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Teens help lead children towards God’s message

Through the Master’s Commission, a youth service program at Life Church, four students volunteer to bring the word of God to their younger counterparts at the Salvation Army.

Partnering together is a good fit for both groups, which minister God’s word, said Andrew Easton.

“The Salvation Army is a key area the mission has invested time,” he said. “When I went there, boy, did I love it.”

Also volunteering with the afterschool children are Bethany Hauck, Destiny Loven and Stephanie Jensen.

“We help them learn the word of God, and how they can work through problems,” said Loven. “It’s cool to be involved in their lives, to talk to them and show them love.”

According to Lynne Verhaagh, afterschool and community relations director at the Salvation Army, 22 children are registered in the program, in its fourth year, with an average of 17 attending on a daily basis.

The children receive a meal upon arrival, which the Life Church volunteers prepare and serve, and participate in a literacy program, music, dance, craft and physical activity as well as get help with homework.

“We wouldn’t be able to offer the one-on-one time with the children without the help of the Life Church volunteers,” Verhaagh said.

One area that has made a difference for the children is the literacy program, which is biblically-based. While kids are learning the lessons of the Bible, they are practicing phonetics and spelling, Verhaagh said.

Because of the volunteers’ work with the kids, 90 percent of them have improved their reading level by at least a grade, she said.

But perhaps more importantly than the activity and academic aspect of the afterschool program, is the positive role modeling of Christian beliefs and living the word of God by the Life Church teens.

“They see that being a Christian is cool from older kids that are cool to them,” Verhaagh said.

For Hauck, it’s a chance to give the kids what she had as a child.

“When I was their age, I had low self-esteem and I didn’t have any friends, but I had a Christian family,” she said. “Everybody needs encouragement like I had. Everybody needs to be brought back to God. Everybody needs to know they are loved.”

At the end of the day, living in the word of God is the message Easton hopes the children retain.

“Letting them know they have a destiny and a legacy in God is the greatest form of hope we can pass on,” he said.