In my years as a President of the Deer Park Presbyterian youth group, I have seen many wonderful things come to pass from an energetic group of kids through the dedicated guidance of Tim and Linda Ferguson, Frank Tangredi and Rev. John Underwood. I have seen teenagers giving up their Sunday nights to openly discuss the Bible and it's teachings for today's youth and how it can be best applied. Other activities include: gathering together in Hope for the Future's warehouse on Friday nights, putting away canned food items, or on Saturday, traveling with a packed food truck into New York City to distribute food among the homeless. each of these events help us find ways to make a difference. In addition there is the annual Thirty Hour Famine when we refrain from eating food for 30 hours in an attempt to understand the strife of many other children around the world enduring famine. Most importantly, I have found this youth group to be extraordinary in the way that it cultivated lifelong friendships, built leadership and confidence, as well as a strong sense of moral responsibility to both the global and local community.
Long before I entered the seventh grade and was eligible for full participation in the Deer Park Presbyterian Youth Group I remember following my dad along as he assisted Tim and Linda in their recreation of the difficulties the developing world faces in providing for their children in a reality of limited resources. This exercise, as was many of their other inventions was not only creative and innovative, but it allowed these suburban youth to relate to an experience that was so foreign to them in both concept and implementation. Despite my youth, I was welcomed and my interest in the group sustained. Upon officially joining, I found several of my closest friends. This group made a significant difference in my young life, providing a safe venue of friendship, fun and companionship. We all even grew to appreciate the adult guidance as much as our own counsel and found Tim, Linda, Frank and Pastor to be formidable friends and confidantes. With tireless energy, Tim and Linda would consistently work their social calendar and vacations around the youth group's events and their dedication to this organization has made it a pivotal experience for everyone that has been a part of it.
The Deer Park Presbyterian Youth Group has done more than just provide a social outlet for children; it has sincerely instilled a sense of civic duty and global consciousness. In our venerable adolescent years when it was most easy to lose ourselves in our own trivial issues, Tim and Linda forced into our reality a consideration of the greater issues of the world. We came into contact with the homeless we intended to feed, trying to inspire hope in the hopeless through encouragement of the love of God. We sponsored children around the world, in an attempt to learn and love them as peers that were simply less fortunate and desperately needed our assistance. We also grew to appreciate an open dialogue of the Bible and what it meant personally to each of us. It was a healthy forum for discussion on something that is often ambiguous and confusing for teenagers, especially as it pertained to our lives, in essence assisting us to grow with God instead of despite Him. My involvement with this youth group was a defining element of my personal development and I learned so much more than what could be listed on paper. I have found the meaning of sincere and genuine friendships, from both adults and my peers. I learned healthy competition and to strive for excellence making the most of my talents and what is available to all of us, as well as learning what I most valued and what was truly important.
Years later as I look back on the countless hours I spent down in that youth room, in the company of the people I met there, I know that when I have children I will adamantly support their involvement in such a group. I know that the dedication that Tim and Linda have shown to the Deer Park Presbyterian Youth Group is unique to them and their benevolent calling to work with children, but I would hope that many other adults, sensing the critical skills and lessons that this group has taught myself and my friends, would follow in their example, making this same great opportunity available to their own children in their own neighborhoods.
With love,
Davina
Editor's Note: Davina is a junior at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and continues to join our youth group events when home from school. She is particularly committed to serving the homeless on the streets of lower Manhatten with us when possible.
If you would like to respond to Davina, please write to TimFerguson@christianyouthgroup.org. Davina will be notified. She looks forward to hearing from you.