What's Your Story?

Has anyone ever asked you that question? What's your story?  It's a bit odd, I'll admit, but when I've asked it to a young person, they often open right up.

Connor's story was not an unfamiliar one.  His parents both were arrested for selling drugs.  He and his three siblings were homeless and parent-less. That's when God opened the door for our staff to step in and help. Over many years, we were privileged to minister to all four siblings, to see at least three of them grow into lives that followed Jesus.

Lacey's story was equally painful.  She said her mom had already had two kids by the time her mom was only 16.  Lacey's dad was not really around much.  She grew up with an ever-increasing hatred, feeling very alone. She tried alcohol, drugs and relationships to fill the emptiness she felt, to bring the love into her life she knew was missing.  One day in chruch, she encountered the never-ending, unconditional love of Jesus Christ - she was blown away. She said, "If God had said to me 'Go away!', that would have been right for me because of who I thought I was.  But He drew me in because He loves me and He died in my place." She surrendered her life to Jesus that day.

Jason grew up in a loving Christian home. His family attended church regularly. He got involved in our student techinical training program, volunteered at our conferences and events.  At the same time Jason began to wonder if the faith in God he heard about was true.  He wasn't really sure he wanted to continue pursuing Jesus - he wanted to live more the way HE wanted to live than how Christ called him to live.  His mom told us that his involvement in YFC actually helped him turn him back toward following Jesus.  Today, Jason is living for his Lord.

Each of us has a story.  It's personal. Sometimes it can be filled with pain or loss or lack of love. Other times, our story is filled with a passion for Jesus and a desire to serve Him by serving others.

No matter what a young person's story is, we at Youth for Christ have the ongoing privilege of sharing Jesus' story with each one.  We also get to tell our stories of how Christ reached out to us with His love and forgiveness.  I know that each one of our staff thrive in being able to share Christ's story with a young person who has never met Him.  I also know they celebrate when a kid makes a commitment to turn their life over to Jesus and follow Him wholeheartedly.

Thank you for helping us share Jesus' story.  Through your faithful prayers, your generous giving, your volunteering - you are partnering with us to tell and live out THE most important story ever told!  God bless you.

RELENTLESS

What comes to your mind when you think of the word "RELENTLESS?"  Dictionary.com gives us the words "unyielding" and "sustained" as two of its several definitions.  You've probably heard the phrase "relentless pursuit" either in a news story or description of someone chasing after a dream or a goal.

I find it fascinating that relentless can apply both to God's relationship with us and our relationships with kids in ministry. There is no question that God pursues us relentlessly.  He never gives up on us. He loves us so much that He chased after us all the way to the cross, sacrificing His own Son as payment for our sins.  Even as you read through the Old Testament and see the many times the people of Israel turned away from God, He never totally gave up on them.  He forgave them and restored them over and over.  His forgiveness was unrelenting.

At Youth for Christ, our commitment is to relentlessly pursue loving, caring relationships with kids so they can see and hear about the eternal hope that is found only in Jesus.

I'm reminded of a girl I'll call Tammy.  When we first met her, we saw right away that she had been cutting herself - the scars were inescapable.  She seemed depressed most of the time.  She told us she knew she needed to change but felt she could not escape her pain any other way.  Her family was broken and she felt that she bore a lot of the blame.

But, Tammy soon found something she could not avoid - the unrelenting love of our Lord.  As we talked with her, spent time with her and shared Jesus' love with her, she began to change. She also connected with a couple of other girls who continued to shower Christ's hope on her.

At our Excel high school conference, Tammy stepped on stage and told her story.  Standing there arm in arm with her two friends, she shared how she finally surrendered her pain and her self-injury to Christ.  She told the audience of 1000 kids and leaders that she knew her life would be different now.

Tammy's circumstances hadn't changed that much.  But the unconditional love of Jesus and the relentless pouring out of that love by our staff and her friends made THE difference!

Now I am thrilled to announce to you that "RELENTLESS" is also the theme of our upcoming Annual YFC Banquet - November 10, 14 & 17 here at the YFC Adventure Center/The Edge-Halfmoon.

At the banquets, we look forward to sharing with you stories of kids who lives have been mercifully changed by the love and forgiveness of Jesus.  We are excited to have you see our finished gymnasium and additional climbing elements at The Edge.

We are looking for people to be table hosts and/or sponsors for each of the banquet nights.  If you would like to sponsor and/or host a table of 10, please contact our office at 518-533-3617.  We have information that we can send to you to help you fill that table and provide more people you know with the opportunity to hear, see and invest in YFC's ministry.

Would you consider hosting or sponsoring today? Thank you. It's our partnership with you that helps us to be unrelenting in this crucial outreach to our young people!