We started communicating in March and began spending time together later that month. Our weekly E-Recycling run was the first activity we shared, which provided lots of time for some physical activity, as well as an opportunity to talk about how we can make better choices. He’s talented, comes from a faith background and recently lost his father. Each of our lives has it’s share of ups and downs, yet God is faithful still, and promises to be with us each step of the way, if we let him.

As the weeks went by and conversations went deeper, he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. The recently held ReBoot Men’s Event provided a full couple of days of setting up, participating in the sessions, engaging with other men and helping tear down and pack up. Voices of doubt and shame were being displaced with words of grace, mercy and hope.

His school year ended and he returned back home, and was recently in touch again. Could he come back to London and put in some more hours? He really likes hanging around the YFC London team.

The open House at Glen Cairn Public School invited YFC to attend with a booth and the BBQ trailer, and with 220 hot dogs cooked over 2 hours, he saw a new side of the potential that resides in him.  Words of affirmation from different sources were seeds of hope that displaced feelings of hopelessness.

On my desk at YFC is the rear view mirror from an old convertible I used to own. I use it as a visual reminder that our lives are like driving, in that what is in the rear view mirror is important, but we can’t spend too much time there. Our focus has to be on what’s ahead, looking through the windshield, that’s where we are going.

There have been numerous times in my life as a young person where I should have made better decisions. When my parents divorced in 1969, I was as lost as a leaf on a windy fall day. I’m eternally thankful to God that he brought 6 men into my life as a young teenager who did their best to keep me ‘out of the ditch and on the narrow path’. I owe much of who I am today to their investment in me.

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind me and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14.

It’s a great privilege to sow seeds of faith and encouragement into young lives, especially in this season of so many clamoring voices. Thank you for praying for us and standing with us in this mission of seeing every young person living fully in Christ.

Jeff Ste. Marie