Stillwater Youth Center • Testimonial

I started attending SYC as a 5th grader and was immediately drawn in when a friend brought me along. I had always been a huge fan of the high school groups, dramas, skits and I was really excited to be a part of that. The atmosphere of Bob's garage was awesome – laid back, comfortable, fun. It was the perfect hang out.

SYC was where I first felt like I could really be myself and where God started revealing some huge things to me about myself. What I was made for, what I was truly interested in. Through SYC, God showed me that I was a leader, a teacher, a minister, a musician, a dancer, an actor, an and that I was supposed to use those gifts for Him. SYC taught me to use all of my talents for God and spurred me on to do so.

Through SYC, my faith became real for the first time and created a solid foundation within me. Without SYC, I could see myself going down a very wrong path and ending up in very bad places. SYC was an encouragement, a faith boost, a teacher, a friend, and so much more. I discovered who I was in Christ and learned what a huge part of my life Christ really was. Without the encouragement and support friends and leaders at SYC gave me, I may not have even been alive today and that is no understatement.

The teaching was true and real and made me want to be closer to God and love people more. SYC was a huge blessing to me and that is why I went back week after week, sometimes more than once a week. I always wanted to be at SYC. It was a place where I could feel safe and comfortable and close to God. It may not be something many people think about, but for a teenager, a place where they can feel safe, secure, accepted, and not judged by their appearance or what they say is a huge thing. Encouragement goes a long way, and SYC encouraged me to use my gifts and to discover who I was in Christ. Without the youth center, I would have been lost and because of them, Christ found me and I found Him.

SYC exists to encourage kids and to raise men and women of God. I have watched children stumble and fall and I have watched my friends fall away from Christ in the midst of turmoil. SYC is a constant • a place where kids of all ages can just be kids and be accepted. Something every child needs. SYC not only teaches people to trust in God, it also teaches people to find out who they are in Christ and who they are made to be. Supporting SYC is an investment is people's futures. This is a place where the rejected, the depressed, the hurting, the lost, the searching, the down-and-out can come and find hope – the true hope offered through Jesus Christ.

The world has changed and kids are being attacked at every turn. They need a place like SYC. It gives focus in an unfocused world and it also gives a truth in a world where truth is fading. Kids need support and encouragement and that is what SYC has to offer on top of everything else that they do. I’m not trying to downplay SYC's ministry at all, because building children is what SYC does. Investing in lives and changing lives is what SYC does. If you support SYC, you are saving lives. My life has been a testament to that physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

Michael Mandeville