I’m getting long in the tooth.
Every year the age gap between me and the youth we serve grows. I realized this even more at Impact the Valley this year. I’m staring down the barrel at my 70th birthday in a few months. Most of the youth were middle schoolers.
As I gave the message at worship each evening, I looked out at their young faces. Some nights most of them paid attention. On other nights, their fatigue from working in the 100+ degree heat all day took their minds elsewhere. I knew it would and kept the messages as short and pithy as I possibly could while still expounding on our theme of “We’re on a Mission from God.” If you remember “The Blues Brothers” movie, you know where that came from.
It’s a little tougher to put a message together as the age gap widens. The connection feels strained to me. I don’t know most of the slang they use, and I look like their grandpa. Fortunately, my sense of humor never advanced beyond my 12-year-old self. So at least I had that going for me. But this year, I shared an aspect of the Christian life they may not have heard before.
Adventure.
A mission trip, even with its hardships and challenges, can be a great adventure. So can our walks with God throughout our Christian lives. In my 42 years of following Jesus, I’ve had the opportunity to see and experience things I could have never dreamed of without Him. It’s been a life with plenty of ups and downs, but also a life of awe, wonder, and miracles when I have seen the hand of God at work, especially through TOP’s ministries.
It’s my prayer that TOP has had the opportunity to instill that sense of wonder and adventure of the Christian life into the hearts and minds of at least some of the thousands of young people we have worked with over the last 38+ years. By introducing them to the joy of serving and the blessings of compassion, I hope they have found a sense of adventure from being on a mission from God.