"Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." (Romans 12:2).

Activate youth camp 2016. This week long church camp was, hands-down, the best week of my entire summer. I get to serve as a youth leader for our amazing teenagers at Discovery Church in Weymouth, MA. Activate is our week long camp during which we get to help the community through different service projects everyday, go on trips to new locations everyday like Starland, and praise our Lord Jesus every night through worship and a message from a guest speaker. While this may not sound like much to some people, It meant the world to me that I was able to be there and bond with these amazing teenagers throughout the week.

This year we focused on the verse from Romans shown above. Our speakers talked about the influence that each and everyone of us has in this world, especially teenagers. We all have the power to make a difference in someone else's life and make a positive impact on the world. Although I was there for the teens, I was able to take away a significant lesson from this week. I wish I had known the weight of my influence as a teenager in middle school and high school. I may have treated people differently, been more intentional about relationships with other people, and tried harder in my relationship God. What I am thankful for, however, is that I get the chance to use this new found influence on the teenagers in this youth group. Not only do I get to use my influence on them, but they use theirs on me every time I am with them. My life has changed since becoming a youth leader and it all started with Activate.

We, as youth leaders, were planning Activate for months before it actually happened. Despite the amount of meetings, conversations, and plannings that went into it, however, I could never have been prepared for the intense weight of the emotional week we went through. Don't worry; that's a good thing. Throughout the course of the week, I felt every emotion in the book. I was happy, sad, excited, angry, anxious, overjoyed, and sometimes all of these happened at once. Despite the times that I may have wanted to walk away or the times that I felt like there was no getting through to them, they always proved me wrong. There would be times when I thought they didn't want to be there or times that I thought that they weren't getting anything from the message or the worship, but then I would see this:

Teenagers worshiping Jesus, not because they have to, but because they want to. As a youth leader, this means so much more to me than any bible verse they have memorized or any Christian t-shirt they could wear. This shows me that they are at least grasping what is being taught and it shows that in that moment they don't care what others think of them, they only care about the moments they are having with God.

Jake (14 years old), lost in worshiping his Savior. Photo taken by Simone Ferriera.

After Activate 2016, I will never again doubt the influence of a teenager. I encourage anyone reading this to do the same. Teenagers don't have a very good reputation anymore. Most people think that they should be seen rather than heard. That mentality is what is causing teens to fall in to the stereotype of "just another rowdy teenager." So the next time you see a teenager getting into trouble, think about what they may be going through. Think about the expectations that are being put on them that are just too high for them to reach. Or the lack of expectations because others think they aren't good for anything. The next time you see a teenager doing something good, doing something meaningful, doing something out of the ordinary, I encourage you to commend them for it. Take another look and the pictures above. Not every teenager wants to be disruptive or rude and given the guidance and the chance, they will not conform to the patterns of this world.