all teens do is cause trouble...

i don't believe the above line, but i hear it from well-meaning people all the time. this weekend, the students at lakeshore proved it wrong... in fact they proved it VERY wrong!

this weekend we had an amazing group of students participate in this year's 30 hour famine, an event to raise awareness and resources to fight the global war on hunger. it's one of our stronger events...and though i feel like i've been run over by a 20-ton gorilla by the event's end, it's one that i honestly say every year was worth it all!

this year, in addition to collecting a boatload (literally) of canned goods from the homes surrounding the church to be donated to mission share (greece) and the hilton food shelter, our students and their contacts in and outside of the church raised a whopping $6,300+! these funds all go to world vision to help aid their relief efforts around the world! according to world vision, this will give 17 children the chance to see 1 more birthday!

in addition, and i'm even more excited about this one... we started something new this year at the famine. as an entire youth group, our students and leaders committed to taking on 5 children at the Ray of Light project in Mozambique as a part of CRI's Child Sponsorship Program! there are dozens of organizations pushing child sponsorship, including world vision, but the cool thing about this is that these are children in Dondo, Mozambique...individuals that we walked past last summer, and 5 special kids we will be able to see and meet this summer when we go back! AND...the 5 teens we'll be bringing on the team will G0d-willing be able to meet these kids, hug them, and shake hands with them! it's gonna mess me up so bad!

some say that all teens do is cause trouble.
today i say that teens actually are changing the world.