At the beginning of the school year, Bible teacher Geran Maples challenged his eleventh-grade students at Highland Baptist Christian School in New Iberia, Louisiana, to prayerfully consider if following Christ was worth everything.
The answer he got, based on Nik Ripken’s book “The Insanity of God,” not only surprised him but led the entire class of 27 members to start a weekly Bible study called Juniors for Jesus, led by students. Subsequently, three of the juniors have surrendered their hearts to Christ.
‘Grassroots movement’
“All of a sudden you have this grassroots movement of kids trying to add faith-based applications to their lives all the while saying they have sin in their own lives that they want to address,” Maples told the Baptist Message. “It started with the students really getting honest with the question Nik Ripken asked about, ‘If it’s all worth it?’ They have seen that they truly represent Christ in this world.
“Detentions have dropped, and other discipline issues have really lessened,” he added. “I credit all of this to the kids focusing on their walks with Christ.”
Since Juniors for Jesus began, a discipleship movement has grown throughout the school, with some of the juniors also holding Bible studies once a week at a local coffee shop, and some of the freshmen class starting a Bible study.
In their words
Maples’ daughter, Skyler, said Juniors for Jesus has unified the junior class that had been divided the year before.
“Starting Juniors for Jesus almost started a mini revival within our school,” she said. “Not only a personal revival starting within ourselves, willing to take that next step no matter what it took, but a revival within high school. People started noticing that the juniors weren’t hanging around the hallways during free time, but were going to religion class. Other people wanted to sit in and listen to these mini devotions we were having. We not only have grown as a class and have made a difference because we have put God first, but to look back on where we started as a class makes the impact so much powerful.
“Juniors for Jesus started putting that fire into students that they maybe didn’t even know was possible,” she continued.
“It makes a huge difference, listening to your peers rather than your Bible teacher every day. Getting to know each other on a spiritual level is what allowed that growth. Being able to do it comfortably in a Christ setting and being able to turn our struggles back to Scripture played a role in the relationships. There’s no doubt that Christ is moving in our class, in our high school and as a whole school.”
Ethan Beaugh has been encouraged by the students who have given their lives to Christ through Juniors for Jesus.
“All of these students are examples demonstrating how God is able to move through people and affect the lives of others,” he said. “In this instance, influence or impact from people with spiritual experiences may help and support those who are struggling with the same or different obstacles. I know it’s not the easiest thing to share and talk about your problems to other people, but you’ll feel a sense of weight fall off your shoulders when you hear from other people’s experiences. Overall, it has been making a massive impact on those who have been members for Juniors for Jesus.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Brian Blackwell and originally published by Baptist Message.
