It’s hard to push shopping carts loaded with more than 100 turkeys through a grocery store without attracting attention. Hope’s youth know that from experience.
Every fall, Match-a-Turkey sends them shopping for turkeys for Shawnee Community Services. Inevitably, someone asks, “What are you going to do with all those turkeys?”
That gives our youth a natural opportunity to explain that they are helping provide food for local families. They are simply serving their neighbors, and when someone notices, they have an opportunity to share why they are there.
Serving Our Neighbors
Match-a-Turkey is just one way Hope’s youth serve throughout the year. This fall, they’ll also collect food door to door for Shawnee Community Services through Trick or Treat So Others Can Eat and help welcome families at Trunk or Treat.
What congregation members may not realize is that the youth help fund much of this service themselves. Proceeds from meals they serve during Advent and Lent support service and outreach projects, including Match-a-Turkey and Hope’s Easter Fair. Much of the money they raise goes right back to work serving others.
Preparing for the 2028 Youth Gathering
At the same time, they have a big opportunity ahead: the 2028 LCMS Youth Gathering.
For that, the youth are pursuing separate fundraising opportunities in the community. This fall, they will sack groceries at Hy-Vee, with the money designated specifically for youth attending the Gathering. Their goal is to help fund the trip without relying solely on congregational fundraisers.
Part of the Church Today
We sometimes speak of youth as the “future of the church.” But Hope’s youth are already part of its life and ministry today. They are learning to take responsibility, serve their neighbors, and speak naturally about why they serve.
Paul encouraged the younger Timothy, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).
They don’t have to wait until adulthood to serve faithfully or set an example. Sometimes it’s as simple as explaining why you’re pushing carts filled with 100+ turkeys through a grocery store: to spread hope to the hopeless and Christ’s light to the world.