Finding Faith

by Anthony Lampe

  The next day, Andrew walked down the hallway with a stack of papers in his hand. Students were busy around him at their lockers, walking to their next class, and socializing. As he approached the bulletin board, he held out one flyer and stapled it up.

  He quickly walked away from the board to head to the next one. Andrew glanced back to see if any students had seen what he had put up yet. But, everyone was too busy to notice. As he reached his next destination, he posted up another flyer. This time, as he started to turn away from it, he saw a random student stop to read it.

  “The Purity Club?” the guy muttered before laughing and walking away.

  Andrew ignored the student and continued to place the flyers on his route to his next class. When his class began, he was just thinking of how excited and nervous he was to be starting the Purity Club. He knew there would be mixed reactions from his classmates, but he was doing this for God.

  After that class ended, he spent more time posting flyers up on a different floor of the school. He took a break for lunch, which he spent with Angela, but afterwards, he was back to distributing the flyers throughout the building.

  During the next few days at school, Andrew smiled every time he passed by one of his flyers. He was proud to be creating a club and wanted nothing less than to inspire more students to value purity in their lives.

  At the end of the week, the final bell rang and Andrew rushed off to the classroom where his first club meeting was going to be held. He posted a sign on the door that said the club’s name and had an arrow pointing to inside the room.

  Then, as he stood there in the empty classroom, he waited. In less than half an hour the meeting would begin, but after ten minutes passed, no one had shown up yet.

  They’re probably just going to come at the last minute, Andrew thought as he tried to reassure himself.

  Andrew finally decided to stand at the door to welcome people inside, and it was about two minutes after the meeting was supposed to have begun that his counselor arrived.

  “Sorry,” Counselor Robertson said as he quickened his pace. “I hope I’m not holding up the meeting.”

  Andrew motioned towards the empty room and sighed, “No problem there.”

  Robertson gave him a comforting smile. “There’s still some time left.”

  “I guess so.”

  Robertson walked inside the classroom and took a seat in the far back. When Andrew heard footsteps from the hall, he looked out from the doorway.

  “Hello,” a younger teenage boy said timidly while approaching him. “Is this the Purity Club?”

  “Yes, it is!” Andrew gave the boy a big smile and guided him to a chair. “Please, take a seat.”

  As the boy sat down, Andrew noticed a few more students in the hallway heading his direction. He greeted them excitedly and they soon went inside the classroom. Andrew waited for more people, but none came. When he realized that it was already ten minutes after the meeting should have begun, Andrew closed the door.

  Andrew walked over to the podium and looked out at the four students seated in front of him and his counselor at the back of the room. He then began to read from the speech he prepared.

  “Thank you all for coming today,” Andrew said nervously. Robertson caught Andrew’s eye and nodded encouragingly. Andrew took a deep breath and continued, “As you know, it’s not easy being a Catholic, Christian, or just an ordinary teenager in today’s society. There are many things that teens struggle with or may face each and every day such as addictions, depression and changing relationships. The Purity Club is a place where we can come together to discuss our hardships and struggles, and where we can support and encourage each other. I would like all of you to know that God loves you and that if we strive for purity in all aspects of our lives, we can remove the obstacles between us and God such as temptations, and we can truly become closer to God.”

  Andrew paused and looked out at his classmates. Many of them seemed a little uncomfortable, and perhaps unsure if they belonged there. He was thankful that they had shown up, and he was ready to connect with them.

  “I would now like to share my testimony with all of you.”

  When he peered at the students once more, he noticed that one of them had their smartphone held up and they looked like they were watching something on the screen. Andrew bit his tongue, even as he felt himself redden in embarrassment and anger. Do they all think this is just a big joke? God, please let my testimony touch them somehow.

  “I am Andrew Jensen and this is my testimony.” He spoke at a higher than normal volume hoping to catch their attention completely. “Before I came here, my parents had died in car accident that I witnessed. It was not easy to handle the feelings of guilt, regret, and sadness. When I transferred to this school, I wanted to get over what had happened and overcome my loneliness, but I joined the wrong crowd and went down the wrong path. The music I listened to and the movies I watched affected me in more ways that I could have possibly imagined. In the beginning I made excuses for what I was doing. But the problem is, when you begin making exceptions for the ‘little sins’ it just makes it easier and easier to sin. I began to curse and to speak poorly about women. I gave in to peer pressure, trespassed on private property, and I nearly vandalized it along with my friends. I thought God had abandoned me, so I turned my back on Him. I didn’t realize it, but I was losing the dearest person in the world to me because of my selfishness. I soon hit the lowest point in my life and I had to make a choice to either change my life around or to keep living like I was and lose everything.”

  Andrew stopped reading from the paper and started speaking directly from his heart. “God gave me a second chance. He had been with me the whole time and I had just never accepted it. I wasn’t sure that I had the strength to change, to become the person God was calling me to be, but God gave me the strength, love, and hope that I needed. I no longer hung out with those that I thought were my friends, or listened to trashy music or watched offensive movies. I decided to go to church again, and to Confession. I admitted to God what I had done wrong, and He forgave me. He renewed my conscience and allowed me to see life through new eyes. I now realize that God calls us to embrace our faith, and to guard our eyes, ears, and hearts from sinful things; to seek purity in all aspects of our lives because He wants us to be able to make the right decisions in life, to become the best versions of ourselves, and to be able to love one another as He loves us. Thank you for listening to my testimony and God bless you.”

  After a moment of silence, Counselor Robertson began to clap and a few of the students applauded as well. The guy with the smartphone put it away, and then Andrew asked, “Would anyone else like to give their testimony today?”

  When no one answered, Andrew then spoke briefly about the topics of purity that they would discuss at the future meetings. He concluded by saying, “Thank you all again for coming, and I hope to see you next week at the Purity Club.”

  After the students left, Counselor Robertson crossed the room and gave Andrew a half-hug. “I thought your testimony was really inspiring.”

  “Thank you, but I wish more students would have come. I don’t know if any of them actually cared or were really listening.”

  “It was just the first meeting,” his counselor said admonishing him slightly, “and now that those students know what the Purity Club is all about, they can tell their friends and peers. I’m sure more of your classmates will be here next week. Just stay positive, pray, and have faith.”

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