school debt – The Lowedown

Not long ago, I was on a Zoom call with Edgar (not his real name), a Young adult I’ve had interactions with for the last couple of years.

Edgar was frustrated as things weren’t going the way he had planned. Already in his late 20’s, Edgar was still trying to figure out what his ultimate career would be. One option he was contemplating was grad school, the idea being that it would potentially set him up for a specific job/career he was interested in. But he wasn’t sure he wanted to spend more money on education given how much he had spent on his undergraduate degree and how little he had to show for it.

Many Young Adults are frustrated and disillusioned. Photo by Road Trip with Raj on Unsplash

Edgar was disillusioned. He told me that he felt like he had been sold a bill of goods. Education was supposed to be the avenue to success and happiness and yet, with mounting school loans and no solid, long-term career prospects, Edgar realized that his degree was not the golden ticket he had been promised.

Edgar is not alone. Today’s Young Adults are disillusioned about a lot of things. They are disillusioned about the economy and the “American Dream”. Especially here in California, many of the Young Adults we encounter have no expectation of ever being able to own a home.

They’re disillusioned with the world. They see inequity and injustice and they struggle to make sense of it all.

And many Young Adults are disillusioned with the Church, failing to see its relevance to modern culture.

Our culture is drifting further from its historic Christian roots and each new generation is experiencing less and less influence from traditional Christian teachings and morals.

Young Adults today have grown up in a post-Christian culture, meaning they know very little about who Jesus is or what Christianity is about. Spiritually, they are a blank slate.

Young Adults are increasingly irreligious in their views. Photo by Mitchel Lensink on Unsplash

About 1/3 of Young adults identify as atheist, agnostic or none. They’re not necessarily hostile to Christianity or religion, but they simply have no religious beliefs – it’s simply not important to them.

About 2/3 of Young adults identify as Christian but only 4% have a Christian ethic. Simply put, they consider themselves Christians but their lives don’t necessarily follow traditional Christian moral values.

This is not surprising since only about 6 out of every 10 Young adults believe the Bible is true.

Our culture has been heavily impacted and influenced by postmodernism, which is a philosophy that emphasizes a person’s personal experience as the supreme factor in determining truth. The end result is people who may identify with the Christian faith in a general sense but when it comes to moral values, their own experiences and preferences take priority over any biblical standards, which may be regarded as archaic and outdated.

How do we minister to people who are disillusioned and feeling hopeless when faced with the realities of life?

One of our strategies and priorities is to help Young Adults see that God is ultimately our only source of hope and His Word provides guidelines for successfully navigating life.

One of the ways we’re accomplishing this is by providing premarital mentoring to young Adult couples who are preparing for marriage.

With so much brokenness in families and marriage today, we’ve found Young Adults are eager to hear how biblical principles can help them change the trajectory of their relationships and family history by providing guidance and direction for fulfilling and life-long marriages.

Dave led a group of Young adults through a 9 month curriculum on Biblical Stewardship and Money Management

Another avenue for helping Young Adults see the value of God’s Word in their daily lives is by helping them adopt biblical principles for stewardship and money management. Unfortunately, our consumer and debt-oriented culture doesn’t teach Young adults how to handle money responsibly and many Young adults cite finances as a major source of stress and anxiety in their lives.

Young adults are looking for alternative solutions to experience financial security and experience prosperity. Many are surprised yet excited to learn that the Bible provides incredibly sound advice and wisdom on how to handle money and honor God through our finances and by applying biblical principles to our financial situations, we can experience financial peace.

Ministering to a generation that has become further removed from any biblical foundation is certainly challenging. But the Lord continues to move, directing us to Young Adults who are eager to know God and follow Him.

Thank you for your partnership that allows us to help Young adults begin to experience real spiritual life as they learn to apply God’s word to their lives.

A few years ago, I listed a used laptop on Craigslist. I got an email from a guy named Hugo and I drove to a Starbucks near him to show him the computer.

A few minutes later a guy comes cruising by on rollerblades, and it turns out, it’s Hugo!

Hugo and I are connected on various social media platforms. Hugo is an active guy, who, in addition to roller-blading, loves the outdoors.

We sat down and chatted for a few minutes and I learned that Hugo was a UCLA grad who knew some of the same people I knew who had been involved with Cru and Destino at UCLA.

Hugo ended up buying my computer and he and I kept in touch as he would occasionally contact me with computer related questions.

About a year ago, Hugo contacted me again because he had an issue with the computer I had sold him a few years back. We met up and I helped him fix his computer issue.

We were connected on Facebook and I would occasionally see Hugo’s posts about life. In a lot of ways, Hugo represents the typical Young Professional to whom we minister. He loves God and he’s passionate about the underprivileged and less fortunate.

After college, Hugo had to deal with school loans (and is now debt free!) yet hasn’t found his sweet spot professionally. Hugo has struggled to figure out exactly how he can best serve God and fulfill his life mission. He’s not quite sure what His unique calling is or how he can best leverage his talents, experience and passion into a life of purpose and meaning.

When we met up a year ago, I shared with Hugo about our ministry to Young Professionals and some of the specific opportunities we offer, but nothing concrete really materialized.

A few months ago, Hugo contacted me again. His computer had died and I later learned that he was nearing completion of his grad school application and everything he had worked on, including his personal statement, resume, letters of reference and the application itself were irretrievably lost. It was a moment of panic and anxiety as the application deadline was quickly approaching.

Hugo needed a computer fast in order to finish the application on time and he later told me that he decided to reach out to me as a “Hail Mary” attempt at locating an inexpensive computer. It just so happened that I had just listed each of the twins’ old MacBooks (the same model that just crashed for Hugo) on Craigslist. When I told Hugo about the laptops I had listed, he said it gave him a glimmer of hope that this incredibly stressful situation he found himself in might actually work itself out.

When we met up for the exchange, Hugo said, “a year ago, you were telling me about some opportunities you have for Young Professionals and I wanted to hear about those again if they’re still available.”

I was smiling inside because I had been wondering if I should mention to him again about my role in helping Young Professionals.

On Strava, I often see Hugo hiking, cycling and enjoying God’s amazing creation with friends!

Hugo and I have now met a few times for coaching and our conversations have been really encouraging.

Hugo has been very appreciative of the opportunity to connect, learn and grow. I’ve appreciated Hugo’s vulnerability and genuine willingness to allow me to come alongside him as he continues in his professional and spiritual journey.

If you think about it, please pray for Hugo. He’s been accepted into USC’s graduate program on Public Policy but is weighing whether the cost of the program will be worth the benefits the program will provide.

This is a common issue with Young Professionals as they navigate and deal with the high cost of higher education relative to the advantages and opportunities that education provides in our current environment.

I’m continually amazed at the many ways God orchestrates circumstances in order to fulfill His greater purposes in our lives. I love how even random events and situations, like selling an item on Craigslist, can lead to an on-going relationship and meaningful connection!