Dear LEAD families and friends,
It is with a heavy heart that I write to inform you that Minnesota Family Council’s LEAD program has been discontinued due to budget constraints. It has been a privilege and an honor to participate in equipping the next generation of Christian leaders as the program director for LEAD, and I am grateful for each student I have been able to interact with in this role.
LEAD has been a valuable part of Minnesota Family Council’s ministry to families over the years, and on a personal level, has been an important part of my life since high school. It was a joy to be able to teach and lead in a program where I learned so much.
It saddens me that this chapter is over. I will miss the families, students, and volunteers who played such a crucial role in making this program possible and I will forever cherish the memories made with LEAD.
A few hours before students arrived at camp this summer, I shared the following quote from Charles Spurgeon with the LEAD crew:
“When Andrew went to find his brother, he little imagined how eminent Simon would become… Ah! dear friend, you little know the possibilities which are in you. You may but speak a word to a child, and in that child there may be slumbering a noble heart which shall stir the Christian church in years to come… Go thou and do likewise.”
Spurgeon was addressing a group of Sunday School teachers, but his observation holds true not just for our interactions with children, but teenagers and adults, as well. Andrew was faithful, and that faithfulness had incredible ripple effects.
It is humbling and awe-inspiring that God chooses to work through his people. In the almost nine years that I’ve been with this program, I’ve seen its ripple effects in the lives of the young men and women who have participated and the people they’ve influenced, and I believe that will continue as the students who have been equipped by LEAD invest in the lives of the people around them.
Every summer I have seen students grow in their relationship with the Lord, become more confident in their worldview, develop skills that they will carry with them into the rest of their lives, gain an understanding of the legislative process, and step out of their comfort zones and into leadership roles. The Lord, in his wisdom, uses moments and experiences in our lives to equip us and to further his kingdom, and I am hopeful that LEAD has been an instrument in his hand for his glory.
I am thankful for the years that this program had, for each student who has participated in LEAD, and for the sacrifices their families made to make their participation possible. This has been an incredible chapter.
Blessings,
Patience Griswold