Reconnecting
by Josef Bilnoski
This past week I randomly ran into 3 different people that were a part of the Impact youth program from the time they could talk until they graduated high school. I encountered one at a grocery store, another at a park, and the last when I was coming out of a restaurant.
I was blessed to get to watch each of these individuals grow up. These young adults participated in our VBS program every summer and were consistently in Bible class on Thursday nights. They transitioned after elementary and were fixtures in our middle school program, attending retreats and helping serve. As they continued to grow, they were a part of our high school group, joining us for Bible lessons and even attended mission trips and Wilderness Trek in Colorado. Unfortunately, when I encountered them this week it was not at church. In fact, I have not seen them at church in years.
All three of the conversations went about the same, catching up on life, remembering funny stories from the past, and me ending by inviting them to church. Even though I was excited about seeing each of these young people, I was also saddened because they are not living a life following Jesus. We all know someone like this, someone that we have poured into and have tried to teach and encourage, and yet they choose to live a life that is not in line with the will of God. Of course, this can be very discouraging.
But we should never give up hope. We know that God loves them even more than we do.There is another young man who I met this week. He also grew up attending Impact and was a fixture in the youth group. And like the others mentioned before, he also chose to live a life that was not in line with God’s will. I met him Sunday morning. And I meet him every Sunday morning. In Bible class and also in worship. He attends with his wife and kids. He made the decision to return to Jesus and I am so proud of him and his commitment to Christ and to his family. Because of him and others like him, I don’t give up on the young people I mentioned earlier. I will continue to stay in contact and encourage and befriend them, because I know God has not given up on them either.
