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Even though the surrounding lakes and mountains are beautiful, Rathdrum doesn't have the best reputation in the Pacific Northwest. Formerly a place where loggers and miners went to find women and booze, it's now home to a 10-acre compound for the white supremacist group Aryan Nation. But it's also a place where God is making a difference through the First Priority club at Lakeland High School.

Almost three years ago, Kevin Reese was starting out at Lakeland as a sophomore (freshmen attend the junior high). With the help of local youth pastor Mark Moder, Kevin and some friends began the club, which meets in a science classroom. By the club's second year, about 30 of Lakeland's 1,000 students regularly attended meetings, with some meetings drawing as many as 70 students. A prayer time following the shootings at Colorado's Columbine High School drew a record number of students seeking comfort and answers.

To get jazzed up for the coming year, every summer the leaders from all the First Priority groups in the area get together for a whitewater rafting trip. Last year's trip was really exciting, says Kevin, who's now a senior and still a club leader. "God gave us so much vision. We prayed for hours—it was awesome! God used the weekend to show us what kind of impact we'll have."

In addition to meeting at school, many club members see each other at youth groups (several students attend more than one every week) and at events like concerts by the Idahomies—a band composed of five club members that's opened for acts like Big Tent Revival and the W's. The students also like hanging out at local lakes or Rathdrum's one pizza place.

To find out about starting a First Priority Club at your school, check out this Web site: http://www.fpoa.org/index2.asp.

Matt: Last summer the Idahomies did a free show. Some people got saved. That was pretty cool.

K.C.: Everyone thinks that if you're from Lakeland you must be a hick. We're trying to get it to where everyone knows people from Lakeland as Christians.

Nicole: Being a leader at First Priority is probably one of the best things I've done. I took responsibility, and it built my relationship with God.

(these two are brother and sister)
Jessy: She's the overpowering one.
Anika: He's the weird one.

Jamie: The biggest thing I've been learning lately is that I've got to start bringing other people to God. I've built up a relationship with God, and I need to keep improving on that, but I need to start bringing people to God so they can go to heaven.

Sarah: I've been homeschooled all my life, so this is my first year in the group. First Priority is one of the big reasons I wanted to go to public school.

Priscilla: I want to be a better witness to my non-Christian friends. I hope they'll be able to see what has happened in my life and know they can have the same stuff happen in theirs.

Dan: Every day of the week we've got to be begging people to go to First Priority. But I think if we're really good friends with people, they'll start to trust us more and want to go more.

Copyright © 2000 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine. Click here for reprint information on Campus Life.
March/April 2000, Vol. 58, No. 8, Page 12

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