For the past three months, and with one more to go, Lance Mishleau, Director of The Cause Ministry, has been hired to integrate the motto and desires of The Cause Ministry into the youth of Orangevale (OV), California. The youth had not had a Youth Pastor for some time and there were only a consistent 3-4 kids showing up for activities. Today there are about 25 consistent youth coming on a weekly basis with upwards 60+ for special events.
Why are so many young people leaving the church? Lance Mishleau has found “It is a lot easier to leave something you feel you don‟t belong to in the first place.” In order to change this, he says “One of the first things we have to do is to give the youth a sense of belonging, not just a sense but to become a real and relevant member of the Body of Christ, aka the Church.”
In “the OV”, that is exactly what is happening. Youth (high school students mind you) are grabbing hold of their Christianity and desiring to reach out for Jesus. They have received titles and responsibilities and with those titles and are taking ownership of their youth group they are bringing in their Christian friends from around the greater Sacramento area, but even more importantly some are bringing in friends that are not regular church-goers as well. Outreach is a key part of what they do. Members of the OV Youth Group go into their schools and communities and pass out cards and flyers to invite their peers, both friends and strangers, to what is happening at their church. One youth-sponsored weekend event (open to all ages) brought in over 300 people! Some of these youth have even suffered persecution by being asked to leave from the shopping mall for witnessing and passing out flyers, all for the sake of desiring to share the Gospel.
Along with outreach there are three other key elements to what has happened with the OV Youth Group. There has been established a weekly service (before the main church service) named “The Calling”. Its purpose is “To find our place as Jesus found His, by growing in Wisdom, Stature, and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:52) Looking at Jesus we see this is how He grew from the age of 12 until around 30 years old, which is the age group of the OV youth. When Jesus came out of that time frame He knew what His calling was and if we dedicate ourselves to growth, we too can find our “Calling” for here on earth.
The second element, “D of A”, is the mid-weekly study time where we read “The Desire of Ages”. This is “A look into the life of Jesus”. It is a book focused on Jesus and His life from beginning to end and will continue to be studied even after The Cause Ministry leaves after its four-month stay at OV.
The third element is a monthly event called “The Bridge” which is “A connecting place youth can use to cross over and find a deeper meaning to life by seeking, asking and knocking on doors through life’s journey”. (Matt. 7:7,8) This is a monthly Friday night event that youth can feel especially comfortable inviting friends to. It is an event that has youth/young-adult guest speakers and musicians from all over the country that share their talents with the youth. The message behind “The Bridge” is that there are many moments in our lives that God may call us to “bridge” over from our crazy lives onto the straight and narrow and into His will and Salvation. It is here that youth can see God in possibly new and exciting ways and truly find
a deeper meaning to life.
a deeper meaning to life.
With one month left before the departure of The Cause Ministry from Orangevale, The Cause is planning an alternative Halloween event at a local public high school auditorium that will bring the whole Cause Ministry team to town. This event will be a powerful weekend of spiritual renewal, evangelism, and an overall deeper connection with Christ. The desire is to build up this event while putting many of the youth in leadership roles to accomplish the tasks as well as to utilize one of the local youth praise bands called “All In” to open that evening for The Cause Band.
Lance Mishleau and The Cause will start to let go during the final month at OV and let the youth take complete ownership of what their Youth Group has become by allowing God to transform them. The prayer of The Cause is that they will continue what has been started and keep in mind the motto of being “Youth that will Lead the Church”.
The Cause Ministry is now looking to go forward in making this a full time ministry and building on what the Lord has been doing in their lives for the last eight summers. They will only do this by YOUR help. Please take the time to pray for this ministry and pray how God may want you to help The Cause financially so that they may continue the work God has called
them to do in these final days.
-From The Cause Newsletter
November 2009
them to do in these final days.
-From The Cause Newsletter
November 2009
