This story was submitted by coalition member John Shadowens...
I taught Sunday School for high schoolers for several years. One year I had a pretty large class of about 35 students. I knew most of them pretty well, but there was this one kid who always came in and sat with his head down on his arms. Week after week he just sat there staring blankly. No participation, no conversation--just a stare or a vacant expression.
A few weeks into the new school year I noticed that this guy was making it a point to move a chair or two closer to me every week. Before long he was hanging around after class. Quiet as ever. But he was there every week. I tried talking to him on a few occassions. I mostly got eye-rolling and grunts in return. One day he was hanging around and asked if I could give him a ride home after church. In the car he finally opened up. He talked about his father who was in prison. He talked about the non-stop bullying he got at school. And he talked about how often he thought of killing himself.
At the time I was also running a small group for about 8 high school boys on Wednesday nights. I invited him to come along. At first I was worried that the boys wouldn't accept him. But they did. In fact, these guys were awesome. They took the initiative to invite him along to movies and hang out with him. During a group chat session one night it came out that D-Dogg (I nickname everyone I care about) was spending up to nine hours every day playing video games and watching TV. The boys decided to challenge D-Dogg to give up his TV for Lent. Of course, D-Dogg wasn't that excited about it, but that night after group, the rest of the fellas went to his house, unplugged his video console, disconnected the cable box in his room and confiscated his games. They told him that they would keep them for 30 days and then he could have them back. During that month they made a special effort to call and visit D-Dogg to keep him busy and support him. I thought this kid would explode. But he didn't. After the 30 days were up, D-Dogg gave away his television and all of his video games! By now he was craving relationship instead of mindless entertainment.
About this time, I set about trying to connect D-Dogg to as many adult male role models as I could find. I'm happy to say that many responded and he was invited along to various events including a road trip to a Promise Keepers rally. Other guys involved him in work and ministry projects through the church. The real turning point for D-Dogg came in 2006 when he was invited along on a summer mission trip. On this trip D-Dogg was assigned a speaking part in a VBS skit. Here we are in Los Angeles and D-Dogg who is petrified of even making eye contact is now front and center playing a key role in a play in front of dozens of little kids from the inner-city! Oh, how he struggled. He fumbled the lines, mumbled throughout and generally gave a pretty weak performance. But the little kids loved him! They wanted to sit at his table at lunch. They wanted him to join in the games on their teams in the afternoon. D-Dogg was a rock star to these little ones!
After that D-Dogg began showing steadyimprovement. To fast forward a few years, he is now a part-time janitor at the church. He attends a local college. He volunteers his time with the elderly congregation members, drives the church bus for the youth group and is helping out with summer Bible camps.
What a transformation!! All because people responded with support and compassion. Is there a D-Dogg in your life? The kid who is just sliding by unnoticed? Someone who feels like the doormat to the whole world? Do you have an opportunity to reach out there and build a relationship? I encourage you to. Don't wait for someone else to get involved. This person is on your mind for a reason. If I would have hesitated I shudder to think of what might have happened to D-Dogg. When I look at him now, I see a life changed and redeemed. A person who is investing in others because others invested in him. I am so proud of him! This is how we change the world -- one D-Dogg at a time.