“But you can count them on one hand, right?”

A few weeks ago I was invited to Washington D.C. to be a part of a summit Christian organizations involved in mentoring.  Thirty-one leaders from all across the country gathered together to discuss how to better mobilize and serve the Church.

I’ve been to enough of these types of meetings to look forward to 3 inevitable moments:

1. The moment a story is shared of a child’s life being changed.
2. The moment the group stops to pray of behalf of the children.
3. The moment I get to brag about Kids Hope USA churches.

The third moment came early in the day, during a brainstorming session on how to mobilize the church to mentor.  One Christian leader stated that churches won’t grab hold of the vision.  That all we can do is try to recruit a number of good volunteers from the church.

One of my least favorite statements, leading to one of my favorite opportunities.

“I’ve found the opposite to be true.  We work with churches passionate about developing a growing, sustainable, significant partnership with their local public school.”

Then the question. Holding up a few fingers, he asks, “But you can count them on one hand, right?”

And then, I got to share about you all.  The close to 1,000 Kids Hope USA churches across the country bringing hope and love to at-risk kids.  The nearly 15,000 church members meeting weekly with their mentee.  The nearly 15,000 prayer partners committed to supporting each match.  The churches big and small, old and new, from New York to Los Angeles, changing lives.

I wasn’t invited there because of what I had accomplished.  I wasn’t even really invited because of anything Kids Hope USA had accomplished.  I was invited because of what the Church has.  because of what the Church is.  Because of what the church can and will continue to accomplish.  Bringing hope and love to children in need. I was invited because of you.