A week ago I asked my daughter if I could share her speaking video with my blog audience. I was pleased when she said yes.

This is a fifteen minute video presentation my teenage daughter, Glorianne, gave at church this past January. It was a message she felt God wanted her to speak. Glorianne actively shares her faith with a generation who identify as atheists and who know little about faith or Christianity. If you aren’t a teenager, you probably will learn something from what she has to say.

The week before my daughter spoke she was so ill she could barely get out of bed unassisted, and at times, couldn’t even sit up. She also had a wracking cough. I expected there to be opposition in the form of spiritual warfare, and even though it was expected, it was scary to the max when she couldn’t even move. She called out to me in the middle of the night. She was frightened, said it felt as if her body was a dead weight and she couldn’t lift it. In fact, I remember I orally prayed asking God to help her physically from head to toe. I thought I might be taking her to the hospital emergency room. She missed school and slowly got better, but was too ill to practice her message. I asked people in our church to pray for her. God saw her through, and I am grateful.

Glorianne shares what it is like for teens in the world today, what some of their needs are, how dark the world is–the hopelessness and depression, and the disconnect between teens and adults. She also shares what her journey of faith looks like. She has a real heart for her generation and wants us to understand, as outsiders looking in, what it is like in her world.

Cell Phone Video: Glorianne speaks about her faith: January 2015 — 15 minutes in length.

My daughter first approached me about speaking in church in November of 2014. Different members in our church assembly had been taking turns speaking since we were without a pastor. I was surprised. When I asked her why, she said she felt God wanted her to encourage people to share their faith. For many months she’d been actively sharing her faith with an online community of gamers and with students from a fine arts public school. Many had opened up with their fears and struggles. She listened without judgment and responded without hesitation.

Glorianne’s faith is real to her. She is determined to not elevate herself above others and to not preach, just share in an ordinary way . . . although, it isn’t always easy. More than once she has mentioned that she respects others and knows that, in return, it helps them respect her. Glorianne is concerned for her peers who seem to live with no purpose, morality, or definition; their lifestyles reflect a lack of drive, depth, and focus. She wants them to know there is a hope they can access. I think that is why she is allowing me to share her video.

I suggested she ask one of the deacons if she could speak, which she did. The head deacon then asked me what I thought. I told him it was her idea, not mine, and I knew she would have something worth saying. I knew this because of our many late night talks about serious subjects, our times of praying for people she meets who are depressed, and because I know her heart that beats for God.

The church people were attentive. Afterwards they shared how they were moved and touched. Older folks understood more clearly what it is like from the perspectives gained through her talking.  And, I felt, Glorianne had spoken from her heart and God had blessed it. That is what we had prayed for and asked God to do.

I hope it speaks to you as well. Thank you, Glorianne, for this opportunity to see into your world.
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