Recently our beloved staff member Tommy Gayton took on a pastoral role in Bakersfield. While we interview for a new leader the volunteer teams in Reedley and Orange Cove are carrying on Campus Life ministry and I got to see them in action.
At the front gate I met Andrew, Annmarie, Abigail and Mark. They had pizza, homemade molasses cookies, and were all prepared for club with the game and the message. We went into the office to check in and I could tell the office staff knew the rhythms of this crew. They are familiar faces and are seen as a support to the school.
We walked to the room and met a few kids as they were coming out early for lunch. A couple girls were milling around, saw the pizza, and looked interested so we had a chance to invite them to club and they came! Once lunch started kids started filing in and the new girls, Leticia and Samantha, found their place in the back. The leaders were serving food, checking in on kids and popping around the room to connect.
We started off the meeting with a game and then Andrew continued their series on “What’s Your Story” where the adult leaders have been sharing testimonies as a way of breaking the ice before student leaders are encouraged to share. Andrew used the story of the biblical Andrew who invited Peter to meet Jesus as an example of how God was also using him. The message was that you don’t have to be the upfront person for God to use you in a big way.
I met a kid named Joey who was glad to be in Campus Life. Even though he had to leave a couple times to take care of something he kept coming back. I also met another kid who would make a great student leader as he likes to lead bible studies and was the first student who wanted to share his own testimony next. This kid had a bunch of football team friends around him, many who don’t go to church.
In fact, this year between Reedley and Orange Cove there’s been 68 kids connected, 42 of whom do not know Jesus, and two have given their lives to Christ!
Afterwards I asked Leticia and Samantha what they thought and they gave the thumbs up. “Will you be back?” I asked. “Yeah,” they said.
Campus Life is about introducing kids to Jesus and connecting them in a lifelong relationship with him. My sense was that half of the kids in that room were curious about faith, and maybe even had relatives who believed, but were themselves disconnected from a relationship with Jesus and a church family. Leticia, Samantha, and the football boys didn’t go to church anywhere regularly for sure.
Youth For Christ is a vehicle for Christ-sharing adults and peers to engage lost teens. I’m so grateful that you and over 50 other folks are giving, praying, and going for these lost teens. While depression, anxiety and suicides are up, we are seeing openness and curiosity about God increasing. We know that when kids meet Jesus, everything changes.
Together,
Jameson