The Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches has been improving the lives of at-risk children
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1546265
W hen was the last time you went on a trip that completely changed your life? Getting out of one's comfort zone and experiencing something new is a powerful opportunity. This is especially true for a teenager like Shalyn: on the cusp of adulthood, but only ever knowing life inside his own little bubble. This past summer, Shalyn traveled with the Youth Ranches Chaplain to Romania to minister to people in a poverty-stricken community. Shalyn worked with a local church to run Vacation Bible School for the kids and feed people in need. "I made, like, eight hundred sandwiches," Shalyn said with a laugh, "but the kids, they would run up to me every time. Their living situation was rough. They barely ate, barely slept. The mothers were out there working, trying to take care of their young ones. It's really difficult for them, and I'm still praying for them." Shalyn spent a lot of time simply being present for the community he met in Romania. He made sandwiches, gave out shoes to barefoot kids, and played games that needed no common language. When it was time for the gospel to be shared in their local church, Shalyn was surprised to be called on to speak! "They told me, 'Hey, go out and share something! Share your testimony!' " Shalyn recalled. "And I said, 'I'm not good with sermons.' " The ministry team encouraged Shalyn to meditate on what he could share with the congregation. He returned to the mission house to think, and was reminded of a jacket he wore displaying Acts 4:12: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." These simple, straightforward words from the Apostle Peter are the entirety of the gospel in one sentence. Shalyn had received countless compliments on the simplicity of his jacket's message, and those memories rushed back into his brain, and he began to write. Greetings from Greetings from the Mission Field the Mission Field 8 T H E R A N C H E R FA L L 2 0 2 6