Spiritual Mentoring by Leah Cummings

This is a result of an event TZM had at Christian Fellowship Church in Detroit Lakes, MN 4 years ago. The following is a college paper written by Leah Cummings who is now in her second year at Chirst for the Nations.

Spiritual Mentoring

I grew up in a Christian home my whole life. I had parents that loved the Lord and were always involved in the church. Growing up my parents raised me and taught me the ways of the Lord. I couldn't of asked for any better parents. Life was great as a child but as I started getting older I started to lose my passion.

When I got into my teen years about fourteen I would always go to church with my family but never got into it. I remember looking around and the only people that really got into church and God were the older people. During church I would basically just stand there wouldn't clap and I would hardly even sing. In my head was that lie saying “ look around no one your age is getting into this why should you.. Maybe when your older…” that was a big struggle for me knowing that there was no one my age on fire and sold out for God, so where would I fit in? I grew up with three siblings that were all older than me and they never got into church either. They were always out with their friends and doing their own things with their lives.

One Sunday morning during church they announced that a team called TZM would be coming to minister at our church. I remember thinking to myself “nothing new just some people coming in to speak.” But what I didn’t know that this was going to be the start of something new for me. Next the announcer says “would there be anyone to volunteer to have some of the team members stay with you at your house.” And of course my parents volunteered. I said to myself “oh great, now I am probably going to have to go to these meetings.”

Sure enough that day came and the couple came over to our house. They were really fun and very sweet people. Later on that day the question I had been dreading to hear. The couple said “ So Leah are you going to be coming to these meetings?” and of course I had to say “yeah I’ll be there.” It hurt to even have to say yes. I really did not want to go. But God had a different plan, what I was about to encounter was going to be something I had never experienced in my life.
The first night came I went in and I sat in the very back and I just wanted to observe this whole thing. The worship was so amazing. There were people walking around praying out loud and worshiping with all that was within them. As I looked around the room I was starting to feel something different, but also thinking that all this was crazy. Then I saw a teen someone that was my own age that was totally sold out for God, worshiping with all his heart and praying like I’ve never seen before. That was exactly what I needed to see. I said to God that night “ God, whatever he has I want that before these meetings are done with.” I had never seen someone my own age so sold out for God. At the end of that meeting people were getting slain in the spirit left and right and I was just watching that night thinking to myself I have never been slain in the spirit before, it all looked so crazy to me. I had seen stuff like that before but never in my own life. That night when we went home everyone was talking about how amazing it was and how God was moving. I made the decision that night that the next meeting I was going to press in and get whatever that teen had that I so desired inside.

The next night came and I didn’t really get into worship like everyone else but I just was really praying to myself that God would just show himself to me in a stronger way. And eventually that night He did. It was so amazing I went up for prayer and ended up getting slain in the spirit thinking it would never happen to me and it did that night for the first time in my life. I couldn’t even explain the feeling I have never felt God that way before. I had lived my whole life knowing and believing in God but never felt that real touch from God. And when I did I have never been the same since. That night I was on my face crying out to God for hours. When I finally got up I was like one of the last ones there and it was about one o’ clock in the morning. I remember being able to hardly walk I felt so drunk in the spirit. God was beginning to radically change my life. This began to happen to me pretty much every night for the next two months. That was exactly what I needed to make changes in my life. It was so amazing just thinking about how God impacted my life during that time just gives me chills. It was a miracle. We also went out during the day and witnessed which also was amazing. To see how God could use me to reach others. There were times when people would just start crying and say “thank you that’s exactly what I needed” to see the joy on their face to tell someone about Jesus Christ is an amazing experience. God just moved and moved and keeps moving.

After God had changed my life I went back to school and one of my classmates said “ Leah what happened your so different now” and I didn’t really think much of it then, but it was God, He changed me. People were noticing. I began to tell my friends they were all worldly and starting to get into bad things so they thought I was crazy. I basically had to tell them that I still wanted to be there friends but not in that scene. After that my friends slowly were falling away from me they were seeing that I was serious about this and I began to lose my friends. They stopped calling. All they wanted to do was go out and have fun in all the wrong ways. That time of my life got hard because my friends were gone but I knew what I had with God and I would never let that go.

I began to cry out to my parents telling them that I couldn’t go back to that school. I wanted to stay strong and not be surrounded by all that junk. I wanted to go to a private Christian school at my aunt and uncles church but it was 90 miles away and I would be staying with them all week. My parents response was “absolutely not, your only sixteen your our baby and we don’t want you away all week.” I didn’t know what to think I knew that God was calling me there. I didn’t know how my parents could understand. But our God is a big God and something that seemed impossible at first came true God spoke and my parents allowed me to go. It was the best decision I had ever made. After graduating and going back home all my close great friends at my old school were either pregnant, already had a baby or were messed up in drugs and alcohol, and to this day are still dealing with the same issues. I pray that God will use me one day to help them. It just really made me realize wow what would of happened if God didn’t move in my life at that moment what if I didn’t change would I be with them right now? God had a specific timing and purpose for my life. The next thing God called me to was here at Christ for the Nations to continue working on me and fulfilling His purpose for my life. I couldn’t imagine living a day without Him and I look forward in seeing where He is going to take me on this amazing journey throughout my life.