Summertime, for youth, is traditionally a time for biking, swimming, playing video games and enjoying lots of free time to hang out with friends.
But not this summer, for the Youth at Florenceville Baptist Church in Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick. With a weekly LemonAid stand at the local farmer’s market, the FBC Youth Group were busy serving fresh squeezed lemonade to local patrons while raising money to change their world!
“The idea of a lemonade stand came up when some of the youth decided that we wanted to make a difference in our community and in the world. It took several months to plan what we were going to do and we had to create our recipe. We called our business, LemonAid, and our Pastor came up with our slogan, “When the world hands you lemons, change your world,” says Mariah Walker, FBC Youth/LemonAider.
That was our goal this summer; to change our world.
“Someone asked me how we were going to change the world with lemonade. At first I wasn’t sure. I mean, selling lemonade couldn’t change the world, could it? The further we got into the summer, the more I realized how important the work was that we were doing. With the money that we raised, we will change hundreds of lives! It’s amazing to know that we are changing lives.”
“But it’s not just the lives of others that we’ve changed; we have changed our own. It is really awesome to know that God is working in us and changing the lives of others by making lemonade. This summer helped us all to see that God has a purpose for us and you don’t always have to do something big like go on a missions trip, but you can help with something as simple as making lemonade. It was really great to see all of the youth that were willing to give up a few hours a week to come and help us make lemonade. On an average week we had 8 people serving. There were many people in our church who generously gave to help us get started and then returned week after week to buy lemonade.”
Over the course of the summer, over 1000 lemonades were sold and over $2100 was raised for missions. With the money raised, the FBC Youth covered their yearly cost for their sponsor child, bought school supplies for hundreds of children in Bolivia, provided support for We’ve Got Your Back (FBC ministry that provides food for youth in our local schools), and generously gave to Guardians of Hope (Canadian Baptist Ministries strategic response to the global HIV and AIDS pandemic).
Jesus said that “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The youth at Florenceville Baptist have clearly demonstrated where their heart is by investing their treasure to make a difference for Jesus.
“When the world hands you lemons, change your world!”
–Submitted by Rev. Mike Palmer, Senior Pastor, Florencevilve Baptist Church (NB)
