People Matter: Jeffrey’s Story

I sat at our community cookout Thursday night at the ice cream table. One of my staff members was in the kitchen preparing the cleaning crew, and another was sitting at a table with the youth laughing over some funny joke or story from the week. That night, I just smiled. Jesus had worked in the lives of the youth this past week, and I was privileged to get to be a part of it! These youth truly matter to God.

When people ask me what I’m doing this summer, and I tell them, “YouthWorks,” they don’t always know what that means. I could spend a lot of time describing all the different things we do during the weekly mission trips: service partnerships, nightly activities and programming, the kitchen experience. However, that just doesn’t cut it. To me, YouthWorks is more about the people I work with and the people I work for than about the work itself. I stand up in front of about 50 youth at the beginning of each week to tell them one thing: people matter to God. It’s the people more than the work itself that matters. Delivering meals to the homebound or playing Uno with kids is simply a doorway into their lives to let Jesus’ love pour in. That is what YouthWorks is all about!

Each day Monday through Thursday, San Francisco sees about 50 youth from a YouthWorks trip come to serve and love on the community. As Service Coordinator, I constantly hear how great and helpful the youth were. It’s so powerful to see youth live out their faith in service to others as they discover that the Lord loves the least and the lost. They discover that people matter to God. What’s more, Jesus is powerfully working in each student as they go beyond their comfort zones to love people. Jesus gets a hold on their attention, and they discover that God is real. They encounter the living God. They begin to realize the magnitude of what Jesus did on the cross. Their faith deepens; their life takes on new purpose. By Thursday night, many students are crying in the reality of how Jesus served them, how their adult leaders are serving them, and how they are called to serve others. Jesus becomes real, and the youth realize that they matter to God.

And then there’s me. As a staff member, I live amidst the whirlwind of fun and laughter and tears and exhaustion that is YouthWorks. As I make nametags for the new students each week, I know that God is going to speak into their lives. I often look at the group when they arrive for the week with the thought: “They don’t even know what’s about to happen this week.” I am privileged to watch and serve because people matter to God. The youth matter to God. The adult leaders matter to God. The community matters to God. But there’s so much work alongside of it all: phone calls, emails, kitchen duty, and staff meetings. I’ll admit that most nights my head hits the pillow far later than I’d like and my alarm rings earlier than I can stand.

But each week, as I sit at the community cookout on Thursday evening, I know that God has done good work through the staff. “The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still” (Exodus 14:14). As my staff has committed to be still before the Lord and pray for the youth, He has worked. As we have fought for God in private, He has fought for us in public. And as I’m stretched by the ever-growing weight that is youth ministry, I find that God has empowered me to keep going. I find that Jesus came and died in weakness to give me strength. I find Jesus, and it is clear: people matter to God.

Jeffrey Wright loves foosball, sweet tea and a good pen. When he’s not serving as a YouthWorks staff busy leading hoards of teenagers through San Francisco, he can be found swing dancing, cheering on the Georgia Bulldawgs or searching the world over for the tastiest chocolate chip cookie. Jeffrey frequently records his thoughts on life, God and service on his blog at 12colon9.wordpress.com