1 of 2

Note: Today's Christian youth possess passion that might surprise you. Too often, though, they receive little opportunity to express their hearts' desires. This column is the first of two that come to us from high school-aged students. Their messages focus on ministry to children; their motivation comes from zeal to serve God. Enjoy!
(David Staal, Senior Editor)

Make a difference.

That's what I want to do, and I'm going to ask you to help me.

Making a difference is probably not exactly what most people expect that high school students want to do. Seems like we have a different reputation; we supposedly only like to make a mess, make a joke, make our parents crazy or, at best, make some money to blow on apps or stuff from Aero.

But that's just not true.

There's something in us that wants to make a difference. That's where my journey began. A journey that will include you, so keep reading.

I have always known that my parents believe in me, and I get a lot of confidence from that belief. How do I know this? They tell me. Over and over. I admit, after hearing something enough times, it's easy to start believing what I hear. Yes everybody, especially kids, likes it when people believe in them. No matter if they show it or not.

My friends back me up on this idea. Mitchell says that when he knows someone believes in him, he feels more confident in anything he tries to do. It gives him hope and something to strive for—living into that belief. Andrew said that when he wins at something, like hitting two free throws with no time left on the clock (we're still checking the facts on that story), he's pretty excited to share the moment with people who have believed in him.

Hold on, this column is about to make a sudden turn. Keep reading; your part is coming up.

In marketing class, we received a challenging project; develop a plan to do marketing work for a real company or organization. I decided to talk to my dad who runs a non-profit organization. Hey, he believes in me, so I figured this might not be so tough after all.

But as I learned more about what my "client" does, I ran into a hard truth.

Many kids around the country don't have anyone who personally believes in them. And this missing piece of life really messes them up. Actually, according to estimates my dad showed me, the number of kids is in the millions—just in the U.S. The more I understood this, the more it messed with my mind. What would it be like to not have anyone believe in me? Life would be miserable, no doubt.

Think about it; if you had no one who believed in you, would you believe in yourself? Why would you care about school, a future, or life? You wouldn't give a rip about any achievement test you take; could that be why scores aren't so hot these days? And you'd probably laugh at the idea of God loving you. Go to church? Not happening.

Can you see why this matters so much?

Better question: Why doesn't anyone seem to care? Maybe because it's a quiet issue and easy to ignore. It doesn't take a pastor to figure out God cares about all those kids. Now I do, too.

next page... |  1 of 2

share this page

More Training Resources Leadership | Volunteers | Serving Families | Shepherding Operations | Risk & Safety | Programming and Teaching | Free Samples