‘Teenagers today are ready to help the world’

It seems Don McLaughlin, minister of the North Atlanta Church of Christ in Georgia, is at it again, inspiring young people to action.
The Christian Chronicle reported in the May print edition on the 1.5 million blessings that sprung from a summer 2008 presentation to teenagers that McLaughlin gave at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn.

A student attending Uplift, a summer camp hosted at Harding University each year, visits with seniors at Harding Place in Searcy as part of a community-wide outreach effort. (Photo by Tish Elrod)

Flash forward two years to McLaughlin’s lesson Sunday at Uplift at Harding University in Searcy, Ark.
Teenagers who heard the minister speak on finding ways to serve their communities were not satisfied just to listen. More than 200 students began to coordinate an effort to serve Searcy and their own hometowns.
A new release from Harding describes it this way:

By Thursday, the plans were complete, and the students gave up their afternoon free time to travel across Searcy and serve local residents.

Ten youth groups from several different states participated in a range of activities, including playing with children at day cares, praying with people at Wal-Mart, handing out water and Popsicles to workers across town, picking up trash at Berry Hill Park, bringing coloring books and crayons to children in the hospital and singing and praying over several areas of Searcy.

“They’re thinking outside the box when it comes to listening to sermons. They’re thinking about what they can do,” said Chase Froud, youth group leader at West Ridge Church of Christ in Pocahantas, Ark. “Teenagers today are ready to help the world.”

Many youth groups who participated in the service on Thursday will implement these same service projects in their hometowns, including the youth groups of West 7th Street Church of Christ of Columbia, Tenn.; Decatur Church of Christ of Decatur, Texas; Campbell Street Church of Christ of Jackson, Tenn.; West Ridge Church of Christ of Pocahontas, Ark.; Friendship Church of Christ of Olive Branch, Miss.; Eastridge Church of Christ of Rockwall, Texas; College Avenue Church of Christ of El Dorado, Ark.; Lascassas Church of Christ of Lascassas, Tenn.; Northside Church of Christ of Augusta, Ark.; and Enterprise Boulevard Church of Christ of Lake Charles, La.
Uplift is a youth summer camp at Harding University for students going into the seventh grade up to students entering their freshman year of college.