Making the most of youth: A message from the chancellor.

By Don Lough, Jr.

Young people have enormous potential to make a difference for Jesus Christ. At Word of Life, we believe in challenging children and teenagers with early opportunities to share their faith and to step up in serving the Lord. I’ll never forget Jack Wyrtzen’s periodic challenge to me as a young man: “Donald, let no one despise your youth.” He was basically telling me, “I believe in you – don’t let your young age hold you back from living out God’s Word.”

Several weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting a young man from Mexico who recently joined our missionary team. His testimony was anything but ordinary. When he was 20 years old and a sales manager for the Ford Motor Company, he met an 8-year-old boy who boldly shared the Gospel with him and led him to Christ. No, this is not a misprint, nor is it the end of the story. After the young sales manager was disowned by his family for his newfound faith, the little boy swung into action and began personally discipling him. He assigned him 10 chapters of Bible reading every day and then took the initiative to connect him with Christian families and a local church. Today, the fruit of his ministry is a full-time missionary!

We need to be so careful not to allow negativity or low expectations to seep into our interaction with the younger generation. The reality is that it doesn’t take much to discourage a child or a teenager. What are you doing to encourage and motivate the young people in your sphere of influence to step up for Christ? Just think of the possibilities.

Thanks for standing with us as we challenge young people to “know, grow, and show” all over the world.