"This Is Me..."

Recently several students from the Lancaster, PA area got together to plan and organize a fundraising event. The spent weeks, days and hours gathering and sorting items for a yard sale. It wasn’t to raise money for their youth group or any trip they are going on this summer. No, as a matter fact not one penny they raised at this event that took place this past weekend will NOT be spent on them, their youth group or church. These students have been exposed to the truth of Jesus and have a desire to expose others to that same truth by raising money to build an orphanage in Africa. Three students (Kristen, Morgan and Chelsea) from Manheim BIC’s Remix Jr. High not only brainstormed the idea, but also put into motion everything needed to pull of this event. Below Kristen described how the “This Is Me…” project got started.

Well, myself, Chelsea, & Morgan organized the ENTIRE lock-in by ourselves. You already know that we’re building an orphanage in Africa but it took us a long time to figure out what exactly we wanted to do. We started off with a strong passionate desire to make a difference in the world! And why not let the entire youth group join in with us? So we sat down with Corby and Jen (youth pastor) to brainstorm ideas of a charity event. The 7th and 8th graders lost their fun lock-in a couple years ago because things would get too crazy and out of control. So we decided to bring the lock-in back and combine it with the charity event. As we left that night, Corby asked us the question of, “who do we want to help?”

We prayed about it and did some research, but most importantly we each took the time to dive into our own hearts and search for what we individually felt passionate about. We got together and talked about what we each came up with as our answers..

Morgan’s Answer : When I’m older I want to go in the mission field as a teacher. I want to make a difference because I think that sometimes as Christians we take for granted what we have. Since we already know God’s love and we live in a country with a voice, why not share it with people who dont? I think I chose Africa because I’ve done some sponsoring things for there before and it has made a HUGE impact and the response was amazing! And plus, the thought of giving a child a home chokes me up everytime I think about it.

Kristen’s Answer : For a while I’ve been dreaming about being a missionary doctor when I’m older and changing the world and the whole package. I think for me, I was tired of waiting and wasting time. I felt really strongly about helping people and so it was almost like the time just came when we NEEDED to start taking a stand and making a difference. At my church, I’m a leader for the preschool age children class on Sunday mornings and I LOVE working with the kids. So I definatly knew that I wanted to help children.

Chelsea’s Answer : When I’m older I want to be an Occupational Therapist and help those who are handicapped. I would really want to help people with diasbilities right now.

We settled on the main base of helping children in Africa. Altogether we began brainstorming. One of our first ideas was a 30 hour famine because we thought, “We have food, why don’t they?” Next we turned to blankets, because we thought, “We can snuggle up and be warm, why can’t they?” But we pushed those ideas to the side and went to the very basic thing that is huge in all three of our lives but we all take for granted a lot… And that was our home. We have a place to go back to everytime we go somewhere, why don’t they? We have a place where we feel comfortable and safe, why don’t they? We have a place to call home, why don’t they?

Why are we doing this? Because we can. Because God’s love is so strong that we feel that we MUST share it with someone else. Because everyone deserves a place to call home. Who are we doing this for?

The African Children. But more importantly, God. Sometimes it’s hard because we get caught up in all the stress of trying to get everything done and every now and then it turns into an “us, us, us” situation, but we try our hardest to keep away from that and to do everything for God. Our world is full of hurting and lonely people who need Jesus and we’ve waited too long to help them.

WE are standing as one and making a difference!

When we received this email we were blown away and immediately want to do our part as the ministry of X2J to support and encourage these three awesome students in their ministry. We were impressed with how their youth pastor has been supporting, encouraging, and helping them put this event together. And we’re looking forward to seeing what God is going to do.

Youth Worker’s: What are you doing to encourage and support your students to do great things for Jesus?

Students: What ideas do you have that will expose the truth of Jesus to someone today? And what’s stopping you from jumping in and just doing it?