We’ve just had our ARISE discipleship program graduation, and I have to tell you about one student named Shady, on whom you’ve had a tremendous spiritual impact because of your generous financial support.
Though she always felt deeply loved by both her parents, Shady’s childhood was marred by her father’s drug addiction. Speaking of the continual panic she felt growing up, she told me, “From the moment I remember my first memories being formed to this present day—21 years later—my body is constantly fighting between ‘fight or flight mode.’”
In her early teens, Shady began to be terrified of God. Though she was raised in an Adventist home, there wasn’t much talk about God’s love, and at her Christian school, she heard a lot about an eternally burning hell. “To me,” she told me, “God was a big scary man in the sky watching me and awaiting my downfall.”
After a bad breakup in university, Shady found herself heartbroken and searching. It was at this point God turned her life around. She began studying the Bible on her own and took her prayer life more seriously. He was restoring her. Seeing a psychologist helped heal her nervous system too.
As she got toward the end of university, she wanted to share her faith with people but didn’t feel like she had the knowledge or confidence. A friend told her that ARISE could equip her. She saw how, after attending ARISE, faith was not just an intellectual pursuit but also a heart journey for her friend, and she wanted that for herself. She enrolled in the 2024 class. Now, as it has finished, it has become another turning point for her. Shady is empowered to share the gospel. Even her nervous system continues to heal because of the things she’s learning.
All God wants is a relationship with me and to be my friend and Father, and after being at ARISE, that’s all I want for the rest of my life. I want to spread the gospel to everyone I can, so they can feel the same way too. The classes here have painted a picture of God that has made me fall in love with Him deeply. God is beautiful and attractive, and now I am reminded of that daily. I know there is nothing I need to fear as long as I continue to walk with Him every day. Honestly, I feel like since coming here every aspect of my life has changed.
After ARISE, Shady plans to do Bible work and then get her Masters in Ministry.
Contrary to what you might have heard, there is a desire for God in this next generation, and we want to fan that flame. Will you help us? According to Barna, at least 77 percent of US teens are at least somewhat motivated to continue learning about Jesus throughout their lifetime (www.barna.com/research/teens-and-jesus/). In this year’s ARISE class, we had 21 teenagers—roughly half the class!
I’d like to invite you to pray about how you can support the work that Light Bearers is doing through ARISE and other similar programs and content.
Ty Gibson
Ty is a speaker/director of Light Bearers. A passionate communicator with a message that opens minds and moves hearts, Ty teaches on a variety of topics, emphasizing God’s unfailing love as the central theme of the Bible. Ty and his wife Sue have three adult children and two grandsons.
