SCC Youth Rush Students Visit 200,000 Homes

By Robert Koorenny

Photo by Robert Koorenny

Youth Rush students pray before a day of visiting neighborhoods.

Coming from four out of five SCC academies, both Pacific Union colleges and local churches, 40 young people set out from early June through mid-August for the experience of their lives during SCC’s growing annual Youth Rush program.

“Youth Rush was absolutely God blessed!” said Leah Partmann, who worked in the Lancaster-Simi Valley program. “I made amazing friends for life, and it was spiritually growing.”

“I thought I knew how to pray before I came to Youth Rush,” commented Pricilla Salazar, a student from Norwalk. “I learned what it means to really pray.”

One student from the Altadena program was sharing with a lady who wasn’t able to get any books. After working the next few homes, the lady chased them down and said “I don’t have any money, but tell me about Jesus.”

Angelica Perez, from the Baldwin Park Bilingual church, worked in Thousand Oaks. At one door, she noticed a Bible text on the door. Introducing herself as a Christian student, she showed the woman the first book. “I’m a Christian, too,” the woman interrupted, “but I don’t have any interest in buying from solicitors,” and began to close the door.

Angelica held out a copy of The Great Controversy. “Wait! We’re different,” she replied. Met with a startled and somewhat angry gaze, she began sharing how being in a Christian school had led her to give her life to Christ, and how the book that she held in her hand was of special significance. Then she proceeded to show the book, Left Behind or Sincerely Taken?

“I want this one!” the lady remarked. “You’ll never believe this, but my best friend’s nephew is Kirk Cameron, who played the main part in the ‘Left Behind’ movie, and I am friends with the author of the book series. I’m going to buy this for him!”

SCC Youth Rush 2010 Statistics

Students involved: 40
Approx. homes visited: 200,000
Pieces of literature distributed: 85,000 +
Donations received: $173,000+
Total provided for Christian education: $115,000+

Visit www.sccyouthrush.org for more stories, statistics and program information. Beginning Dec. 15, 2010, young adults age 16 and older can apply for the 2011 Youth Rush program.