No I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth. My laptop recently crashed and it took awhile to get everything transferred over to my new one. I’ve joined the growing world of “I’m better than you” Mac users.  It feels like going on a date for the first time – everything is new and different and there is a big learning curve. Enough of that.

I’ve been putting off writing this eArticle for another week. Honestly, I was getting tired of always writing about the muck and mire of adolescent life. Yes, things are bad and yes, things are getting worse. But I think sometimes we make the assumption that since the culture is full of evil then so are our teens. It was helpful this past month to take a step back and see all the good things happening among teens.

I was recently talking with a youth pastor friend of mine, Chris. He was telling me about some recent trips with his students. Not a beach trip or ski trip. But a mission trip. Six to be accurate. Out of 200 students in his ministry over 80% ended going on a mission trip this summer. I’ve never heard of a group with this many students into missions. With that kind of numbers, these teens aren’t just doing trips – they’ve made missions a part of life. That’s something to celebrate.

I had the opportunity this summer to teach on a mission trip to New Orleans involving four churches from Memphis. Not only was it exciting to see four youth groups come together for a common cause, but I was able to see thousands of students from all over the country there to serve the people of New Orleans. One friend of mine, Jamin, a college student, decided to spend the whole Summer there loving displaced people by listening to their stories and gutting their homes. The amazing thing was he was not a novelty. Hundreds of similar hearted college students took the call to love the “least of these” and the forgotten poor in New Orleans. That’s something to celebrate.

Teens Service Growing More Than Adults

This past Monday must have been a slow news day in Iraq, the economy, the elections, etc. The NBC ran a story on volunteerism among college students. One of the few lasting societal changes resulting from 9/11 is the optimism of the future among college students. This isn’t just a good feeling about the future among college students. There is action behind it.

According to a new study by the Corporation for National and Community Service, college volunteerism has increased by 20 percent in the past four years. That’s more than double the growth of community service among adults. Think about this: 84 percent of today’s college students that are serving in the community were in high school when 9/11 occurred. Instead of becoming cynical, angry, or fearful like many of their adult counterparts, they respond with action that results in our communities becoming better places to live.

Robert Grimm, Jr., the CNCS Director of Research and Policy Development see 9/11 as a turning point for a generation similar to

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