Record Numbers!

December 5, 2022

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This is not a typo:

  • All of last school year we engaged 1,725 kids
  • This first semester we’ve engaged over 1,735

This is extremely good news and we are praising God for it because the truth is that teens need deep, meaningful connections right now. Nearly half of teens are persistently sad or lonely; nearly half are religiously unaffiliated, agnostic, or atheist, and suicide is on the rise.

Having kids in the room who we know by name is the first step to engaging them in Christ-sharing relationships. What I see before us is a God-given opportunity for kids to find light and life in the name of Christ.

Our mission to raise up lifelong followers of Jesus starts with relational evangelism, one by one. It looks like a young girl Sylvia has been meeting with who doesn’t believe in God, doesn’t like Christians, and struggles with her own identity. Sylvia recently gave her a Bible and challenged her to find out for herself instead of letting social media do the work. She’s been reading it too. Sylvia shows up and she has questions for her. She’s read about the love of Christ and the acceptance of God. She’s softening.

Another young man, Devon, just turned 18 and has had a lot of hardships, twists, and turns in his life. John first met him in a rough spot and walked with him into a relationship with Christ. They would study the book of Mark together and even navigated the loss of a family member.

When Devon achieved his high school diploma the teacher did a speech highlighting all the people that helped the students get to this point. At that moment Devon looked over and pointed at John. This was the impact of a Christ-sharing mentor being there through thick and thin.

With all these kids in the room who are confused about truth and God’s love, we cannot miss the opportunity to proclaim salvation in Christ. Two weeks ago Cam felt a pull from the Holy Spirit to take another go at simply presenting the gospel on campus to Roosevelt and Hoover Campus Life clubs. Along with his youth pastor partners, they explained the problem, the need, the gift, and how we respond. 18 kids responded to the gospel that week! And the follow-up has begun.

God says to us in His word, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

We want every kid to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. To do this will take a crew of new people jumping in to give an hour or two a week to walk with a kid – is that you? And it will take new and increased giving to match the crowd that is showing interest – is that you? May God help us, together, gather these 1,730+ kids into Christ-sharing relationships so that they would know life in Christ, forever.

 

For Every Kid,

 

Jameson

Help a kid meet Jesus with 1-2 hours a week

You have something a kid needs. Presence. Kids hear and understand the gospel through caring mentors in weekly programming. Is that you?