Yesterday was World AIDS Day. In light of this, FUEL (middle school student ministry) at Crossroads created a powerful experience for our middle school students. Through a series of encounters, the students were able to put their faith into action—they literally became God’s hands and feet.
There are some alarming statistics that surround the AIDS epidemic:
- Over 33 million adults worldwide live with HIV/AIDS.
- 2.5 million of them children.
- Over 2 million people die each year, leaving over 16 million orphans.
- 5700 people die from AIDS every day.
- One child dies every minute.
- Every 15 seconds, another person age 15-24 becomes infected.
- The number of women living with HIV has tripled in the last two decades.
- 1 in 20 people living in Washington, DC (the city with the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in America) are living with HIV or AIDS.
And the stats don’t capture the real devastation caused to the families, friends and those living with HIV/AIDS. Families are destroyed, lives are thrown into chaos, and those who already have next to nothing suddenly find themselves with even less.
So FUEL takes notice and FUEL takes action
In theme with World AIDS Day, the Crossroads auditorium was converted into a solemn walk past many groupings of beautifully gift-wrapped boxes and poinsettias. Sitting among these holiday icons were heartbreaking photos of widows, orphans and others who are devastated by poverty, filthy water and hunger… and who have had their lives shattered by HIV/AIDS.
As students left the auditorium, most of with solemn faces, they had the opportunity to light memorial candles beneath a giant red AIDS ribbon and pray for those devastated by AIDS.
Another station let students take two small scoops of corn flour and place it into a plastic bag to take with them. With the bag was an instructional note telling them to mix the flour with a small amount of water and create a dough. They were startled to find out that some kids in Africa only get two of these a day—if they are lucky. The students were then asked to consider donating their lunch money for at least one day to sponsor other children in need.
At another station, students created their own donation cup by affixing informational labels to basic paper coffee cups in hopes of collecting change in order to bring a change. The idea behind the cups was to provide a visual reminder that by foregoing just one cup of Starbucks, you could help to change lives. Some people live on less than $3 per day, and still others on less than $1. The funds collected in these cups will be used to help the poor.
Finally, the students assembled Caregiver Kits. These bright orange plastic briefcases contained many simple, essential supplies to help those in need—things like water purification packets, gloves and medical supplies. They wrote personal messages to the recipients, sharing God’s love with strangers.
These kits were the direct result of a very generous and compassionate mother of a FUEL student who gave a gift of $1,000 for this cause.
Through funds raised, the FUEL team hopes to also assemble Promise Packs to distribute to kids in need. The Packs contain basic school supplies and other things and come bundled in a backpack.
Our next steps
Students were also given a calendar with stickers and suggestions for showing compassion by serving others. They placed the stickers on their calendars as reminders to share God’s love through good works on a daily basis.
Last night, our FUEL students were reminded that Christmas is more than lights, stockings and gifts under a tree. It is a time to appreciate and celebrate the giver of good gifts and of the best gift of all in the birth of Jesus Christ.
The energy of the kids was overwhelming and exciting, and it was apparent that as they moved from station to station, they were taking with them seeds of knowledge, which in some kids were already beginning to sprout.
Thank God for our FUEL leader team, which helps to nurture and grow God’s goodness in students. The greatest commandment is to love God and your neighbor. Kids at Crossroads are building a strong foundation for life. We are setting them on a path that can and will make a remarkable difference in the world.
“And they brought young children to Him, that He should touch them: and His disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them, ‘Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.’” (Mark 10:13-14).
