Connecting with Youth through Sunday School
Youth
Who In Church Connected To You?
Read this story:
“Ricky was one of the students I connected with right away. His cousins had gone
through my youth group, and his aunt asked me if I could keep an eye on him on his first day as
a seventh grader. I introduced him to other students and hung out with him during the youth
group time. After a few weeks I took him out for fries at one of the fast-food places in the area.
As time progressed, I got to know Ricky fairly well. It was common to see Ricky at my house for
dinner and in my car with me running errands all over town. I even got to be with Ricky the day
he received Christ. That was a good day. As time passed, Ricky moved to another school, and
we saw less and less of each other. This concerned me because I knew he was starting to hang
out with a rough group of friends. But he was in the hands of another youth worker, so I prayed
God would take care of him. Eventually Ricky dropped off my radar. I felt guilty for letting that
happen, and I often wondered what happen to Ricky. Fast-forward 10 years. I received an email
about a month ago. It was someone who found me through my website. “I’m emailing to see if I
can get a hold of Jonathan Mckee. I don’t know if he remembers me. My name is Ricky, and I
used to know him 10 years ago. He made a big impact in my life, and I’d like to talk with him.
Thanks, Ricky.” I wondered if this could be him. I wrote back to this “Ricky,”: “Is this the Ricky
that’s the cousin of Crystal and Melissa? If it is…of course I remember you. Email me back or
call me.” I gave him my personal email and phone number. Sure enough it was the same Ricky
I’d spent so much time with, now happily married with two children and working with youth at his
church. Not long ago Ricky and I met for lunch, and he told me his story. Apparently those
friends of his were bad news. Ricky explained how he made some bad decisions but knew God
had something better. Enter cute girl, stage left. God grabbed Ricky’s attention with a girl. She
was the daughter of a pastor and invited Ricky to church. To make a long story short, Ricky got
back on track with God, and a few years later they got married. Ricky told me, “I appreciate
everything you did for me. You hung out with me, you had me over for dinner with your family,
you took me to church-you even took me shopping for your wife’s birthday.” The now 25 year
old Ricky hugged me and thanked me for the time I’d invested in him. He couldn’t remember a
thing I’d said 10 years before, but he thanked me for spending time with him and loving him.”1
Your Story:
Who is someone in church that connected with you?
Why was their connection so important to you?
How has that connection impacted you today?
1
Jonathan Mckee. Connect: Real Relationships In A World of Isolation. (Grand Rapids, MI: Youth
Specialties, 2009) 29-30.
1