One Teen's Journey to Christ

Page Photo By “Jessica,” age 17.

Before coming to YD my life was on a fast track to nowhere.

Growing up, my father was addicted to drugs and alcohol, and by the time I was seven, my mom told him to leave for good. I didn’t want to grow up without my dad so I wrapped my arms around his legs and screamed and cried and begged him not to go. He pushed me off, telling me that it was for my own good. I cried myself to sleep every night for five months, but I soon realized that I didn’t do anything to deserve this. He wasn’t worth all the pain and suffering.

Since I went to church almost every Sunday with my great-grandma, I had heard stories about how Jesus healed people. I thought maybe he would and could help. One night before I went to sleep I got down on my knees to pray, “Dear God, please show me a way that I could help my daddy love me again. Amen.” My dad kept doing drugs, so I didn’t believe that God cared. I thought, “If he can hear my prayers when I talk to him, how come he never helped me? What was I doing in my life that makes me not so special?”

By the age of 13, I started drinking too. In May 2008, 2 years later, my dad was sent to prison. When I woke up that morning, I thought about how easily I could forget things when I was drunk, so I thought maybe I should drink to forget about my dad. And I did. I drank till the point where I could barely walk, and got into my friend’s car and went to school. Walking to class, my school counselor called me into her office.

I talked to her about how my dad went to prison, how I started smoking, drinking, and partying. She asked me if I’d had anything to drink that morning, and I started crying and threw up. I don’t really remember much else…riding in the ambulance and then waking up in the hospital with my mom and stepdad by my side. It was the worst experience of my life.

The first thing I said to my family was, “I am so sorry.” I couldn’t believe I took things to that much of an extreme. Drinking that day solved none of my problems.

In September, I started coming to Youth Dynamics, which has had the greatest impact on my life. I started learning about living a Christian life. There were other people at YD that had experienced challenges like mine throughout their life. I also started attending the youth group at my church. In late December, I was at a youth group gathering. Our Youth Director said, "People think that when they accept Jesus Christ and they realize they want to follow Him, they think their lives are going to get better. It turns out it doesn't, it seems to get a lot harder. The way I think of it is that Jesus makes it harder to see if you will stick through the hard times and keep your eyes on Him."

I thought, “Wow, maybe I should try this,” and so I accepted Jesus into my life and became a Christian. It ended up that I did keep my eyes on Him and kept following him even through the hard times that followed. I really understood the challenges during a winter “Polar Bear” trip with YD. Wow. I can’t even begin to tell you how challenging that trip was. It was a four day cross-country skiing trip in the middle of winter. We skied with 50 pound backpacks up a mountain to our camp site. We camped in the middle of nowhere in tents in the snow. Two more feet of snow fell while we were there.

The verse that ran through my head almost every second of that trip was this: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." I was terrified and afraid of what might happen to me on this trip. I thought I couldn’t do it. I thought that I would die or break my ankle. And so I prayed every time I got my skis on. I can’t explain how that trip helped me deepen my relationship with God, but it did.

Before the trip, I didn’t know if the trip would make the relationship stronger, or make me think that I needed to back away from God. On the trip, I discovered that I can’t do everything on my own. I had to trust other people even if I didn’t want to. I built upon relationships I already had and made new ones.

Deciding to follow Christ changed my life substantially. Before Christ, my life was on a fast track to nowhere. I was making bad decisions and I didn't care if I hurt anyone or did anything wrong. But now that I know Jesus, I care about a lot of things that I never used to, like helping people or listening to their problems and praying for people. The thing about YD that has most impacted my decision to follow Jesus is the staff. They are there for me when I need them, and I can talk to them about anything. They don’t judge me by the mistakes I've made or make. They know where we are coming from because they have had experiences like mine. I am very thankful for all of them.

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“Jessica” is a student we love, and we celebrated with her this summer as she took the step to get baptized in front of her congregation. Many YD staff were there with her, praying with her, and committing to support her in her new life. Thank you for your prayers and support for Youth Dynamics, which have made a significant impact in her life.