In the past few years, I’ve seen things that truly made me question what is going to happen to future generations. Everywhere I looked, I seemed to see things leaving me discouraged about what’s coming. Sometimes, it was the way young people dressed or the way young people acted in public. I’ve seen so much lack of respect for others, especially older people. It’s as if there was no compassion or respect for anything.
So often, I wondered what would happen after my parent’s generation was gone. Would people still say yes ma’am? Would men still ask for a girl’s hand in marriage? Would hard work completely give way to entitlement? It scared me to think of what the future held and what would the world look like for my own children someday? Could I raise children in this world?
With all the concern and worry about the future and the next generation(s), I never once took it to God. I never once prayed for the children of 2012, or the teenagers or the college students. The children of today will be our leaders tomorrow, so why would I not pray for them? But the first week of January, something completely changed for me. I saw a glimmer of hope. Actually, that’s a lie. I saw a tremendous amount of hope for the future of this world I live in. The annual Passion conference took place in Atlanta from Jan. 2-5. The conference was online, being livestreamed the entire time. I also had a very dear friend in attendance who kept me in the loop when I couldn’t watch a particular session. But Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, I sat in my living room and watched Passion 2012 on my computer, glued to the screen.
I listened, I sang, I cried, I worshiped, I was blessed. And I have seen a hope for tomorrow that is completely glorious. Passion is not a youth conference like what I attended when I was in high school. For starters, it’s geared toward 18-25-year-olds; college students. Your typical poor, selfish, lazy college students.* The difference, is these students love Jesus. They do have a hope and a future because it’s promised to them in Jeremiah 29:11. It’s promised to them throughout the bible. Along with song, worship and study, Passion is centered around a cause. This year, it was human slavery and sex trafficking. The goal was to raise $1 million toward stopping human slavery and trafficking around the world.
There are currently 27 million human slaves throughout the world, and $1 million can’t possibly help them all, but it can still make an impact. If one person, one child, can be pulled from the bondage of slavery and given restoration, then it’s worth it. Keep in mind, this goal of $1 million was to be raised by college students; *the same I unfairly pigeonholed above. When I was in college, I worked a full-time, off-campus job, took a full class load (sometimes as many as 18 hours) and worked on staff at the student newspaper. I struggled a lot. I was one of those kids scrounging the couch cushions for pizza money. OK, maybe not that bad, but I lived paycheck to paycheck throughout college. At the close of the four-day conference, more than $3.6 million had been donated to help end human slavery and sex trafficking.
$3.6 million.
Mostly from college students.
The same students living paycheck-to-paycheck like I did, and like you probably did.
If that doesn’t give you hope for the future, wake up. The next generation is going to be unstoppable. A generation who won’t remember life without cell phones and computers, a generation who may never understand what happened after the Vietnam War, a generation who may never meet a World War II veteran, a generation who is completely different from all that went before … will change the world.
They may see things differently than I do or my parents do, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. They are making their own way, and they’re not taking “no” for an answer. They’re unashamedly standing up for things they believe and fighting hard. A friend who gave up a teaching career to be a youth minister (with a significant pay cut) said to me, “It’s why I do what I do. These kids will change the world, and it will be amazing.”
Someone in this same generation may be the researcher to cure cancer or ALS or … diabetes.
People have called this generation a lost generation. I was one of them. I’m not much older than the next generation, but what I saw scared me. But watching Passion changed my heart. My hope and spirit were renewed in what I saw at the Georgia Dome. This is not yesteryear’s Dawson McAllister. This is 44,000 college students at a conference about Jesus desiring to love others and make a difference. This is thousands more, of all ages, watching from living rooms and following on Twitter around the world. This is a generation capable of making #howgreatisourgod the No. 1 trending topic for multiple days. This is the future, so get ready. I, for one, cannot wait to see what they are going to do. I hope my life, my choices and my testimony help clear them a way and a path.
How great is our God!
If you want to do something to help end slavery and sex trafficking, visit Do Something Now by clicking here or on one of the graphics below or the freedom graphic above.
Thanks for sharing the hope! 🙂