It has to start somewhere.

We are a broken generation. By we, I of course mean the current 20-somethings. The young adults of our church. Whether we choose to admit it, or not, research has shown that we have the largest amount of young adults who have given up on Christianity either permanently, or had a huge struggle before we made it back. For whatever reason, whether it's the current state of the world or simply the way we are being raised, it takes more for us to trust, more for us to believe, and even more for us to throw skepticism to the wind. We ask more questions because we need to have a fully-rounded understanding. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it has resulted in a lot of brokenness and a lot of hurt. 

In my opinion, what made it more difficult for us to throw this nature to the wind and fully become trusting of God and His word and purpose is that we have done it alone. That's not to say older Christians in the church haven't been there to pray for us and encourage, but there has been something lacking. True guidance and tackling the issues head on. Preparing us for what we were about to go through. 

For years, I found it was easy to outright blame the church for it. To blame them for not telling us what we would face, the struggles we would encounter, and not just the consequences but the time it would take to heal and repair ourselves with God afterwards.

But then, as I began to pursue this area that I felt God calling me into, I began to realize that it was less that the church didn't want to teach us, or that they disregarded us, but rather they didn't know what they needed to do. The world is such a different place now. It's a far more dangerous place for the hearts and minds of those who are not rooted in Christ. It's hard to know where to start when you don't necessarily understand the overwhelming impact of what's going on. 

So now, we have a generation who is climbing out of that dark hole. We have a generation that is about to fall face first into it. 

This broken generation has a calling. That calling is to minister to and support this next generation. The unfortunate truth is that this next generation doesn't want to hear about the struggles they are going to face from their parents or from the older generations in the church. They know the worlds are different, and they feel those generations are too far disconnected from where they're at to fully understand. But this broken generation, we've just gone through it. It's fresh in our minds, in our memories and our hearts.

If we want to see this next generation rise up, we need to trust God in our calling, to pour into this generation so that they can, in turn, take up their own crosses and callings and push forward as able-bodied warriors of Christ.

And that's where I believe my calling lies. In ministering to these young women and building relationships with them to help when they face these trials and adversities. To know that they are not going at it alone, that they are not wrong or somehow lacking in Christ when they feel broken, defeated and confused. To help them at least have an idea of what to expect, and to help empower them to be able to face it head on. To give them a fighting chance. 

I'm starting here because I'm not sure where else to start. Because I have to start somewhere. I'm not trained in ministry, I don't have a Bible college certificate and I certainly don't have every word of the Bible memorized. But then again, the disciples weren't trained when they started their ministry. They simply took the call, and went, and let God show them the way. And that's what I intend to do. Just as the disciples looked to their teachers, I will look to the teachers in my life (God, of course, included) -- pastors, leaders and mentors, to make sure that I am accountable and that what I am doing remains Biblical; that my teaching doesn't stray from the path. 

And I will give this to God. Because I have no idea where this is going, or what exactly I am going to be doing. What I do know is that this is a war. Our youth, our upcoming young adults are being surrounded by everything telling them to choose the opposite of God. And unless we are there to help them, very few will make it through.

This is God's call, and finally, I'm answering.