Empowering Youth: Making a Difference in Faith

In this sermon, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jade, a student from our San Mateo campus. Jade shared her experiences participating in our middle school program and serving in the nursery at the San Mateo campus. She expressed her joy in being able to make a difference in the lives of the children she cares for, teaching them about God and sharing stories from the Bible. Jade's commitment to serving the next generation is truly inspiring, and her story is a testament to the impact that young people can have in our church community.

In the second part of the sermon, Jade shared more about her personal life, including her love for math and her journey to Menlo Church. She spoke about her initial shyness when she first started attending our church, but how she was quickly made to feel welcome. Jade also shared her experiences in the sixth through eighth-grade program, where she enjoys the fun games and the stories shared by the preachers. Her story is a wonderful example of how our church community can provide a nurturing and welcoming environment for young people to grow in their faith.

Key Takeaways:
1. Young people can make a significant impact in the church community through service. (source link: [05:38 ])
2. Teaching the next generation about God and the Bible is a rewarding experience. (source link: [06:14 ])
3. The church community can provide a nurturing and welcoming environment for young people to grow in their faith. (source link: [04:30 ])
4. Sharing personal stories can help to create a deeper connection within the church community. (source link: [05:01 ])
5. Challenges, like math for Jade, can be rewarding when they lead to solutions. This can be a metaphor for overcoming spiritual challenges as well. (source link: [03:23 ])

This sermon does not provide any specific Bible passages for a Bible study guide.

Hey everybody, Mark here. Thanks so much for joining us for this Meno Moments edition of the Meno Midweek Podcast.

Meno Moments are where we get to showcase different stories of people's lives and how they have impacted Menlo Church, and how Menlo has played a part in their lives as well. One of the blessings that we have is getting to talk to a lot of different people from different campuses and different life stages.

So for this week, it's a little bit of a shorter episode, and it features Jade, a student at our San Mateo campus. She's being interviewed by Missy, one of the directors for NextGen here at Menlo Church. This interview was awesome because it features how not only Jade has participated in this middle school program that they have there, but also has been serving alongside all of the adults at the San Mateo campus in the nursery, taking care of the next generation.

For her, it was a fun time in the room, and we're hoping that this fun translates to you as well. Again, we're going to be releasing these all throughout our "In Your Lifetime" series. What that means is that once a week, we'll be releasing these stories, whether it's Jade this weekend or Margaret and Tony, our 90 and 92-year-olds that we interviewed from the Saratoga campus, and everyone in between.

So it's going to be a lot of fun, lots of great lessons to learn, and lots of wisdom in what our people are saying here, whether she is Jade or Margaret and Tony, the 90 and 92-year-olds. This will be a really fun listen. We hope that you enjoy it.

We'd love to encourage you as well to get on to a campus if you can, as we are journeying together in the "In Your Lifetime" series. We hope that this is causing you to pause, to examine your own life, and see where is God working, where has God been moving, and how we can all learn to leave a lasting legacy that honors Christ.

Enjoy this week's podcast, and you can text us if you have any questions or if you'd like to text Jade some encouragement. I can pass that along to her. Text our team at 650-600-042. Thanks so much for joining, and now let's get into the Meno Moments edition featuring Jade and Missy.

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Hi!

Hi, my name is Jade.

Hi, my name is Jade, and this is my Meno Moment.

Jade, I'm so glad to hang out with you! Tell me all about yourself. Where do you go to school, what grade are you in, and what's your favorite color?

Um, I go to San Carlos Charter. I'm in seventh grade, and my favorite animal is a bunny.

A bunny? Which kind?

The one different kinds of bunnies, yeah. Have you seen the floppy-eared ones that are like really hairy? That's my favorite.

That's your favorite?

That's my favorite too! I used to have one of those black and white ones though that had the ears that stood straight up. Her name is Princess, and she pooped everywhere. It was great.

Are you a dog person or a cat person?

Dog.

Dog person, but you still like cats?

Yeah, okay, kind of. Not really.

Not really? It's a divisive topic. Okay, so dog person, but favorite number one animal: bunny. Got it. And then favorite color?

Purple.

Purple girl! Although you're kind of in a periwinkle shade today. Looks good! I like it. Matches the shoes. Very nice.

Um, do you have a favorite subject in school?

I like math. Number one above everything else.

Is there a close second?

Not even math, is it?

Why do you like math?

I like how it challenges me, and there's always a solution.

Oh, I like that too! You know if you got it right or wrong, huh? So good.

And let's see, when did you first start coming to Menlo?

Um, well, we used to go to this church in Redwood City for a long time, but during COVID, we decided to explore different churches, and we found ourselves at Menlo. It's the San Mateo campus, um, from a recommendation from my little brother's friend.

Your little brother's friend invited your brother and you, or did you come like family?

The whole fam, yeah. That's a good friend!

Oh my goodness! Do you remember what it was like when you first started coming?

Um, well, I remember walking in and being kind of shy at first, but I remember like this one lady came instantly up to me, and she was really nice and like toured me around and showed me everything.

Oh my gosh, that's so nice! And then you got to go to the kids' program, right?

Yeah! What was that like?

Um, I only got two weeks of it before I graduated to sixth grade. Just a little taste, but it was really fun.

Yeah, such a good time, huh? Okay, and then what do you think of the students or the sixth through eighth grade program?

Oh yeah, MSM?

Yeah.

Mm, it's really fun!

Yeah, you love it?

Yeah! We play fun games, and the preachers are all really nice. I love how they always share a funny story from their childhood. Some of them are so embarrassing! I'm like, I can't believe you shared that. That was great!

So good! And then, um, you also serve at Menlo, right? What do you do at Menlo?

Um, I serve in the nursery, the two to threes. That's like my favorite age group 'cause they're really cute and like sitting on my lap. I really like teaching them about God and just like dancing and singing songs with them.

Oh, do you have any songs? What are the songs that you get to sing?

Just usually like "Jesus Loves Me" and stuff. Classic!

Um, yeah, those are so good! Wait, how did you start? Like, how did you start getting involved in the nursery?

Um, well, I just like saw people, like students like me, serve, and I was like, I wonder if I can do that, right?

Um, so I found Mark. He's now the pastor, I think.

Mark Kim?

Yeah, oh yeah! Um, and he like welcomed me. Um, and so yeah, now I'm volunteering.

And you were like, what does it take to get into that classroom? What does it take? Do you just talk to him and that's it, and then you get to go in?

No, I had to go through like the training course and like tests and stuff.

Whoa! Good thing you're such a good student!

Uh, what do you like about hanging out with the twos and threes? I know you said like cuddles.

Yeah! Um, well, I'm the oldest granddaughter from both sides of my family, so I'm always used to like taking care of my cousins and stuff. So I really wanted to do that through church also. I just love that we get to teach them at such a young age, and I just really hope that all of the kids, um, like still love God when they're older.

Mhm, that's so good! Especially when they're that young, and then you're like, oh please still come hang out even when you're in middle school or beyond.

Yeah, that's so awesome! Is there anything else that keeps you serving or keeps you coming back to hang out with them?

Um, well, just the fact that like whenever I walk into the door, um, I just know that I'm making a difference in these kids' lives. Um, just like teaching them how to learn about God and teaching them like all the stories from the Bible.

Yeah, that's my favorite!

That's so good! Do they recognize you?

They do, yeah! I have two little girls that just love me and see me every week.

Are they super stoked when you walk through the door?

Yeah!

Yeah, that's so good! So cute!

Okay, so let's see, what else is there maybe that you've experienced or that you've gotten to see that has just been like a wow moment? Like best day of my life or like so cool? Like anything that...

Um, just like watching some of the kids grow up. Um, 'cause I started serving over a year ago. I actually looked at my calendar and saw that...

Oh my gosh! Happy server's anniversary! A year and a little bit!

Oh my gosh! Okay, so then a year. Um, just like watching them grow up. I remember this little girl that used to be in my class, and now she's like all the way in kindergarten.

Oh my gosh! So old!

Yeah! So does she remember you too?

She does still!

Is that amazing?

Oh my goodness! One of my nieces, she is probably nine now, but I took care of her when she was like a baby baby, like up until she was two. And she's kind of like not really friendly or like not really great at making friends. And so she, even with like a lot of my family members, is pretty like quiet or like standoffish. But she always remembers me, and I didn't even like take care of her like after two years old.

But it's such like an interesting time in their lives when they really do remember you, you know? She might remember you forever!

All the kids, that's so rad!

Oh well, God is just like really using you. It's amazing, and I'm so grateful that you keep serving and keep getting to go sing songs with them. I know that they, at that age too, they really look up to you and like love you with everything that they got, and um, are probably really grateful for you even without being able to say like thank you. So I'll say thank you for them!

Thank you so much for serving! I think that's kind of all of the questions. Did I forget anything?

No.

No? Do we do okay?

I think we did great!

Is there anything else you'd like to share? Fun facts? Interesting weird things about you that you want the people to know?

No.

For example, my right foot is a size 11 in shoes, which is interesting enough, but my left foot is a size 9 and a half. So I've got a one and a half...

What?

Yeah, are you serious? My foot, one of my feet is bigger than the other!

Which one is your right foot?

It's my left.

Okay, I had a theory that the right was always bigger.

It's like five inches bigger!

No way! That's way bigger!

Wait, no, not five inches, like two.

Much better! Much better!

Okay, well that's a good weird fact, and we have it in common. Amazing!

1. "I like how [math] challenges me and there's always a solution. You know if you got it right or wrong." - Jade, 03:23
2. "I remember walking in [to Menlow Church] and being kind of shy at first but I remember like this one lady like came instantly up to me and she was really nice and like toured me around and like showed me everything." - Jade, 04:30
3. "I serve in the nursery, the two to threes. That's like my favorite age group because they're really cute and like sitting on my lap and I really like teaching them about God and just like dancing and singing songs with them." - Jade, 05:01
4. "I think it's really important to serve because you're not just helping the kids, you're also helping the parents. And it's just really fun to see the kids grow and learn about God." - Jade, 05:38
5. "God is just like really using you. It's amazing and I'm so grateful that you keep serving and keep getting to go sing songs with them. I know that they, at that age too, they really look up to you and love you with everything that they got." - Missy, 09:01