Fire on the mountain

Friday, 18 May 2012

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Tuesday, 25 October 2011 00:00

Our first instinct is to attempt to put out a fire when we see one – but in Bad Liebenzell, Germany, sixteen young people are learning to fan the flames. They are enrolled in the Fire Mountain Training School (FTS), an October to March program, for 15 to 21 year-olds. FTS is called “a school of faith and life,” and that is exactly what young people experience in five months of live, working, serving and learning together.

The aim of the Fire Mountain Training School is to empower participants to integrate Christian values into a lifestyle characterized by responsibility and respect. There is plenty to keep the eleven girls and five boys who participate this year quite busy. The schedule is packed with personal and group Bible study; additional training in children’s and youth ministry, outdoor education, and evangelism in various settings are also part of the program. Team members then move on to practical application, using what they’ve learned in service within the community.

The Fire Mountain Training School takes its name from the prayer of Lina Stahl, the Christian woman who, in 1902, invited “The German Support Branch of the China Inland Mission” to move from Hamburg to Bad Liebenzell. She prayed that the hillside above the little town would become a “mountain burning with a holy fire for the Lord.”