Roatan Youth Ministry

On the west end of the island of Roatan in the community of Flowers Bay, CTSC has constructed a youth center, The Net.  This building serves as a place for small camps, youth events, community celebrations, special classes and the CTSC Christmas party.  Volunteers have helped with sewing classes, hospitality training and Bible studies at The Net.

With needs on every corner, it is difficult to discern which need is more urgent. CTSC has identified the need for young boys and girls to learn to live responsibly.

Young Women’s Bible Study

What would Jesus do?  This is a sound and solemn question for each of us.  CTSC faced this question in an environment of high rates of teenage pregnancy and school dropouts.  The answer seemed to be that He would give support and sound guidance to young women to help them find their way.

Seeking for help to guide young girls in making wise decisions, CTSC appealed to local resident, Miss Janice Brooks, about starting a young women’s Bible study.  Opening her home to the girls in the Flowers Bay community, Miss Janice began a weekly study group.  The book, Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild by Mary Kassian, was chosen for their study.  Girls ages 13 to 18 were invited to participate.  The girls learned their memory verse, sang, gave an offering to help provide for their snacks, shared the study and talked.

Of course, the girls were more open to Miss Janice, but as volunteers came to the island to participate in CTSC ministries and events, they were invited to share testimonies of long and successful marriages, living a virtuous life as a single woman and other uplifting stories of faith.  The original group of 15 continued to attend meetings, stayed in school and followed the principles they were discussing.  The group was so important to them that people began to notice them taking their study books with them as they walked around Flowers Bay.

Knowing Christ, staying sexually pure, and staying in school have been the simple and direct messages of Young Women’s Bible Study.  When The Net was built, their meeting was moved across the street to the youth center.  Miss Janice continued to meet with them, as she too bloomed from her shy mannerisms to a more confident and skilled Christian leader.

This past spring 5 of these girls from the original group completed high school.  On her next trip to Roatan, Claire Maddox will be taking a special gift for each girl.  In an environment where change is intentional, willful and sometimes hard, these girls have been overcomers; and we pray that their lives will be a witness of what the power of Christ can do in us.