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David Frush, the minister to junior high students and the student ministry worship leader at The Heights Baptist Church in Richardson, recently led worship for a weeklong youth revival at Portrack Baptist Church in Stockton-on-Tees, England.
This event was sponsored by Youth for Christ, a student evangelism organization in Britain founded by Billy Graham. Frush said the opportunity came about after Youth for Christ directors visited The Heights.
“The Heights is extremely passionate about missions, both locally and globally,” Frush said. “It is a blessing to be a part of a body that has a heart for missions and serving the community so much. Our church brings in various speakers from the ministries we partner with, and it is always exciting to hear how God has used members of our church to serve across the globe. John Burns, one of the directors of the organization, came and spoke to our youth and church body. After I led worship in the student ministry area, John said that he would love to have my band lead worship for one of their upcoming events. Later on, another member of the Youth for Christ Team named Rachael Hauxwell, came and observed in our student ministry program for a couple of weeks. During her time here, she worked with John to coordinate the event with our schedules.”
In addition to leading worship for the event, the David Frush Band led workshops for student worship leaders, which included giving group guitar, drum and vocal lessons.
“These workshops gave us a chance to talk to students about the theological guidelines and responsibilities of leading worship,” Frush said. “It is so easy for students to become wrapped up in entertaining and to forget that they should be praising and worshipping God, just the same as the congregation. I think there are so many young worship leaders who have become wrapped up in the performance side of things and put all of their focus on creating a good sound. I believe that God calls us to serve with excellence, but it is more challenging to engage others into seeking after the presence of God.”
During the evening sessions, the David Frush Band performed mini-concerts each night and also assisted in various ministry roles.
“The evening sessions also included a devotional time that was broken down into various lessons,” Frush said. “The last night, the students were presented the Gospel. They showed a clip from the movie, ‘The Passion of Christ,’ and then had a guest speaker give a message and time of invitation. During this time, I was sitting with a group of students and was blown away when one of the boys asked who the man was in the movie. I was almost speechless at this time because I realized it has been far too long since I have been asked who Jesus was. I realized that I have grown comfortable leading worship at youth camps and churches, but have never taken many risks to go and serve in an area that does not know God. It was at that moment, that I realized why God brought us to England. We were able to share our hearts through leading worship, but more importantly, we were able to share Christ.”
In preparation for this event, Frush spent a great deal of time praying the verse, Isaiah 61:4, which states, “They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”
“This verse has become the heart, foundation and mission of our ministry,” Frush said. “Stockton is one of the lowest income areas in England, and the majority of students there are lost and have lives filled with crime, immoralities and difficult family situations. It was such a blessing to have the opportunity to spend time building relationships with the students there and share the love of Christ with them. There is so much potential to minister to these students, and my prayer is that God would use our influence to help rebuild, restore and renew the hearts of students there and that a generation of believers would rise up that passionately and authentically seek after the heart of God.”
Frush said it was amazing to see how seeds were planted throughout the event and how lives were changed.
“We concluded the event by celebrating the great things that occurred during the week,” he said. “Portrack invited us to lead worship for their service on Sunday morning. After the service, there was a mother who came up to us and explained that she had recently gone through the loss of her daughter. … She began to cry and said that for the first time since her daughter’s death, she was able to truly worship God and receive the refreshment and joy of her faith back again. Hearing this woman share that the way we led worship inspired her to seek after God brought joy to my heart, because I realized that God had used us to bring hope to this tragic situation.”
** For more information about David Frush, please visit www.davidfrush.com or www.myspace.com/davidfrush
