OM in Pakistan is building on the success of its first ever TeenStreet event last year, helping teenagers to live out their faith year-round.
In 2023, 350 teenagers gathered in Lahore, Pakistan, for the country’s first ever TeenStreet event. It was a hugely successful event – but its true impact is now being felt through the creation of small groups of teenagers who continue to meet, study and live out their faith following the event.
Imran (Pakistan), who leads OM’s work in Pakistan, said the team was greatly encouraged by the response to the TeenStreet event, and explained how they are providing training to coaches.
“At the moment, we have about 50 TeenStreet coaches in Pakistan, and out of 50, about 35 are actively engaging with the teenagers,” he said. “And we have around 40 active groups of teenagers and more than 500 teenagers just in Lahore and in the surrounding areas!
“But we are wanting to expand our TeenStreet events to other cities where we are excited to see how the next generation has been invested in and what God is doing.”
Excited to spread the gospel
One example of God’s work among the teenagers is the story of Nadeem*, who is in his late teens and works as a barber. He didn’t have a Christian background, but he was invited to be part of a TeenStreet small group, where he started learning Bible stories. The group was studying the book of Acts, and when Nadeem learnt about missions, he was really excited.
“Whoever would come to his shop, he just can't stop sharing some of these stories that he's learning in the group with his customers,” Imran said. “One day, a Muslim guy came to get a shave, and Nadeem started sharing some of the stories with him.
“This Muslim guy got so interested he requested a Bible. When he saw this young man sharing these stories, he said: ‘I want to know more, I want to read your Bible.’ So Nadeem spoke with his coach and a Bible was provided to this customer.
“There are many stories like these where these teenagers are really getting excited for missions and they are being mobilised. I'm very excited as the team leader because Pakistan is a young nation. We have so many teenagers in our churches and we really want to catch their attention, prepare them, and equip them for God’s work in Pakistan.”
Changing teenagers through teenagers
Salmoon (Pakistan), who led the first TeenStreet event in Pakistan, said he was overjoyed to see what God is doing in the lives of the teenagers who attended the event, and how their faith is continuing to grow and spread.
“We are watching multiplications in the small groups, so a few small groups have been started by mature teenagers, and we call them daughter groups,” he said.
Two of these daughter groups were inspired by the example of the disciples in the book of Acts in helping others’ needs. Group members decided to collect two months of pocket money and, after praying, sent it to an orphanage.
“In another small group, one boy shared that his father was a drug addict, and the whole family was suffering because of him,” shared Salmoon. “After the teenage boy shared this problem with his fellow teens and small group leader, they started praying for his father.
“A few months ago, God changed his father's life. He repented of his sins and gave his life to Christ. Now, his father is serving in the church as a security guard. We cannot underestimate the power of prayer and the power of small groups.
“The beauty of this story is that God is changing families through teenagers.”
Please pray for the TeenStreet event planned for October 2024, which is expected to welcome almost 1,000 teenagers from Lahore and other cities. Pray for small group training sessions in each of those cities. The OM team would like to train 50 small group leaders in total.
*name changed