Andy’s past would probably make most people cry. In the last year, Andy’s life took another turn for the worse when he started using meth and couch surfing. He’s 18 now and hearing voices telling him to do things. I wish I was able to tell you Andy has taken a 180, has his life cleaned up, and is following Jesus but he isn’t there yet. He’s currently following the wrong voices in his head. It breaks my heart seeing him this way. All I can do is love on him like Jesus loves on me. Not every kid we have in our care turns to Jesus, but I am thankful for all of you who are giving young people the “opportunity” to turn to Jesus. Andy knows he can count on me. Someday, maybe he’ll be back. For now, it hurts as I watch and pray.  

 

Thank you for continuing to care, even when we don’t always get to see the results we hope for. Thankfully, many others have had their lives changed 180 degrees. If you’d like to know more about how you can personally give young people like Andy the opportunity to know Jesus, give us a call or check out our 71Five.org website.   

 

 

Jesse was a middle school student when I first met him. He started with 71Five back in the fifth grade at our Eagle Point center and recently graduated high school. Jesse’s life always seemed challenging with his dad leaving and years of living in a cheap motel with his mom and 3 brothers. Jesse and his family moved to Medford a few years ago and dropped off the radar. Then this past winter he showed back up at 71Five Campus in North Medford. He was attending both High School and College and Career clubs when Jesse was hit with another blow… his mom died suddenly. Jesse is grappling with his future as his oldest and younger brother face mental challenges and Jesse’s second oldest sibling is doing his best to provide for them all.

 

During the recent 71Five High School Camp, I encouraged Jesse to think of questions hindering his trust in God. Jesse privately wrote down two questions: “How can I possibly forgive my dad?” and “Why does God let me suffer so much?” Remarkably, without sharing those questions, Jesse’s small group discussed “Forgiving the unforgivable,” closely followed by the main speaker addressing why God allows suffering. These answers seemed tailor-made from God, leaving Jesse in awe. Shy Jesse then found courage to share with the entire camp on the last night, his story of how God spoke to him.

 

Lots of other kids are finding answers to tough questions through the ministries of 71Five. If you’d like to go deeper in sharing hope with young people, we need financial partners, volunteers, staff, interns, and prayer warriors. Give us a call. In the words of the One who gives me hope, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” Thank you for building trust that leads to hope. 

 

 

I am not a big pessimist… but some days I feel like there’s an inevitable doom approaching us! Fortunately, Romans 15:4 reminds us that through the encouragement of God’s Word we have hope. One girl, when she first came to 71Five Campus in North Medford, was feeling hopeless. She’d been expelled, was committing self-harm, and was contemplating suicide. She saw no hope. Things changed when she came to 71Five Camp. She made good friends, found adults who cared for her, and started hearing the truth of God’s Word… that there is a God in heaven who loves her relentlessly. Our teens today face challenges I couldn’t have dreamed of as a young person. But there really is hope. We have the promise that no matter what we go through, God loves us and offers us eternal life with him. Don’t you wish all young people knew that? What a difference it would make in our world.

 

That’s why 71Five exists… “We exist to share God’s story of hope with young people, through trusting relationships, in any relevant way.” Would you like to be a part of that mission? Give us a call. We’d love to share ways you can bring young people hope.

 

 

I recently traveled to Israel. It was an incredible experience. As I was at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, amidst all the religiousness and chaos, out of the crowd, a young college age man yells out to me and my sisters, “Hey, are you guys Trump supporters?” The question seemed so out of place from everything that was going on around me and the many languages, mostly Hebrew, that I was hearing. I turned to the young man and talked with him. I learned he was a Jew, from New York, living in Jerusalem, doing religious studies under one of the top Rabbis. As we talked, it became obvious he was searching for meaning in his life and felt being more religious would help. In Israel, there was so much religiousness. Only 50 yards away from where we were having this conversation, men were chanting, wailing, praying, bowing, using boxes on their heads, using plants, using things around their arms, and all to a wall. I asked this young man. “What do you believe about Jesus?” He seemed oblivious about Jesus. It was probably the coolest setting you can imagine telling someone about Jesus. At one point, I was like “…and just down the road, there’s the empty tomb you can go see.” Jesus gives young people hope, that is far more than just praying to a wall. Jesus changes lives.

 

When you give to 71Five, you are doing more than just supporting a great organization. You’re supporting the ministry of passionate people who share Jesus, with young people, wherever they go. Thanks for sharing the hope of Jesus… even with a young man in Jerusalem.

 

 

Why did God create me so ugly?” That was one of the questions written by students after a recent middle school club at the 71Five Campus North Medford Youth Center. Another note asked, “What’s the point in life?” Still, another note asked, “Why is God making my life so hard and having me have so much anxiety and crying so much? It’s making it hard for me to go to school or even do anything.” Some of these notes really broke my heart as I read them. These reveal glimpses of what young people are really thinking and going through. We are always seeing glimpses like these at 71Five. During summer camps, we hear kids pour out the burdens and pains in the safe glow of a big campfire. On day trips, we do activities together with the kids and have long conversations during the van ride where kids often open-up about their lives. At club, we see kids week after week and notice when they aren’t doing well. Through trusting relationships we meet kids right where they are and start getting deeper and deeper with them over time. The hurts come to the surface, and we have a real opportunity to minister to kids and share the love of Jesus. A lot of our kids wouldn’t step foot inside a church. But they will go to a Youth Center. So, we have Youth Centers where we can share Jesus with those kids and answer their hard questions.

 

Are you willing to join us? Are you interested in being part of a team of people that have a passion for sharing the Gospel with young people who desperately need Him? Call us at (541) 779-3275 or visit 71Five.org because we would love to get you involved in the life of a young person who is in need today.