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ORBC's Danny Guzman Shares Faith with Entire Freshman Class at Wi-Hi

It's not often that public schools open their doors to Christian speakers, allowing them to freely share their faith.

But that's exactly what happened when Wicomico High School invited Danny Guzman of ORBC’s “The Landing” to speak to the entire freshman class last month. 

In response to the rising opioid crisis in our area, Wi-Hi hosted a symposium designed to assist students in making wise choices.  Themed, "Be a Hero," the focus was on drug awareness, and Danny represented The Landing and ORBC as one of several presenters.



Danny shared that he was approached by one of Wi-Hi's teachers, Amanda Ault, a fellow ORBCer who is active in our Wi-Hi School Partnership.  Amanda asked if Danny would like to be involved at her school’s symposium when she learned about The Landing, ORBC’s recovery program that exists to give students age 12-17 a safe space to find freedom and victory over hurts, hang-ups, and habits.

Amanda and Danny first connected at an ORBC PEACE Gathering held at church, a type of get-together that occurs periodically on campus for the purpose of allowing ORBC members to discover local outreach opportunities.  These gatherings can enable church members to network together to learn about local needs and connect with other ORBCers who desire to fill them.  For Danny and Amanda, the PEACE Gathering provided an opportunity of a lifetime, as God put exactly the right people in the right place at the right time.

Danny was thrilled to have the opportunity and noted that the experience was "truly moving."  He was able to share a bit of his own testimony, provide information about the services offered by The Landing, and take questions and answers from the student participants.  He presented to six different groups, sharing his message with approximately 150 students and 12 different teachers.

What was truly awesome, Danny explained, was that the symposium sponsors allowed him to speak freely about God.  Danny was able to share with the students how essential a relationship with God is to the recovery process.  And, he added, recovery is not just from drugs and alcohol--recovery is from life.  And we all need it.

The students were a receptive audience.  So much so, that the teachers who had chaperoned the groups through the other presentations shared with Danny that the teens were captivated by his story and message in a way that set him apart from every other speaker.  They wanted to know "how I managed to do that," Danny laughed.

"Speaking real life with the students and helping them to realize that they are not alone was truly amazing," Danny shared.

As for how he "managed" to create such a captive audience, as the teachers asked?

Danny gives the credit to God:  "There's no doubt God opened this door."


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