Big Day Coming

A little less than two years ago I was part of launching a dream. The dream was to see one million Christian teens involved in a single day of service in cities across the U.S. Eventually this dream came to be known as 1 By Youth. The very first event happened in Manassas, VA in April of 2010. Since then other cities have joined the movement of youth service. But one big part of the dream was to see 1 By Youth come to one of the largest cities in the country.

On Saturday, May 7 that dream will become a reality when 1 By Youth comes to the west side of Chicago. The inaugural Chicago event will bless the people of the Austin and West Garfield neighborhoods. I'm particularly excited about this because God's blessed me with a unique opportunity. In January I left Group Cares and the team that created 1 By Youth to join the team at Lutheran Church Charities. On the day of my departure pieces fell into place for me to take on the role of Community Director for Chicago 1 By Youth on behalf of Lutheran Church Charities. So now I've gotten to see this awesome event from both the national and local sides.

Here's what I can tell you...1 By Youth IS AWESOME! It's an awesome concept, an awesome mission and an awesome opportunity to change all sorts of lives with the love of Jesus. It's the simplest way to engage young people in service within the context of a big event with lots of Christian youth. It deserves to become the next big movement of youth service...and I'm not just saying that because I had a hand in creating it! This event is local, powerful, simple and effective.

I encourage you to become a fan of 1 By Youth and work to bring it to your town if it isn't there already. The goal of one million youth is very real but will take the energy and excitement of many to make it happen. Join us and change lives everywhere.