Katelyn Koonce said it was just a little idea — one she felt like maybe God put in her heart.
She was in the fifth grade, and she thought she might need to start sharing Jesus with her classmates on a regular basis.
“I told my friends about it, and we started and organized the Jesus Club together,” said Koonce, a member of Mill Creek Baptist Church, Gaylesville. “We started teaching meetings every Wednesday at snack.”
The first day it started, they collected money for charity from students and teachers and raised $100.
As time went on, they were able to give more to help people and saw students come to faith in Christ too. Now, Koonce is in the eighth grade, and the Jesus Club is still going strong during second break every Wednesday.
Finding Christ
“Some people have gotten saved because of it,” Koonce said. “One time a girl said in class that she was scared to die, and we told her about the club. She got saved, and after we posted a video of her sharing her story, more people came up to me and asked if I could tell them about it.”
‘Importance of youth’
Lloyd Borden, director of missions for Lookout Mountain Baptist Association, said in the communities where his churches are, students like Koonce are invaluable. In October 2019, the association honored a group of youth for the way they were living out their faith in their everyday lives.
“It’s hard to overemphasize the importance of youth in small churches,” he said, noting that pastors and families are able to pour into them and help mobilize them to reach their communities.
Koonce, for one, has made a big difference in the community, Borden said.
“She is a strong witness for Jesus and is recognized by the student body and faculty as such,” he said. “Her faithfulness as a Christian is known throughout the area.”
‘Personally involved’
As students go through high school, they’re often asked to perform community service as part of their college preparation. But Candace McIntosh, executive director of Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union, suggests seeing everything they do in the way Koonce does — as an opportunity to share Jesus.
“I think it is vital for students to be personally involved in serving through missions,” she said, noting that Acts 1:8 gives a charge to start sharing Jesus right where you are. “When students serve their community through missions it opens the eyes of their heart to the world around them.”
That includes leading a Bible study, serving a meal at a homeless shelter or cleaning the yard of a neighbor.
‘Share Jesus’
“When they take time to engage with those around them through missions, they are reminded of God’s love for everyone and the need of every person to have the opportunity to hear about God’s love for them,” McIntosh said.
For David Bryant — a member of Shady Grove Baptist Church, Collinsville — that has meant serving as a mentor for other students as he grew up through the association’s youth group he now serves as a leader.
“I’ve seen how important it is to have someone teaching me, and I want to do that for other people,” he said. “I know what they’ve been through, and I want to be there for them and share Jesus with them.”
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