Spiritual Generation After Spiritual Generation-Marvelous’ Story

September 2022

Like parents of adolescents around the world, Marvelous’ parents were worried about her. Marvelous seemed depressed, felt inferior, got into arguments with her peers, and was withdrawn at home. Because Marvelous was shorter than other teens, she was teased and made fun of to the point of bullying both at school and at home. Her response was to assume that she was hated and to lash back in a rude and aggressive manner. Florence lived on the same street as Marvelous in Iju, one of the trenches* in Lagos, Nigeria. Florence is a Young Life leader who is a second-generation leader on the leadership tree of Eva John, a volunteer who helped start Young Life in Nigeria. Florence met Marvelous on the street and invited her to club. Marvelous felt loved right away. From there she got to go to camp in 2018, where she heard the great news of Jesus and began a new life in Him. She went back home different in heart and began pursuing Him by attending club and Campaigners, spending time with Florence, and learning and growing in private. Soon, she was a leader among her peers, and in 2021, she became a Young Life leader herself.

Marvelous is so changed that she is now attending University and studying business administration. Her parents are extremely proud of her. Her older siblings, who could not go to University because of the cost, are assisting their parents in paying for Marvelous to go. The change in Marvelous after beginning her relationship with Christ was so profound that all of them could see the potential in her, and they all wanted to help her rise to that potential. Marvelous leads where she grew up. The teen girls that she pours into are the next generation of lovers of Jesus. In a spiritual sense, Eva is Marvelous’ great-grandmother, and now Marvelous has disciples on her own leadership tree. Spiritual generation after spiritual generation, God is affecting the community of Iju, and Marvelous stands as an example of the fruit of a life lived to love and serve God. Young Life Africa and the Middle East are so proud of her and in awe of God’s good works in her life!