Last night, I was blessed with the opportunity to go to the Youth Hope Poetry Slam and see 11 young poets perform spoken word. Now, these aren’t ordinary young adults, they’re children from the West End of Rock Island, also known as a ghetto to most people. This is an at risk population, with many teenage pregnancies, juvenile delinquents, gang violence, and overall hopelessness. Youth Hope works to invest in these children, share the love of Jesus, and find outlets for them to succeed other than the “normal” cycle they’ve experienced. And that’s what many of these poems were about, from sexual abuse to raising a generation of Christ followers to absent fathers and single mothers to finding hope in hopeless situations. These were the topics that the poems focused on, and let me remind you that these kids were all under the age of 17.
It’s organizations like Youth Hope that invest in the lives of the “forgotten” and give them hope that they can have a different life than they’ve been told they’re going to amount to. I have found that the best way to show God’s love to people is to invest in a relationship with a person and pour into them. As much as you want to show God’s Kingdom to everyone you come into contact with, the Bible means nothing to them if they don’t have the Spirit. Once you have a relationship with the person, they can experience God’s love through you, and then begin to understand the way Jesus loves them, too.
The kids at Youth Hope are the perfect example of this. They come from broken homes, many times not knowing Jesus at all. But the staff at this organization work to build relationships and give the kids hope for their future, and let them know that someone cares about them. So here’s how to get your fortune: invest in someone. Build them up, let them learn from your experiences, pour into them, and show them Jesus through you. It’s an incredible feeling when you begin to see your work pay off in someone else’s life, and there’s nothing more rewarding than that.
One of my favorite bands is Mumford and Sons, and they have a song that goes “The way you invest your love, you invest your life”. This is so true! If you dedicate your life to investing in others, whether it be in an office, at a volunteer site, at Big Brothers Big Sisters, or even in your own family, I promise that no amount of money you could ever earn will feel as great as that. And that’s the cool part, that no matter what profession you’re in, you can find someone to invest in. If you’re in an office, find a coworker to eat lunch with once a week and pour into them. If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, there are plenty of organizations you can volunteer for that are directly designed to help you mentor someone. Or if you’re in the Quad Cities, check out Youth Hope. With the amount of times I write about it, you must know by now how incredible of an organization it is.
Below is one of the spoken word performances from last night’s slam. The boy performing, Isaiah, ended up winning the contest. The last few seconds were cut off, but from the rest of it, you can see the wisdom and strength he has. And the coolest part is, that every one of the poets know God so intimately, and you can see it through their performance. Take a look!
If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:11
God bless,
Jenna
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3yGXydBF2M&feature=youtu.be
