In the Student Ministry here at Northeast, we are constantly talking
about the idea of compassion and that a genuine pursuit of Christ will manifest
itself in the pursuit of others. We've even got a little mantra in the
Student Ministry concerning compassion...
"You can't extend compassion apart from being present."
Being compassionate requires being present. Giving our presence to
others is the beginning of compassion. This is what we see from Christ
throughout the pages of scripture. The
most compassionate people in my life are people that I am constantly drawn
to. There is something freeing about
being around them. I feel free to be
myself. I feel free to authentically
talk about the ups and downs of life.
I’m confident in sharing life with them because their consistent
presence in my life speaks to the idea that they genuinely care about me. Sounds a lot like Jesus to me.
Compassion is defined as a feeling of deep sympathy and
sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire
to alleviate the suffering. Feeling
sorry for people is not compassion.
Compassion is being so moved that you work to alleviate the
suffering. Compassion makes people the
priority. This is the model Jesus taught
his disciples. People are the priority
of the kingdom of God. The opposite of
compassion is indifference.
It’s time to mobilize a generation of students who are
passionate about being present with the love of Christ in the world around
them. They’re not afraid to take up the
cause, nor are they afraid to call people to the Truth. Compassion emerges in the perfect balance of
grace and truth.
That being said, I just want to highlight for you how
our students are living as a Christ-centered community working to bring
compassion into the lives of the people around them. Since the beginning of the school year our
students have worked compassionately in the following ways:
- Working to clean up a ballpark for families in New Braunfels. The 11-12th grade guys used this as an opportunity to serve and to also invite their friends to help serve alongside them opening the door for conversations about why they do what they do.
- Our MS girls have adopted Resources for Women in our area working to provide resources for them as they get off the ground and begin to operate here in our community. This is an effort that has been picked up church-wide and spearheaded by 12-14 year old girls.
- The 9-10th grade girls have taken up a cause to partner with Sole Hope in creating shoes to help children in Africa fight the problem of jiggers (www.solehope.com)
- The MS boys recently prepped about 1,000 Easter Eggs for Eggstravaganza! Not only did they prep the eggs, but they will be giving up their Saturday to serve the families of our community at Eggstravaganza.
- Our 11-12th grade girls have adopted an elder care facility and can often times be found there having conversations and loving on the residents during their Wednesday night LifeGroup maybe followed by some yogurt and conversation at Orange Leaf.
- Students gave up a Sunday afternoon to wrap 3,000 Christmas gifts to be distributed to families in our area through our partnership with the Children’s Hunger Fund.
- At Christmas, our 9-10th grade boys partnered up with Elf Louise to distribute Christmas gifts to families in need in San Antonio. Not only did they distribute the gifts, but through prayer and courage, they also shared the Gospel in the living rooms and apartment lobbies of the families.
- During DNOW, our students went out and worked with about 10 elder care facilities and non-profits. Not to my surprise, our students have been invited back by employees of the facilities. Our MS girls went back at Valentines to love on the residents, and our 9-10th boys recently went back to play bingo and love on the residents. One facility even requested the 9-10th girls return to lead worship for them on a Saturday afternoon.
- During the Compassion Retreat, hungry and tired, our students served at the San Antonio food bank. Together they prepped 45,582 pounds of food that was enough for 31,000 meals. The retreat was also a challenging time that changed the perspective of the marginalized for many of our students. You can catch a portion of what the students had to say about the weekend by watching the compassion celebration video. (http://www.northeastbiblechurch.com/media.php?pageID=5)
- Students helped set up and prepare our church-wide effort to put together 1,000 Food PAKS through our partnership with the Children’s Hunger Fund. They were the first ones there organizing and the last to leave the building after the effort had finished.
This doesn’t even begin to cover all the
things our students are doing compassionately in their community. This isn’t about a pat on the back. It’s about inspiration. Our youth have been so deeply moved by the
compassionate presence of Christ in their lives that they are moved into
compassionate action on behalf of others.
These are the causes they are adopting.
These things aren’t organized by Student Ministry staff, but are growing
out of the hearts of our teens!
I see it as a challenge to the adults
worshipping alongside of them every Sunday morning. Students don’t see the obstacles. The simply see the potential of Christ to
radically change the community around them.
They do it one obedient step at a time.
They do it in simple moments of presence. They do.
Praise God! I hope you are
challenged by their fearless obedience.
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