Savannah, Jordan, Eva, Nicole, Antonio, Lavinia, Trystan, Amelia, Maci. I'm writing my blog from the middle of our week of day camp. I'm a crew leader this year. That means I've been given the privilege of spending the week investing in the lives of nine awesome kids. They are nine of over a hundred children that are participating in this year's Rock Day Camp. I share their names because often when we talk about children's or youth ministry, we speak in more general terms of reaching the next generation. But the truth is, when we talk about this generation they are not just an amorphic group of 67 million children that we call Generation Z. They are individuals. They are each someone's child or grandchild, niece or nephew. And each one is an individual child of God, deeply loved by Him. And each one is a young person for whom Christ died.
The tragedy is that this generation of young people growing up right now are, statistically speaking, further from Christ then any generation before them. And in light of the world and culture into which they are being raised, that is not surprising. Media, social trends, public education and more all seem to be leading our children further from Christ rather than closer to him. But at the same time, having spent this time with these extraordinary young people, I can assure you that there is still hope. These kids represent many in our world who have a wonderful heart, and a beautiful spirit, and actually desire a relationship with Jesus.
I know how easy it is to be discouraged when it seems like so much is against us in the battle to reach the hearts and minds of this generation. But I want to remind us today that this is a generation rich with hope and promise. And we must not be discouraged, and we certainly must not quit. This generation is worth investing in, and it is worth fighting for. After all, it is not just a nameless, faceless generation. It is Savannah, Jordan, Eva, Nicole, Antonio, Lavinia, Trystan, Amelia, Maci and so many more. And each one is a precious treasure that has been entrusted to us to watch over, care for and pour into.
Right now, in order for us to offer the kind of ministry that we believe it will take to reach children and youth in our region, we really need another 30 to 40 volunteers spread out over our three campuses. I realize that this is not the place of ministry for everyone, but it is God's calling for some of you. My goal for this fall is to fully staff our Nextgen and youth ministries to a level that allows us to offer a children and youth ministry at every campus. We also want to do it in a way that offers a rotation of volunteers so that no one person has to carry too much of the load, but together all the needs can be met.
If you think God may be calling you to invest some of your time, energy and love into our Nextgen children's ministry or our middle school/high school student ministry, please let me know by dropping me an email. I can certainly help you get started. This is not necessarily the easiest ministry. But it is important and it is rewarding. When we see a young person come to Jesus, see their hearts transformed, and see their eternity changed, there is nothing like it.
But even if you are not called to serve directly in this area of ministry, I would ask all of us to keep our children and youth in prayer. I believe God is preparing to do something extraordinary in this area through our ministry here at Rock Church.
God bless. Love you all.
Pastor Steve