From our high school youth pastor, John Eiselt

“They’re so excited that we’re here.”

I’ll never forget this remark from a high school student as we pulled into summer camp one year. The entire camp staff was lined up cheering for our kids as we pulled in. For the students arriving at camp, this moment set the stage for their entire week-long experience. They felt important, welcomed, appreciated, and loved just for being there. The very things we want for our students to feel as they hear about, come to know, and grow in their walk with Christ.

Sadly, many of our high school students spend most of each day struggling to feel important and trying to fit in, not only into their own social world, but into the world of adults as well.

Chap Clark, a renowned author, youth worker and vice provost at Fuller Theological Seminary wrote a book called ‘Hurt’ after months of research looking at the world of adolescents.

He states that the greatest struggles that teens face today have to do with a lack of adult involvement in their lives. Instead of a message like the students received at camp that summer, the subliminal yet ever present message they receive from adults is a message to, “Perform, conform, or have an image that is pleasing to me”. He goes onto to explain, “Therefore, they’re under multiple agendas throughout their life.”

So what does this mean?  How do we step into the lives of teenagers differently than we have before and differently than most of the adults in their lives?

This doesn’t mean that agendas or rules or expectations are wrong or harmful in and of themselves. It simply means that when we take out the relationship, it is replaced with rules, or agendas that serve the interests of the adult or institution rather than the interests and needs of the child.

What this means is that adolescents need relationships with adults. Deep, caring relationships full of acceptance, grace, and trust. The opportunity to guide and offer direction is second to these first critical components that build relationships that earn the right to be heard.

Bill Milliken, author and activist for communities and youth says it this way….

“It’s relationships, not programs that change children. A great program simply creates the environment for healthy relationships to form between adults and children. Young people thrive when adults care about them on a one to one level, and when they also have sense of belonging to a caring community."

As I think about, pray about, and dream about what this building-this space-means to our high school kids, I believe it will be the manifestation of this quote and a tangible example of the kingdom at work. I believe that they will find a caring community of adults here. I believe they will thrive in the relationships we’ll build with them. I hope for them that it is a picture of the kingdom. I hope for it to set the stage for an overwhelming feeling of importance, love, and acceptance every time they step in the door.  The building and the space create an atmosphere and a place like none other in the Chippewa Valley for this to happen. For many it will be a launch pad for a life changing relationship with an adult who knows them, it will be a launch pad for them to come to know Jesus and, it will redefine for them what involvement in a church and in a caring community looks like.

It looks like Jesus.

And I believe they will experience the same emotion upon encountering Him as they do when they step through the doors and say to one another, “They’re so excited that we’re here.” - “Yes, we are!”