Little moments meant a lot in the life of a future youth minister.
By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle
ZAGREB, Croatia — To me, the young man preaching as a brother in Christ translates his English words into Croatian is still 8 years old.
He’s the little boy who traveled 1,100 miles in a white rental van with his home congregation — the Edmond Church of Christ in Oklahoma — to experience life in a tiny Mexican village.
That mission trip in spring 2002 was my son’s first.
“Brady is an intelligent, faithful boy devoted to God, but he’s grown up with instant messaging, microwave popcorn, handheld electronic games and 70-plus cable channels,” I wrote at the time. “I wanted him to see a different side of the world.”
Now, my firstborn child is 26 years old. He’s the youth minister for the Crestview Church of Christ in Waco, Texas. At this moment, he’s leading a team of 11 teens and six other adults (seven if you count me) who flew seven time zones around the globe to introduce Croatian children to Jesus.
Sitting here in a pew at the Kuslanova Church of Christ in a once-communist country, it’s easy to forget all the little moments that brought my little boy — Mary’s husband, 1-year-old Bennett’s father — to this point.
This column appears in the August edition of The Christian Chronicle.
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