Summer 2022 – Week 5

#cefjacksontn – “No matter how badly you want to, you can’t change the color of your skin. God made you the way you are, and you’ll only bleed if you try to take your skin off.”

One of the sweetest little girls I met this summer said this to me this week when she came back during our time to talk about believing in Jesus. I had met her earlier this summer when we spent a week at this location. This week, we spent just an hour back here to do another party club with Professor Poppy.

She rambled a bit about changing the color of her skin, and it broke my heart. There are kids who think they are not valued because of how they look and/or where they live. These kids, though sometimes the hardest to minister to, are those who need the most love and attention.

When sharing the gospel, it is of course vital that everyone understands they are sinners; all of us have thought, said or done something to break God’s law. Most of these kids, even the very young ones, understand they have made mistakes, but not all of them seem to believe they are loved despite that. Some of them, barely in elementary school, already seem to have a very low self-worth.

At our other two locations this week, both churches with older kids, none of the kids were quite as desirous to talk with us. I did not get to hear their hurts and pains like I did the younger kids, but I imagine a lot of kids have simply gotten better at hiding their hurts as they have aged, not that they recognize how much the Lord loves them.

This is what has stuck with me during our last week of ministry. These kids—and the adults we got to interact with—need to be reminded so often of how loved they are. We should all remember that God declared our worth long ago when he sent Christ to die for us all, no matter what we have done or where we are from.

We have told the gospel countless times this summer to kids from all over the Jackson area. We have come to them, telling them about how much the Lord loves them, how much we love them and how valued they are. No strings attached.

“God made you the way you are, and you’re so beautiful the way you are.” I’m not sure how many times I said this to the little girl and her friends around her, but I hope the many, many kids and adults we interacted with this summer remember how much God loves them despite their sin.

That is, after all, why we have such amazing news as Christ’s sacrifice to share.

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