The Right Kind of Heroes.

We have heroes in society, culture and the church. We have witnessed large fast-growing churches that have an enormous personality of a pastor at the core and/or top of the church. And we have traditionally and currently been making these and other stage personalities the heroes of the faith. I recommend that we begin making heroes out of the right kind of people...people just like Zach Hunter. I want our church and every next generation church to be full of Zach Hunters.

September 2007
True Story: A Modern Day Abolitionist With Zach Hunter

Zach first heard about the plight of modern-day slaves three years ago. He realized slavery is not just some outdated thing found in history books, and he felt motivated to do something. At age 12, Zach launched a campaign called Loose Change to Loosen Chains to raise awareness and funds to help end slavery. Hundreds of groups are now furthering the campaign and students around the world consider themselves abolitionists.

I Have A Dream
My dream is that my generation would develop a love for the poor and the oppressed; that we'd serve them and in doing so would grow closer to God. God tells us who He's for and who He's against: He's always on the side of the poor, the orphan, the widow, the oppressed. When we get closer to the hurting people in the world, we get closer to the heart of God. Specifically, I hope that in my lifetime we will see the end of slavery. A big dream, but one I believe we can see happen.

Gathering Up Courage
In May 2006, I was given an opportunity to speak about modern-day slavery to nearly 15,000 people - one of the biggest crowds I'd ever seen, let alone spoken to! I previously struggled with an anxiety disorder in elementary school, and when I looked out on the crowd, some of those old fears came rushing back. But I knew I had the chance to let people know of the millions who are suffering around the world as slaves. I decided to take the stage, trusting God would give me courage. I explained the truth of slavery to thousands of people that night.

The courage I need to show is nothing compared to the courage of many others who face death and danger every day. Soldiers who put their lives on the line to defend their countries. Firefighters who enter burning buildings. And certainly, the courage required of every man, woman, and child in slavery who must wake up today and face their oppressors. Each of us faces situations in which we need to gather up our courage. When we do, it's as though the courage multiplies like yeast in dough, allowing us to be even more courageous the next time we're called upon.

Passion Awakened
My generation has been numbed to passion in many ways. We have been anesthetized by all of the stimulation in our culture. But I also hear in students a desire to wake up and feel something deeply - to be moved. It seems as though God is doing this as my generation comes face to face with some of the awful suffering occurring around the world. When I speak, I often meet students afterwards who are experiencing something new - passion. It's like a troubling in their spirits that I believe is the call of God to join Him in bringing relief to others. I'm confident that if they answer, they will experience the closeness to God that they dream of.

Taken from The Catalyst GroupZine Volume 3: Courageous in Calling, © 2007 by Catalyst and Thomas Nelson Publishers. Used by permission.

Zach Hunter is a 15-year-old abolitionist and author of Be the Change. Visit his website at http://www.lc2lc.com/.