Christ Zombies

Six months ago, we asked the five kids in our youth group how we could get more kids interested. They suggested that we start holding concerts, so Mike and I went to work on getting our first show organized. They also renamed our group of emo kids "Christ Zombies".

The past few months have been fantastic. We have hosted hardcore/metal concerts about twice a month since May. So far, our focus has been to simply provide a place for kids to be themselves and to build relationships with them over time. One recent show was a benefit concert for a local family who had incredible medical expenses. We had 360 kids there and raised $2800 for the family. Most of the shows have had between 150 and 250 teens in attendance.

On Friday night, we had another show. At first, we were really frustrated and disappointed because we felt like it was going to be a big night, but the attendance was really low - only about 85 kids. As the night went on, however, one of the bands called For Today spent the evening wandering around and talking with kids. Over the course of the night, seven teens prayed to receive Christ and gave us their phone numbers to follow up with them.

This night reminded me that what we're doing with these shows is not just about drawing a crowd, but about drawing people toward Jesus. As we continue to serve Jesus by making our space available for teens to gather, we're confident that Jesus will continue to build his church among the teens of Chaska.