Dear Moms & Dads,

Sometimes we look at the senior year as the year when our young people leave the nest and are no longer under our direction as moms and dads. I believe with all of my heart that young men and women should attend at least one year in an A/G college. After forty years of youth ministry and having preached this every year at every camp, and now working at one of our Bible colleges, I realize even more the value of one year at our Bible colleges. There is a statistic that says that 85% of young people who attend a major university or college, other than a Bible college, will step away from their faith for a time. One other statistic says after one year at one of our colleges, only 15% walk away from their faith.

As a parent raising two young people, that statistic stuck in my heart and I wasn’t going to raise them for twelve years and then cast them out without one more year of a statistic that helped me guarantee my son and daughter not walking away from their faith. Time has proved that to me through my own two children. And today I believe it more than ever, that if our young people attend one of our colleges, they will be released in a structure that still has some boundaries.

The chapel provides opportunities for seeking God’s directions. Chapel services are where visions are cast, opportunities are offered from every possibility around the world. For our young people to see their potential through God’s eyes, not their own. And should God want them in full-time ministry it is a perfect year to be confirmed. Yet if not, it’s a great year for them to know that their greatest challenge is to know what to do with their life. I believe there are men and women that miss that moment when God calls them and later in life realize they missed that opportunity. And yet one year at our Bible college offers them that opportunity to make that decision and distinction for their life. Should they not feel the call into full time ministry they are able to spread their wings. They can get the degree they need and will be an asset in a church and be a blessing to a pastor and be a blessing to the ministries. But as the statistics reveal, one more year after they graduate is so very valuable in securing them for the Kingdom.