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      Gen Xers Share
      Miission Statement & Vision

"If one were to judge today’s young adults by the images in the media, one would label them the "dis-" generation- disenchanted, dissatisfied, disenfranchised, disgruntled, disillusioned, discomfited, and disconnected...Most of them are not hiding in the desert paralyzed by the crushing sense of futurelessness but some are..."
-M. Cohen

My generation is dying. In just the past several weeks I have learned of suicides and sexual confusions. I constantly weep.

I myself am 25 and fit smack in the middle of the so called "Xers" or Thirteeners (we are the thirteenth generation to know the American nation). Edie Brickell says, "We are a generation swinging on a branch of a broken family tree, a massive group of people trying to answer questions with absolutely no framework."

I personally have been spared the broken family but I have been rudely awaken to this distress as I see others dealing. The ME generation (our parents) used their nurture and most of what they had on themselves and justified this by saying that they were giving their children independence so that they would be preparing us for life. To a lot of gen xers this has only brought about confusion and a since of lovelessness.

In 1993, the Bureau of census projected that 4 out of 10 first marriages would end in divorce. The number of divorces began to soar in the mid-60's and has declined only slightly since peaking at a little over 1.2 million in 1981. It is interesting that these years are almost identical to the time span that the Xers were born.

We have the lowest job skills of any recent group of Americans. We are the product of more divorces and have a higher percentage in prison than any other generation before us. We also are the first generation forced to deal with the full-blown AIDS epidemic. Is there still an American Dream left out there for us?

Recently I asked one of my new friends what her hopes and dreams were. She looked at me with a pause, and then continued to say that she had no dreams or hopes but she did remember having some at one point in her life but she couldn’t remember what they were.

If the older generations were to judge us by appearance they would be very likely to assume that we are far from God. These body-pierced, tattooed buyers of hair dye sure look like their spiritual scorecards would be ranging in negative numbers, causing people to question what’s really going on in the hearts and souls. However, this is not always the case.

At Cornerstone 2001 I went to a group a seminars entitled, "Equipping us for reaching out to the marginalized youth cultures." 

The first day Robert Goodwin, the lead singer for the band "Headnoise" and member of the JesusPeople spoke. His arms were covered in tattoos, dressed in black, and he had a Mohawk, as did the people who surrounded me. As I sat there and listened I got chills all over and my eyes were watered up. This man was speaking truth about my generation and how they are broken and without hope. I had been hearing God say the very same things during the past four months. 

On day three, Cleetus Adrian, a punk pastor spoke. He was driving home the message that without the Word nothing is possible. He also said one simple statement that I have not been able to get out of my head. He said that, "We, the church, must accept and not ask to change those who look different then us. Because if we ask them to change then they may just go right back to where they were, because the world will accept them as they are. Sure, some lifestyle situations may need to change but as far as appearance there is no reason."

What can today’s church do? It is more than what you do; its spending time and building relationships with people, rather than trying to fix the problems right away. There needs to be mentioning of young people, giving them someone to look up to.

Our generation is filled with wandering pilgrims who are just seeking the truth. I hear over and over again, "I just want to know what is real."

I have spoke a lot about the Xers but what about the Yers? I believe that in order to reach the Yers we must first raise up an army of Xers who are trained in the Word and who are willing to be guides for the Y generation. It is true that most of the Y generation refuses to look toward older adults for guidance but if we save through Jesus and train up the Xers then the Yers would have a safe place to go      
-exerts taken out of Cornerstone the magazine  Art by Tyler Hoare of Flame Resistant Ministries Christ-Core

Contact Info:  Charessa,  e-mail Graceshaker7@aol.com (304)776-9348  Fax (304)776-0751