What Will Your Story Say In 2012?
Since graduating from college, I have taken up the hobby of reading. I never really found much joy in school, and I don’t really like to read, but I love to learn. Especially when it comes to ideas relating to faith, culture, and teenagers.
Over recent months, I have come across several resources that point to a very similar idea. We, the Church, are struggling to make genuine disciples of Christ in this generation of high school and middle school students.
In his book You Lost Me, David Kinnaman describes the teen church engagement as being robust, but as these teens move into their twenty somethings, we see a significant drop out problem. He goes further to say this drop out problem at its core is a disciple-making problem. “The church is not adequately preparing the next generation to follow Christ in a rapidly changing culture.”
Another favorite read of mine has been Donald Miller’s book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. In it he tells a powerful story about his friend Jason who was having some trouble with his 13-year-old daughter. She was dating a loser, into drugs, and Jason didn’t know where to turn. After hearing Jason’s story, Don made the comment that his daughter didn’t seem to be living a very good story.
The comment haunted Jason and led him to realize that he wasn’t leading his family into “living a very good story.” Because he wasn’t offering his daughter an exciting life, she had chosen her own story, one in which she was wanted, even if it was by a loser boyfriend. So, Jason decided to create a better story for his family.
He discovered an organization that builds orphanages for only $25,000 and decided even though they could not afford it, his family was going to build one. After some convincing, his daughter became interested in the project and wanted to visit the country where it would be built. She took pictures, put them online, and began to raise money and awareness of the need. As she became less focused on herself, Jason’s daughter began to realize that she was created for a greater purpose than her own happiness. Then, she dumped the loser.
At One Life, we believe that our students were made for a story. A huge story. But I see many of my high school friends living the generic story, and their tunnel vision seems to hinder them in seeing the more adventurous story that God has for them.
In 2012, we want to invite our students to be a part of a bigger story. A story about an infinite God who takes delight in seeing his children live out their faith in Henderson to impact the world.
How?Our friends in Myanmar need $65,000 to build a new orphanage. They are maxed out. What does it look like for us to build a community in 2012 that commits to living a simple lifestyle? What if by making intentional, small choices in 2012, we were able to raise $65,000 dollars to build this orphanage for the kids in Myanmar. And better yet, what if we not only raised the money, but we actually got on a plane and went to Myanmar to build this together.
What will your story say in 2012?! Are you in?
