Teenagers and Humanitarian Causes
Mission. One of the great ways to disciple young people. When young people understand their mission in life, they become dangerous.
The church must be better at challenging young people with mission. It is the all-time important answer to the questions that everyone will ask at some point in their life. Who am I? Why am I here? And when these questions are able to be answered, the result is revolutionary in someone’s life.
We can help teenagers with their passion for life by helping them to see that they can have an impact upon the world in two ways. The micro level and the macro level. Let me explain.
The Micro Influence
The first way we can help teenagers answer these age-old questions of life is by helping them see the little tings.
Success begins with the little things. Helping another student with their books, or giving someone a ride to school, or tutoring in class. Maybe it is teaching young people how important their personal spiritual disciplines are. Much of our personal happiness and joy comes from the little things.
Every one of us can change the life of one other person. If we could understand this small principle, it would be one of the most fulfilling things in our life. That our happiness could be realized by smiling at someone, holding the door for someone, helping someone find their way to a destination, giving someone a compliment, or even paying it forward at a drive-thru. It takes very little effort to become a micro influencer.
I see this by caring for one person daily. Or maybe this story says it well.
The Starfish Analogy
Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.
Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching. As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea. The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”
And the young boy bent down and picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea.
The old man replied, “But there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”
The young boy looked at the old man, and bent down again. And he picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned to the old man, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”
It is important to see though that promotion is not the goal. We do not serve in order to be blessed. We serve because that is what we are called to do. And whatever happens after that is up to God. Our joy should come from serving and not promotion.
Remember, this principle is the key to the next. Take care of the little things and He may make you ruler over much.
The Macro Influence
There is another way we can help teenagers answer these age-old questions of life.
If success begins with the little things, then continued success ends up with a larger impact. It is the cumulative affect that your life has on the big picture. Have you ever heard a student say something like, “I had a stadium dream! I was speaking (or playing or singing) on a huge stage in front of thousands of people!” I love to hear this. Because the reality is that God has used people in every generation to set the standard for others.
The macro level of influence is what happens when we take care of one person over our entire lifetime. Wow, what an accumulation of riches it is to serve people. Especially if God chooses to elevate you in a larger arena.
Generational Trait
Our Gen Z students are moved by mission. They are moved by causes. Every sociological study attests to this born trait in Gen Z. They want to count in the grand scheme of life. That may look like protesting against a local cause, fighting human trafficking, building water wells in Africa, or feeding starving children globally. As YTH leaders we have the opportunity to connect them to this characteristic trait and to see them answer the age-old question of why they are here.
When our young people find their micro and macro level of influence it changes the way they live. If we can see our middle schooler’s catch this principle and began to give or serve at this micro level, it will teach them to become givers and servers the rest of their life!
If you want mission and humanitarian cause to help you disciple your teens, here is a great way to do that.
feedONE
A great humanitarian cause that teenagers can get involved with today is the children’s feeding program called feedONE. This is a campaign that supports Convoy of Hope’s children’s feeding program. Currently feeding more than 200,000 children in 14 different countries, feedONE believes a nutritious meal shares hope — opening the door for a child to be healthy and well-nourished.
The origins of feedONE are simple and have become the heart behind the mission. The late Mother Teresa was an advocate for children and would change the way we all saw ourselves in the big picture.
Mother Teresa said, “If you can’t feed a hundred, then just feed one.” We’ve taken her words to heart. If this generation is unleashed to solve the planet’s great challenges, we believe that they will produce a whole new world. If young people are willing to just feed one.
If you are wanting to take your students to the next level in their discipleship and their identity as a believer, introduce them to the campaign right here. It will change their lives as well as the lives of thousands of children globally. One child at a time.