On Mission: Generation Redeemed
By: Melanee Dismuke
As we continue our mission series, it's important to know that sometimes the mission comes to us. We may be walking daily on the mission field God has assigned to us without even realizing it. Today you will hear from Melanee, who ministers to college students in Alabama, right on the mission field of her local church.
As a woman pushing 50, I cannot keep up with all the names of the generations and who fits into each category. Gen X, Y and Z? Different people have different criteria and there are those in each generation who deny it applies to them. My brain cells are too precious to stress over tracking all of this! But there is a generation the Lord has seen fit to give me a front row seat to watch, minister to, and learn from; I call them Generation R. “R” for “Redeemed.”
In spite of all the crazy we see around us and the actualization of the scriptures that tell us that “...people will be lovers of self, lovers of money…gullible women overwhelmed by sins and led astray by a variety of passions” (2 Tim 3:2 - 6), there is a generation of young women who live for Jesus and His ways. There is a generation of redeemed young women striving to stand firm against the schemes of Satan and go against the ebbs and flows of modern society.
In 2020, just prior to the COVID pandemic, I was on a relationship panel for college students as part of our church's college ministry, RealTalk. After the panel, we broke into gender-specific groups to continue the conversation. And from that, Real G.R.A.C.E.(Girls Redeemed Adopted Chosen Eternally) was born. Formed of college-aged women, the ladies of Real G.R.A.C.E. have become my girls! We are sisters in Christ, and some have become spiritual nieces and daughters as we intimately live this Christian life together. My dear friend and sister in Christ, Nicole B., and I hold regular Bible studies and attend local church services with the ladies. We discuss how we are applying scripture to our daily lives and conforming our worldviews to that of Christ. Fun activities like pajama parties, game nights and even just eating together, help break down some of the protective walls most have built over the years.
I was nowhere near saved in college, so when I see and hear these young women talk about their desire to please the Lord, the rawness of their struggle with sin, their pursuit of healing after various traumas, the battle between the traditions with which they were raised and the truth of the scriptures, I am so encouraged and my heart overflows. I’ve seen them make personal professions of faith and public declarations in baptism. I’ve watched them grow in the knowledge of their Savior and bear fruit for His name's sake. I’ve watched them eagerly head to the mission field, be it on their campus, across state lines or across an ocean. And like the apostle Paul in so many of his epistles to the churches, I give thanks to God for them, praying for them often, having watched some of them become partakers of the faith and others grow in the faith they had already obtained.
Had you told me 10 years ago that I would one day be serving in college ministry, I wouldn’t have believed you. But God!! In His infinite wisdom, and kindness, He directed my steps to serve these young women and I am so glad He did! As much as they say the ministry has impacted them, they have ministered to, blessed and encouraged me in ways they can’t even imagine. The Lord continuously uses them to sanctify me. I love my Gen R girls! And, by God’s grace, I will have many more daughters from this generation in the years to come.
To see more of what Real G.R.A.C.E. and Real Talk College Ministries are doing on the mission field, follow them on IG @realtalkministryal or visit their website realtalkal.org.