How do you go about changing the world?

Can a small group of Sahuarita teenagers change their school?

Their community?

Their world?

Well, they’re giving it a shot.

The challenge was laid out Sunday at an advance rally for See You At The Pole, an international student-led event where kids gather around the flag pole at their schools to pray for the campus. It’s that simple.

See You At The Pole started in Texas in 1990, with a group of teens who believed they could make a difference. They did, because today (Sept. 23) millions of kids across the globe took their lead and gathered at the pole.

But that was the easy part.

One of the speakers at Sunday’s event, held at Sahuarita Lake Park, threw down the gauntlet and asked for more. He said, in effect, that the work isn’t done after the prayer ends. It’s just beginning.

Now, he said, is the time to put Jesus Christ first in their decisions and dealings with others — every time. At an age when fitting in means everything, God is asking them to be different.

It’s a narrow road, and walking it isn’t easy.

Sometimes it means breaking away from the comfort of the group and talking to somebody who needs a friend — maybe somebody you’d rather not be hanging out with.

Sometimes it means walking out of a movie or turning off music that’s trying to hijack your mind.

And sometimes it means saying no to things that hurt you, even if you can’t bear the thought of living without them.

I have one more challenge for these kids in Sahuarita, because living out your faith doesn’t get any easier with age: Pray for the adults in your life.

Your parents, your teachers, your leaders. Your coaches and mentors and neighbors. All the people who look like they have it together but who struggle inside, just like you.

All the people who, just like you, need to be surprised by what God can do through faith and obedience. And a lot of prayer.

— Dan Shearer