By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC
What a stunning summer we’ve been blessed with here in the Pacific Northwest. I hope you’ve found safe and soul-filling ways to get out. I trust you’ve been able to physically reconnect with friends and loved ones as we saw restrictions loosen. It’s been good to feel the grip of another hand and the welcome embrace of reunion these days.
Mary and I just got back from our first trip ever to Olympic National Park. Why did we wait this long! It was invigorating taking in all of the different ecosystems as we made our way around Highway 101. I knew I needed a lot more time to unwind when we first stopped at the Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center and I found myself frustrated that there was no cell signal or WiFi. I’m a mess – pray for me! As I settled in and slowed by soul, it was amazing taking in the beauty of God’s marvelous creation: The glaciers, waterfalls, giant trees, mossy rainforests, and all of those amazing drift logs that have collected on the beaches – especially Rialto Beach. Stunning!
Mary and I got out because we were taking advantage of our 16-year old being at Cascades Camp for 10 days of SALT last week. Party time! As I walked through this time without our “baby,” I found myself thinking a lot about our kids (25, 20 and 16 now); how we’ve done as parents; our youth group experiences versus what our kids have experienced in our Chicago, Sacramento, and Seattle chapters; their relationships; their futures…and under it all I thought about their relationship with Jesus. Even now as I continue to think about my kids, I realize that there’s so much that’s out of my control. But I also realize how much I do control and how much God asks all of us to steward when it comes to our young people – our kids and for our whole village of kids.
With that, I want to invite us to take time to give thanks and pray for our children. I invite you to do this in three ways:
First, give thanks for those who shaped you. Within one month of each other my home church children’s minister Flora Wong and my youth pastor and out fellow Covenant pastor Ed Lee graduated to glory. These two faithfully poured into my life and shaped my understanding of following Jesus. I also think of my parents, Jim and Janice Yee that in all of their imperfections perfectly kept our family spiritual soil fertile and watered. It was my mom’s commitment to reading Bible stories and praying with us every night when dad was working swing or graveyard shifts, where I first prayed to Jesus to enter my life. They have modeled faith, resilience, humility, servanthood, community, selfless love, and hope. I invite you to give thanks for those who shaped and continue to shape you. Pray blessings over their lives and their memory.
A second focus is praying for those who are parents and other primary caregivers that have the high calling and exciting full-time ministry of shaping young people. Proverbs 22:6 challenges us. Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. We all want our kids to have great opportunities, diverse experiences, and excel in things like music or sports. But what is the “right path” that Solomon speaks of? What are we modeling to our kids? How do we actively show them what it means to prioritize Christ, church, and service? What does it mean to teach our kids to love God’s word? How do we actively show what it means to share our faith and sacrificially serve? Let’s thank God for our parents and care-givers as they lean into their full-time ministries to their kids.
My last invitation is to thank God and pray for others who are shaping our young people now. I have heard so many stories around the conference about how lives have been changed at Cascades Camp. I am so grateful for our long legacy of camping in our region. Every year when I receive the report from Executive Director Rob Mohrweis and the staff about how many faith decisions and commitments are made, it continuously shows that something special happens at camp. It continues to be one of the most fruitful ministries we do together. Hundreds of young lives are transformed. We hear this from our MUD and Thunder retreats and all the decades past at CHIC (now UNITE). We have the best children, youth, and family ministers on planet earth! I am so grateful for their committed service. Let’s give thanks and pray for those in our village that are helping us shape our kids.
If I’m honest, my heart is heavy for my kids. I’ve told them each that more than anything else in the world, what I want the most is for them to know what it means to love and serve the Lord with their entire beings. I pray for that everyday. It’s a complex and increasingly Christian-foreign culture that they are growing up in. As we enter into the back end of summer and anticipate a new school year, my encouragement is for us to double down on our young people; to make necessary changes in our priorities and investments; to stay fervent in prayer, and to show our kids more of Jesus.
Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power. I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles. Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue; I will proclaim your greatness. Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with joy about your righteousness. Psalm 145:4-7
Psalm 145:4-7