A Note From Pastor Zach Boutan
Youth Update
As I was praying and thinking of what to write about in this article, it seemed fitting to give you all an update on the youth. Over the past few years, the youth have grown and changed in such amazing and beautiful ways, and I know that sharing the ways that God has been moving in and through this group will only bring encouragement to you.
Two years ago, the youth group looked very different than how it looks today, to say the least. But, the individual growth of the kids in the past two years has been amazing to see. If you were to tell me two years ago that the same kids who went to youth group then would be the people they are today, I wouldn’t believe you at all. I am filled with so much joy being able to reflect on the past few years and see the amazing ways that the youth have grown and how God has completely transformed their lives. The growth and the journey that God has been taking these young men and women on has been nothing short of incredible.
Hungry for the Word
This year, the vision for the youth group is to equip the youth and assist their personal relationships with God, and a major component of that vision has been trying to instill in them a passion and hunger for reading God’s word. To do that, I challenged the youth group to read the entire Bible in a month and a half, and 11 of us, including people who are in middle school all the way through college, did it! Now we are doing another Bible reading plan where we are reading the Bible at a three month pace, and we are challenging ourselves to evangelize or disciple someone once a week, take a Sabbath once a week, and spend one day a week in worship and prayer. There are 18 of us doing this reading plan, and hopefully there will be even more of us doing it in the future! This is a group of youth who are truly hungry for God and “whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditate on his law day and night” (Psalm 1:2). I couldn’t be more proud of them.
Hungry for God’s Call
The youth group is also in the process of starting their very own ministries! These are ministries that incorporate evangelism, caring for the needy, discipleship, and worship. There are youth that are pursuing God’s nudges in their lives and starting really neat ministries. For instance, one young man is working on starting a ministry where he gives pizza to kids who don’t have stable homes. Another young woman is working on starting monthly worship nights in the parks throughout Brighton during the summer. It is so encouraging to see these youth express a desire to make their faith their own and to take steps to not wait until they are older and instead accept God’s calling for their lives now.
In my lifetime, I have never seen a group of people, middle school through college, who are more spiritually hungry than this amazing group of young men and women. I am so proud of them and I am so blessed to be able to see the ways that God is working in their lives, and I cannot wait see what they will do in the future. I tell them this all the time, but I firmly believe that God has called each of them to do something amazing for the Kingdom and that they all have the potential to change the world. This is something that I believe with all my heart, it is an honor to be able to serve these young men and women.
All In
This youth group has gone through so much change and growth, but they are now a group of people who worship their King with everything they have, love others with everything they have, and read the Bible with everything they have, and they are just getting started. I am so blessed to have been able to see this journey first-hand, and I know that God has so much more planned for them. I have so much love for them and I am humbled and honored to be able to call myself their youth pastor.
As a church congregation, the next time that you see a youth at church, I would strongly encourage each of you to reach out to them and talk to them. They are people worth getting to know. Trust me, it will be a blessing to the both of you.