Going After the Last One on the List

April 28, 2009

In my ministry situation, each spring we have a confirmation class for middle school students, which means 95% of the kids involved in it are sixth graders.  (Pros and cons abound on that situation and deserve a separate post later.)  But in making the list, the children’s minister and I sit down and walk through the list of students in that age group and start working.  It is a difficult task at times because we are contacting families who have moved away from the church, sometimes to the point of not even being Christmas and Easter attenders.  Cold calls aren’t my favorite part of the gig at all.  But you do it.  And here is why.

The last kid on the target list this year was an afterthought.  A “Oh yeah, I guess we should maybe try and touch base with them” kind of situation.  Not been seen or heard from in a long time.  But I sucked it up and reached out (The family hadn’t attended more than 3 times in my 3 years here at the church).  And as these calls go, you never know.  I left the conversation feeling like maybe I was getting the proverbial stiff arm and platitudes to keep me at bay.  In short, when the class started I didn’t expect the kid to show.  But he did.  And he asked lots of questions, expressed some doubts and basically was as open and honest a seeker as I had seen in a long time.  Two weeks in, we do a lesson on the Bible and, recognizing that nearly all the kids in Confirmation haven’t engaged in the Bible very much, we give them a copy of the One Minute Bible.  (If I was an uber-popular blogger, I bet I could wrangle a coupon code.  But I am not.  Which is your fault for not telling your friends.)  And we challenge them to jump in.

So the last kid on the list, he does.  Jumps in with all his heart.  He doesn’t miss a day.  Just one day shows up at youth group, which is different day from Confirmation.  And hasn’t missed a day of youth since.  So flash forward to youth last Wednesday night and we are teaching a series called “Big Time Basics” and the lesson is on the Bible.  We do some fun mixers and get kids to Agree or Disagree with some statements about the Bible.  We do some dialogue about what it means and suddenly the last kid gives a 5 minute deal on what the challenge of reading the Bible every day has meant to him and how much he has grown and how other people should take that challenge.  It is strong stuff, full of real truth and emotion.  We wrap up youth.

And the normal line of people that want to talk is way longer than normal.  (The usual stuff is turning in forms, reminding me of a game or the occasional deeper talk.)  A high schooler at the front of the line asks if we have more of those Bible and turns out, most the line is there for that.  So we give them away, all we had.

The last kid.  The one I almost didn’t call.  The one that I was okay with being a lost sheep, suddenly, he is the one being a shepherd and leading the flock.  You never know.  So that is why you make those calls.  Because the last kid, they matter to God and sometimes He has to remind you of that.  And I am so thankful that He does.

Posted in General Stuff