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by Douglas Vandergraph
A small paper cup might seem like an unlikely place to begin a serious conversation with a teenager. Yet
sometimes the right question, offered without pressure, can open a door that an adult’s best speech never
could.
The Local Voice recently reported on the North Mississippi Youth Coalition‘s work in Lafayette County. Project coordinator Lucia Booker described meeting young people through community events, including an activity in which students help assemble a pumpkin from small cups containing questions about mindfulness and well-being. It is a creative way to begin something many adults find difficult: listening to a young person before deciding what that person needs.
The coalition’s larger challenge is making sure families know that its free resources exist. It works with schools and community partners to support young people, and it hopes to establish a youth-led coalition where teenagers can make friends, volunteer, and help shape activities that concern them. I find that last idea especially important. Young people should not be only the audience for a program. They deserve a voice in
the conversation.
In Matthew 18, Jesus placed a child among His disciples while they were concerned with who would be greatest. The child was not asked to give a speech or prove an achievement. Jesus changed the center of attention. He challenged adults to think about humility, welcome, and how they regard someone who could
easily be overlooked.
It is possible to care about teenagers and still spend most of our time talking at them. We offer advice about good choices, warn about bad ones, and remind them of the future. Some of that guidance is necessary. But a
teenager may also need to know that an honest question will not be punished with ridicule, that uncertainty does not make them weak, and that their experience counts when adults make decisions.
A caring town needs parents and teachers, but it also needs coaches, neighbors, librarians, faith communities, and volunteers willing to make room for the quieter student. Not every young person wants to speak in front of a crowd. Some will share what is troubling them only after trust has been built in ordinary conversations. The coalition’s efforts should be judged by the care and evidence behind its work, not by any easy promise that a single activity can solve every problem. Still, its interest in giving teenagers leadership opportunities offers a hopeful model: invite the people being served to help shape the service.
I live in Colorado, not Oxford, and know this effort through the reporting of The Local Voice rather than personal visits. But the lesson belongs to more than one county. When a community makes room for a young voice, it may hear a need it had not understood and discover a strength it had not noticed. Jesus placed a child in the middle of the conversation. We should be willing to do the same—and then listen.
Douglas Vandergraph is a Christian writer, Bible teacher, podcaster, and digital creator whose work centers on Jesus Christ, Scripture, spiritual growth, practical encouragement, and long-form Bible study. He has built an extensive free Christian library and a YouTube community of approximately 600,000 subscribers, with more than 2,000 videos across his broader body of work. Douglas writes and speaks to help people connect the teachings of Jesus with grief, prayer, forgiveness, perseverance, purpose, hope, and ordinary life.
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