July 14, 2008
What can one teen do?
Or even better? What can a group of teens do? Jerrod Murr, pastor of Capitol Hill Limitless Youth in Oklahoma City, believes that they can change the world — one T-shirt at a time.
$12
How can that change the world? Murr’s teens wanted to do a mission project and they chose to raise money for a Haitian orphanage. The problem? It would cost $500,000 American dollars to build the orphanage, fund the staff, and buy the needed supplies.
Perhaps they should have thought small. Maybe they could have bought diapers, or raised funds for part of the project. All good things. But they felt challenged to raise the entire amount. Remember the story of the fishes and loaves in the Bible? A guy sacrificed his lunch and Jesus used it to feed a multitude?
The teens designed a T-shirt. It’s black, retro, with a logo and a number. Each person who buys a T unites with the dream to make a difference in the lives of kids in Haiti. Maybe the T they wear has a 1 on it, or maybe it says 72. The teens made a website (which I’ll share tomorrow), and they worked to create a drama tour, contributed their own funds and devoted a portion of their summer taking their message on the road, selling T-shirts at each event.
Jerrod can’t wait to see the person who wears the T-shirt with the number 100,000 on the back.
His teens’ dreams will be reality then.
Sometimes dreams seem too big. Build an orphanage in Haiti? Impossible. Right?
Not if you do it one T-shirt at a time, giving Jesus the chance to take the small things and impact a multitude.
Debbie says:
Wow. That’s fascinating. I look forward to visiting the site tomorrow. Thanks for sharing this ministry, Suzie.
Debbie
Lynn Cowell says:
Suzie, I LOVE stories about teen’s who change their world. I have a friend named Jordan was a sophomore at Eastern Carolina this past year who personally brought a little boy over from Russia for the summer to give him a chance at life away from his orphanage. It is a terrific story! (I’ll email you the whole thing). Keep sharing the great news…teens rock!
Debbie says:
Where’s the link?
T. Suzanne Eller says:
Sorry, Debbie. I’m waiting for the youth pastor to respond with the correct URL. The one I had isn’t working, but I’ll post it as soon as I can, along with an update!