Sunday, August 5, 2007

Belief Makes Things Real

Before I had this blog, I used to blog things on my Xanga. Nothing usually of too much importance. Just mostly the details of my days through my early years of college, with an occasional "deep" thought or two thrown in every once in awhile. I haven't checked my Xanga since like October (there was a time when I would check multiple times a day to see who commented on my posts) but tonight I went back and read through some of my old entries just for fun. In doing so, I came acrossed an entry from last summer, where I had written about how astounded I was in the amount of money raised in such a short time for the new student ministry building at NCBC. At that point in time, a student ministry building at NCBC was just a thought. A mere blue print and congregational business meeting farther than the dream that it sprang from.

Tonight was the first night of our vacation Bible school, and as I sat in the very building that I talked about just a year ago with high hopes, I was completely amazed. Granted, it was so hot, the building is nothing more than boards with a roof over them and some windows, it was dusty, and very far from being complete, but still....it was a dream. A dream that started with people who believe in students and the ministry they are a part of. It's so crazy for me to think about how much has happened in the year since the congragational vote approved to build the building. At the end of last summer, I was leaving behind the junior high ministry, going to college, and taking a break from student ministry for awhile because the commute back from school was seemingly "impossible." However, God proved otherwise and has blown me away with giving me a position with the high school students this past year.

You see, my passion is students. I believe in them so much. Not just in who they will become, but who they are at this very moment in their lives. For me it's not about them being the future of the church. They ARE the church, and in my opinion the very essence of the body of Christ. It does my heart so much good to see them engaging with who God is, what it means to be a part of His kingdom, and what plans He has for them not only in their own lives but in the ways their lives will touch others around them. I just love thinking about the fact that I was a student just like them not all that long ago. Thank God people believed in me and the things I could do in God's kingdom, otherwise I don't know where I would be right now! Thank God the people at New Castle believe in students as well. I look forward to the years to come and the students who walk out of that building, and the ways the world will be different because they were believed in.