by Courtney Chow
Video games, formals, football games, parties, and shopping for prom dresses are some marks in the life of a typical American teenager. However, that has not been the story of a unique group at Lighthouse. Students from grades 6-12 are welcomed to the youth group, also known as Lumos, which is Latin for “light.” Their name is inspired by Matthew 5:14-16, and is a ministry that is committed in glorifying God by being a light to this dark world through proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Teen years are known to be a time when students are developing in all aspects as individuals and the staff (led by Pastor JR Cuevas) strive to help the students as they start to fully grasp and understand what sin, accountability, God’s holiness, and their responsibility toward God is.
The philosophy the Lumos staff was summed up in three points by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz. The first point is to “exalt God, in that all we do in youth ministry must be God-exalting and God-centered, and not youth-centered.” They challenge the youth to have that same mindset, by preaching the Gospel and keeping Christ the focus when they break off into small groups. Kristen Lim, a sophomore in Lumos shared that “Pastor JR does not try to sweeten the Scripture to tickle our ears; he treats us like adults and knows that we are capable of applying the things that we learn in our lives.”
Secondly, they strive to edify the saints. Cesar said “We are to teach them the whole counsel of God, that the youth may be able to know how to live as a Christian at home, school, and in all areas of their life, equipping them to know how to apply Scripture.”
Thirdly, the students are encouraged to “Evangelize the lost, in that we want them to know the Gospel passionately that it would lead them to witness to their classmate… We’re hoping that the youth don’t merely see this ministry as a social club that’s for making friends (though we want them to all love each other), but to see this as a place to grow and lead to ministry.”
Lumos meets for a weekly Bible study on Friday nights. “The youth have been learning humility displayed in the person of Christ through our study in Luke” said Jenie Chung. They also meet on Sunday mornings during the Sunday school hour and have been spending that time learning about the attributes of God. Kristen Lim described their Sunday morning studies: “The first group of attributes we learned about were the incommunicable attributes, which are attributes that solely God has and cannot be emulated by us. Now we are going through the communicable attributes, which are attributes that we can develop.”
Anyone who has seen the youth group knows that they have an immense amount of fun together. In addition to Bible study, every last Friday of each month is an activity night such as bowling, movie night, scavenger hunts and even had opportunities to join other youth groups such as Chinese Bible Church for ice skating and Faith Bible Church for a retreat.
God has been faithful to this small group and Lumos has been steadily increasing in both staff and student numbers over the past few years. He has also been blessing the relationships that have developed amidst the tight-knit group. Jenie said: “Serving on youth staff I’ve been very humbled by the other staff and their love for God and the youth. I know that sometimes being on staff I can be tempted to think that it’s the youth who need to hear the messages by JR but God has been really teaching and blessing me during all of the teaching times. God’s truth is always applicable and always relevant no matter what the circumstance or setting.” The church family can pray for humility for the students and staff; that they would be loving to one another and to help each other grow in our faith, as well as to have teachable hearts, and to be doers, not just hearers of the truths they learn about every week. For more information, please contact Pastor JR Cuevas.