Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to travel to a small town in North Carolina and run a 3 day outreach for a local church. This town, like many in our country, has been hit hard by the economy. They have the same problems that everyone else has. There are teens making bad choices, families are falling apart, churches are struggling, and hope is not easily found. I walked into this week simply hoping to be a blessing to this town and the local church. I had no grandiose ideas that in three days we would turn everything around, but I knew God had called us there to give ourselves away. I chose to be obedient and faithful and let God do the rest.

On the first day of the camp I met Shelby. Shelby was quiet and secluded herself from all that was going on. I heard about Shelby the night before from the youth pastor we were working with. Shelby liked to be in the background and watch. She was not the kind of kid that wanted to get involved and she definitely did not want the attention. She seemed to content to just sit back and watch. I spent the first part of the day trying to encourage her to get out and play. I even told her that her job was to yell at me if I did anything wrong. She just stood there watching the day go by. Near the end of the day we started playing a game with a giant earth ball. You know, one of those insane youth ministry games where you are amazed no one died. I looked across the field and there was Shelby playing hard. Shelby came back each day and played even harder, sang the songs, and heard the Gospel. She felt included, loved, and noticed. It made all the difference.

Shelby has made me think about all the students in our schools and communities that are standing on the sidelines and watching life go by. How many of them go unnoticed and forgotten? How many are just waiting for someone to invite them to join in and play hard? There are over 24,000 students in the area I live in. At best, there are maybe 2,000 of them involved in local churches and ministries. That leaves 22,000 not connected, not knowing God’s love, and not being noticed. What would happen if 5-10 adult leaders showed up on a campus each week to notice these students? What if we connected 1000 teenagers to local youth groups this next year? The change in families and our community would be enormous.

The need is overwhelming. So many students and so little time. The running of a day to day ministry is entirely life consuming. I know, because I have done it for over 20 years. None of us can do this on our own, but together it is more than possible. This is the vision God has given me in Life That Matters Ministry. Teams of 5-10 leaders showing up on a school campus every week. Youth Pastors and leaders coming together for encouragement and support to accomplish what none of us could do alone. God has already opened the door to 4 local high schools and continues to open doors in middle schools. There are a lot of students waiting for us to show up and notice them.

I pray where ever you are you are noticing the people around you. I hope you are loving and including all of them. I know we can make a difference and I believe God will take what has started here as a dream and make it a reality all over the place. This is our journey and it is so much better together. The world’s teens need us to notice and to invite them to join us and play hard. Right before we left North Carolina, we visited Shelby and said goodbye. She finally yelled at me and then gave me a hug. I am so glad that God gave me eyes to notice her. I pray for the countless other Shelby’s who are still waiting.