My daughter

[FrankR]

My teenage daughter has just told my wife and I that she doesn't believe in God anymore, and we're a little lost as to what to do. Has anybody faced this before? Success or failure stories would be helpful. Some background. She's 15 and a half and is in the 10th grade. She's been very active in her youth group and volunteers to help out at all sorts of things, especially when it involves little kids. She went down front and gave herself to Christ for the second time in April (the first time was a couple of years ago). She had already been working toward a mission trip to Senegal in July, and we let her go, even though apparently she wasn't saved prior to that point. She came back and said she felt that God was calling her into the mission field (this was only 2 and a half months ago). I can't get from her anything that has changed since then, although she has changed some over the last couple of months. Church and service to the Lord are a big part of our lives, so maybe that's why the difference. I've called the Youth Pastor, but he hasn't returned my call yet, and our Pastor is in Peru at the moment. Christianity has to start and end at home though. I'd appreciate your thoughts and a prayer or two would be appreciated also.

[Haruo]

Hi, Frank!

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's ... conversion? ... and of course not knowing her at all I can't even begin to say what is going on there. When I was her age I was in pretty full-fledged rebellion against God as I understood God and the church, though it didn't actually come to the point where I would say I "didn't believe in God" till a few years later. But my experience up to that point was, I'm sure, quite different from your daughter's, and I'm pretty sure there's something in your daughter's own experience that this is predicated on. Sex, drugs, a friend at school who's gotten into Wicca or atheism or something, something she saw in Senegal, admitting to herself that she's a lesbian, praying to God to make her stop bingeing and nothing happening, your pastor or youth leader or somebody on the mission trip hitting on her, the possibilities are endless. I'm not sure how you gauge her salvation experience (your "apparently she wasn't saved prior to that point" is a bit enigmatic in the context, coming as it does after she had twice made public profession of giving herself to Christ), but my advice is to go on loving her, don't try to force her to believe in exchange for room and board (Joshua 24:15 can imply that), pray for her and wait on God's own timing.

I will pray for her, and for you and your wife, and I'm sure others here, especially if you put a prayer request on the Prayer Request forum so it's seen by non-ABC-ers, will do likewise. Keep us informed of any developments or epiphanies.

Haruo

[ehart]

Frank,

Haruo has said anything I might have and more so I will only add my prayers to his and confirm that listing this in the prayer request forum will, undoubtedly glean more prayers for your family.

I know your heart is breaking but Jesus is there for you and so are we.