For most of the early years of my Christian life I worked with Youth and Evangelism. It seems that both of these areas have been a focus in my life for most of the past 22 years. I remember when I became an associate pastor at 1st UMC Hillsville I had no desire to work with youth. Not that I have anything against them I just felt that I needed a break and an opportunity to work in other areas of ministry.
It wasn’t long until the SPR told me that most of my time was to be spent with the youth and in youth ministry. To be honest, I was a little bothered by that news at first but I soon grew to understand that I was right where God wanted me to be.
I quickly got over any reservations I had about working with the youth. A lot has happened with youth over the past 4 years at 1st Hillsville. We have grown in what I believe to be not just numbers but in spiritual matters as well. Our group has grown from 4 years ago about 6 or 7 youth on the average Wednesday night to an average of 60. There have been several occasions in the past 2 years we have had between 100 and 150 youth in attendance at special events that we have done on a Wednesday or a Friday night.
Every day now I have the privilege of communicating with these young people and their friends whom I don’t even know. I get phone calls, e-mails, txt messages, and facebook posts on a regular daily basis asking for help with an issue they are facing in their lives. They txt just to say hello, they share their struggles, they share prayer requests, they ask for advise on decisions they are making in their lives.
What a gift. To be able to have influence in the lives of young men and women starting out in life and making decisions that will affect the rest of their lives and they trust me to give them Godly answers. I am humbled.
I believe I have the greatest blessing and the greatest responsibility. I consider these youth my friends and my spiritual children. These are the people God has placed in my circle of influence, they are making decisions about who to date, how to date, colleges, jobs, you name it, they are asking.
I consider myself blessed beyond measure.
Ronnie