Thursday, July 5, 2012

Hope for Holly

Brown eyes twinkle with mischief when she looks at you with that impish grin. Under the tomboy exterior beats a heart of sweetness, brimming with joy and wonder. Cowboy boots pile beside party shoes. More often the Stetson gets tossed aside for silk and satin.

I have walked alongside Holly and her family for years. You have your own Holly. She lives in your world and is being raised in a family that you love. You see her in church laughing, growing, serving, changing. You pray for her and melt into her hugs.

Was she in your Sunday School class? Your carpool? Did you buy her Girl Scout cookies?

Satan waits patiently, dreaming up plans to welcome Holly when she arrives on the college campus. He is spending his summer arranging tanks with military precision. The evil one has a plan for Holly's life. He has a plan for lies and distractions that will destroy her future.

Most church youth expect to get involved in a church near campus. Statistics show that most of them will get sidetracked and lose their faith. Living vulnerable in enemy territory is dangerous. Satan is a big success on the college campus. He wants to welcome each freshman into his circle of friends.

Holly has an advantage. She has grown up in a church that supports our local campus ministry with prayer, service and money. She knows the campus ministers and some of the older students and alumni.  Holly knows what opportunities there are for her to continue growing in her faith and developing servant-leadership. She is not going into enemy territory this fall alone.

Did you know you can call a campus ministry and tell them about incoming freshmen? They welcome the opportunity to be a home away from home, a soft place to fall for college students, a training ground for adulthood. A campus ministry is a light in a place that can be dreary, dark and unfamiliar. You have been more important in the life of the young people in your church than you know. Go the extra mile for them. Make one more phone call.

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