The Zambia Project is a book I first learned of a year ago. It's the story of a former youth pastor who now works at a christian school in suburban Chicago called Wheaton Academy. Over the past decade, students at Wheaton Academy have raised money to support the small region Kakolo in Zambia. The region has been devastated by AIDS, and the average life expectancy is 37 years old. It has been an incredible journey where high school students have stepped up and raised over $100,000 a year consistently.
It's a fascinating read, but here's my favorite quote from the book:
I have come to believe with all of my heart that the best leadership development is accomplished when growing leaders actually have to lead something. I know that sounds far too simplistic, but my experience has taught me with high school and college students that unless they feel the weight of being in charge of something significant they will think they can lead something, but may never move to that place where they know they can lead something.
You see that? Often when we give people large chunks of responsibility, instead of shying away or backing down, they accomplish the thing they set out to do. Even teenagers.
This I think is the challenge for all of us. Parents, teachers, youth leaders, small group leaders. We all have a responsibility to our teenagers to find areas where they can significantly contribute to God's work in the world and give them the keys. In order for great things to happen, freedom must exist. And for true freedom to exist, we have to have the freedom to fail as well. My hope is our teenagers will be ones who go to college and become adults who know God can do things in the world through them because they've already seen it happen. They've lived it. They've known it.
It's a fascinating read, but here's my favorite quote from the book:
I have come to believe with all of my heart that the best leadership development is accomplished when growing leaders actually have to lead something. I know that sounds far too simplistic, but my experience has taught me with high school and college students that unless they feel the weight of being in charge of something significant they will think they can lead something, but may never move to that place where they know they can lead something.
You see that? Often when we give people large chunks of responsibility, instead of shying away or backing down, they accomplish the thing they set out to do. Even teenagers.
This I think is the challenge for all of us. Parents, teachers, youth leaders, small group leaders. We all have a responsibility to our teenagers to find areas where they can significantly contribute to God's work in the world and give them the keys. In order for great things to happen, freedom must exist. And for true freedom to exist, we have to have the freedom to fail as well. My hope is our teenagers will be ones who go to college and become adults who know God can do things in the world through them because they've already seen it happen. They've lived it. They've known it.
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