioned that they were excited to attend the summer camp next year. Even the shy teens where excited to find a program that would help them become more involved and challenge them. Overall, this opportunity was extremely successful and hopefully more teens will attend SSI next year!
