Courageous Together...


When I was about 14 years of age, I remember standing in front of my high school, with my Dad, hoping and praying that someone else would show up.  I figured if just one showed up, it would be a reminder that I wasn’t alone in my school, that I wasn't the only one attempting to figure out what faith looks like in the 9th grade, and I would feel a little less of an outcast that day.  That day, no one showed up.  As I stood there with my Dad, praying for my school, my classmates, and my teachers, I was reminded of two things.  One…sometimes God asks us to be courageous and it can be really uncomfortable.  And two…being courageous together paints an unbelievable picture of the hope of Jesus.

This morning I pulled up in front of the house of one of our teens at a ridiculously early hour.  As he and three others loaded into the car with my family, we ventured to their high school to stand together around their flagpole to pray for their school, their classmates, their teachers and our world.  Two others from our youth group joined us, one who had only been coming to our youth group for a few weeks, and together, 9 of us, circled around the flagpole and began to pray over the school as classmates, administrators, and teachers passed us by.

To be honest, despite the fact that there were 9 of us, it felt a little like that day my Dad and I stood alone…uncomfortable and a little out of place.

When we were finished praying, one of the girls turned to me and said, “I know I shouldn’t be nervous, but I am nervous to go back inside.”  I hugged her and told her I would be praying for her and was so proud of her for coming.  Later that day, her mom texted me to say that her friends had given her some “crap” for what she did.  She also said she was really proud of her.

I’ve wept several times today.  Tears of gratitude that we have teens who aren’t afraid to stand up for their faith at an event like See You at the Pole, and tears of brokenness over the many students in this new mission field of New England who have not yet stumbled on the hope of Jesus.

I also saw again, just like that day with my Dad, what being courageous together can do.   It paints a picture of hope.  It’s the hope that has the power to bring healing to broken hearts, to help kids understand they have a purpose in this world, to restore families, to stop bullying, to bring an overwhelming sense of peace, to remind every teenager that walks through the doors of that school that they are loved, valued and worth something.


Wolly Naz Youth…thanks for that picture.  It’s that hope that has the potential to change the mission field in which we find ourselves.

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