Not Alone

We had something in common: a passionate love for Chick-Fil-A.

 

When I discovered this, I knew what I had to do for this adult leader. I snuck out just before the restaurant’s closing time for a quick trip through the drive through. They had a #1 ready for me so fast you’d have thought they read my mind.

 

When I got back to the site and invited him up to the kitchen, he insisted I hang out while he partook of the goodness. He looked straight at me and asked a question I wasn’t expecting: “Why do you do this?? Nine summers! Why do you do this?”

 

The look in his eyes told me he thought I was completely out of my mind. It also told me that he completely understood.

 

I looked straight back at him, and tossed the question back: “Why do YOU do this? Seventeen years of youth ministry! You’re crazy!”

 

Conversation ensued. It wasn’t long enough. I didn’t get to hear his answer. But it came a little while later.

 

 

The staff and I sat talking with his group of junior highers, humbly sharing with them, exposing some of our own brokenness and alluding to wounds we received around their age, willing them not to experience the same. One of my staff talked about the importance of a church family. “Look around – this is your family. You’re not alone.”

 

He looked straight at me, finally answering the earlier question: “You see – THAT is why I do it. So no teenager has to go through this alone.”

 

Seventeen years of youth ministry. That is not normal. Not common. Not typical.

The church desperately needs more men like him.

 

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Jenilyn Swett spent five years and a total of nine summers serving with YouthWorks in various capacities. God used YouthWorks to shape and influence her in countless ways — she credits her time on staff with introducing her to Chick-Fil-A, all things Southern, the beauty of places like New Orleans and Savannah, and many of her dearest friends. Beyond that, she developed a deep love for the Church. After graduating from seminary,she now serves as the Director of Women’s Ministry at a church in St. Louis, Missouri (where she spent her second YW summer in 2003) and follows #yw2014 incessantly!