A Cure for the Crisis of Hope

 

A Cure for the Crisis of Hope

 

Monday, August 08, 2022

By Joy Lucius

Reprinted from American Family Association

 

Charles Spurgeon, 19th-century British theologian, once observed, “A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.”

AFA and Truth for Youth (TFY) partner each August to put Bibles in the hands of today’s youth, many of whose lives are clearly “falling apart.”

Hopeless statistics

Suicide is the second highest cause of all teen deaths in America. More than 20% of teens confess to having serious thoughts of suicide, and 9% admit to having attempted suicide at least once.

Half of the nation’s teenagers concede to misusing drugs at least once, while 62% of high school seniors confess to drinking alcohol regularly. Additionally, there have been 119 school shootings in America since 2018, with 27 shootings in 2022 alone.

What is the solution to this crisis of hope among America’s youth?

It’s the same solution God shared more than 2,500 years ago with a young teenager named Jeremiah, a budding prophet whose world – like today’s U.S. culture – was plagued by moral and political turmoil: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11, ESV).

God still offers that same hope to today’s teens.

Yet, according to the American Bible Society’s 2022 State of the Bible Report, barely one-third of young people read the Bible three times or more per year. Of that 34%, only 9% are fully engaged in the Scriptures they read. The other 91% say the Bible has no daily impact on their lives.

Hope-filled Scriptures

These startling statistics are why AFA partners each year with Dr. Tim Todd of Revival Fires Ministries to get a Truth for Youth (TFY) Bible into the hands of every young person in America.

August 8-12, Todd will join the voices of American Family Radio to celebrate National Truth for Youth Week by offering a free TFY Bible to every teen willing to give it away to an unsaved student at their school.

This year marks the 22nd year of the partnership, during which more than 1.5 million Bibles have been given to American young people by their Christian peers.

The 2022 campaign goal is to give another 65,000 Bibles to 65,000 students. Countless school teachers see value in the campaign and express their gratitude. Kelli C., one public school teacher wrote, “I just want to say thank you for Truth for Youth Bibles. A youth group in our area was passing them out. … They went through the first hundred like water, and the kids that didn’t get a Bible were begging for one.”

The TFY Bible contains the entire New Testament (God’s Word translation) plus 100 pages of colorful, truth-filled comics. These comics outline the salvation plan and cover a variety of issues teens face, including purity, pornography, bullying, drug and alcohol abuse, homosexuality, and suicide.

Ultimately, the staff of AFA prays these hope-filled Bibles will be read over and over again until their pages are falling apart – and the lives of those 65,000 teens are not.

Students’ legal rights

The back cover of each TFY Bible displays a coy of “Students’ Legal rights on Public Campuses.” Provided by Liberty Counsel, students’ rights are outlined in 10 points, including the right to distribute Bibles on school campuses during non-instructional time.

Students may share this document with teachers, principals, and friends as they exercise their constitutional right to pass along the Bible.

Learn more at truthforyouth.com or call 800.722.4737.