rigged raffles?

*names have been changed in this story for the protection of students*

"This raffle is rigged!" came the jeers from the front row of freshmen boys. Mirrors were fogged-up, laughter filled the room, and one of the potentially most overlooked agenda items in a Young Life club (the raffle), seemed to carry great weight on this specific night. Just to be clear, no, we did not rig the raffle. There were simply enough high school students from Dexter at All-Area Club that it seemed they won every prize.

The most important of which, a free trip to Fall Weekend at the end of November.

Now, I had never seen Anthony before. Many of the Dexter guys in the room that night I had run into at some point with their leaders, but Anthony was new. So when our leader drew a club card for the winner of the free Fall Weekend trip, it seemed more than fitting that it was Anthony's name he read out.

His friends continued to poke at him saying, "see, now you HAVE to go." But the significance of this was not just in a group of friends who wanted Anthony to go to Timber Wolf Lake with them. I realized this when I called the phone number Anthony had written as his parent/guardian on this club card the next day.

As I talked to his aunt, I quickly became aware that the reason I hadn't seen Anthony before was that he is new to the area. His family just experienced a tragedy and he was moved to Dexter. His aunt told me on the phone, "I don't know fully what you all do [in Young Life], but I am desperate to get some positive adults in his life." She signed him up for the trip within 10 minutes of getting off the phone.

I have no idea what God has in store for Anthony, but I do know He is meeting Anthony in his pain and heartache, now through the care of a Young Life leader. And maybe, just maybe, in God's economy, that raffle was rigged.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4, NIV)

—  Jeff Prior, Co-Area Director