Jesus in the Middle of Nowhere - Part 2
Now, on with the story... In the midst of all the craziness, I ended up on our church council as the Youth Board Chairman…Probably the youngest member of a church council on record, considering I was only 17 at the time, and everyone else on church council was at least 60.
I was intimidated and pretty much clueless, but I knew what a real youth group could be, and I knew that a real youth group was what our church desperately needed. But, we couldn’t have one without a youth program. So I intended to build one.
I wanted the kids at my church to have the opportunity to experience what I had experienced. To come to a realization of their faith, and have an opportunity to grow alongside their peers. It had become so important to me, and through all this unexpected responsibility, God had lit a flame in my heart. The fire had started, and there was no putting it out.
The best way I can describe it is that I felt I had been “pushed in head first.” I didn’t exactly dive by choice, but God pointed me in the right direction and gave me a swift kick in the pants. There was no going back.
My mom was a huge help in all this. We worked our tails off to make this happen. We repainted and redecorated the youth room with some inspiration from one of the Wesleyan Youth Pastor’s sermons. I brought in a library’s worth of books and resources that the kids could access. I learned a bunch of fun games and activities we could do as a group. My mom and I went to the church council and fought for a usable budget. I gathered together a series called “Demolishing Strongholds” by Answers in Genesis, which would be our very first study as a youth group. The hype was incredible. I was so ready!
At least, I thought so.
The first time we met, the whole thing went off without a hitch. My mom helped me lead the study, and to my surprise, everyone in my class showed up. Twelve people! I had never lead something like this before, so the fact that everyone was there just encouraged me beyond belief. Everyone seemed to have fun, and the series was great. I was so excited! Things were finally taking off!
Then the next week, we had only one person show up.
The week after that…one person.
The week after that….zero.
I couldn’t believe it. Everything had seemed to start off so well. What had gone wrong? What did I do?? I remember sitting in that empty room with my mom and two cold pizzas, waiting for these teens to show up, and then breaking down and sobbing my eyes out on my mom’s shoulder when they didn’t.
I had worked so hard. How could this happen?
Well, something I learned from that day was that working hard wasn’t really that hard. The planning, the money we spent, the information we gathered. All that was the easy part. Feeding souls was going to be the real challenge, because in order to feed souls, they have to be hungry. That hunger only comes from Christ, not from me or anything that I do.
Once I came to grips with that, everything became a little easier to swallow. And, honestly, with my class in particular, not a lot of obvious progress was made.
The real change began with the class that came up after mine. A group of five kids. Five. Which grew in the next year to seven. Then to 12. Then to 15.
God was working. We were growing. And I got to be a part of it.
As time went on, I continued teaching the class. I got to know our younger teens, and we built a trusting relationship. Through group trips and activities, they all became friends with each other. Actual friends - not just “kids who went to church together.” I realized that the less I obsessed over making things run smoothly and “look” like a perfect youth group on the surface, the more room God had to do His thing. And, it was awesome to watch.
Eventually I realized that one thing was still missing. A name. A “flag,” so to speak. Something to bring them a sense of unity and belonging. Something to finally make them a real “group.”
We needed a purpose for our group. Something they could all rally around. So, after much deliberation, I narrowed it down to two options and the youth chose “The Crossing.”
Once that focus was in place, it was so much easier to channel our efforts into a centralized cause. Everything we do goes back to that mission, making growth so much easier to track.
Now, it’s seven years later. Seven years since the day I was told I had been “elected” to a new position in life. And, I am still at that church. Still leading the youth group. Still trying to do my best. I have a lot more help now than I had when I started out. I also feel I have a lot more experience and knowledge about what exactly it is I’m doing. I’m certainly no expert, and despite all the hurtles our group has overcome, we still have a lot of growing to do. But this journey was, and still is, one of the biggest blessings in my life.
Now, as I look back on all the years of hard work - the blood, sweat, and actual tears - and I see how far our church has come…how far our youth group has come…how far I’ve come…I realize why God brought me here.
I wasn’t here to change the world. I wasn’t here to instantaneously grow a non-existent youth program into a booming group of 100+ teens. I wasn’t here to somehow obtain all the Biblical knowledge I could possibly have and be the smartest person in that youth room. I wasn’t here to have the best group events or to put on a great show that would undoubtedly lead every new teen who came through our doors to Christ.
I was not equipped. I was clueless. Literally, the least prepared to do this job. But, maybe that’s why God decided that it needed to be me. That I had to be the one to do this very thing, in this very place, at this very time. “For such a time as this…” never meant so much to me.
I know now why He drug me away from my comfort zone out into the middle of nowhere. So I could find Jesus, and share Him with these teens. Pure and simple.
Are you in a leadership position? Keep fighting for the next generation. Set an example. Pour love into their lives - even tough love. Show them Jesus. It is the most important thing we can give them. That is our calling.
And, you never know…years from now, one of those teens may be right where you are today, thinking back on their time in youth group - how it challenged them, grew them, and brought them to where they are…sitting in the same spot you are now, thanking The Lord for you.