Be the Change

As I was staring off into a blank word document in front of me, trying to write my monthly column, one of the stickers on my water bottle caught my eye: "Be the Change." The whole quote is from Gandhi. "Be the change you wish to see in the world." This is one of my favorite quotes. In the world we live in, there is so much wrong, and thinking about it can be so overwhelming. But as a Christian we should ask ourselves - what can I do? I look at the youth in this church, and see that they ask the same question, what can I do about poverty or the many needs in the world. But they don't just sit and wait for answers; they get right up and become the change. We have four youth from our congregation on the Synod-wide LYO working towards ending malaria. Our church has taken countless mission trips to Mexico to builds homes for the homeless and inadequately housed. Last summer the youth went to Galveston, Texas to do hurricane recovery work. This coming summer a group of 24 from this congregation will go to work in Ecuador where they will put on Day Camps for different villages and build water filtration systems for people who don't have clean water to drink. People here aren't willing to just look around and say, "there are too many problems, and I am just one person." People here seem to get it; they look around and say, "Jesus says to love our neighbors and enemies, feed the hungry, and care for orphans and widows." Each one of us is called to "Be the change." People around here know that they are the change. What a blessing to be a part of this Christian Family.

Katie Kline
Youth Minister