Many dads live in the house. A lot of them still aren't there.

Alex Proffitt is the Area Director of Young Life for Sevier County, Tennessee. He came back from camp this summer angry — because half the boys he talked to and a lot of the girls were carrying the same wound. One kid looked at him through tears and said, "I just don't understand why my dad won't choose me."

Alex knows something about that. He grew up in a divorced home. He signed up for Young Life leadership as a front so people back home would think he was a good Christian kid. What pulled him out wasn't a program. It was an area director who welcomed him back when he knew he didn't deserve it.

In this conversation we talk about what teenagers in his county are actually carrying, what Christian parents keep handing off that they shouldn't, and why an adult who thinks he's too old and not cool enough is exactly who a sixteen-year-old needs.

This is the first in a series of conversations with the ministry partners Northview Church supports.

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Young Life needs male leaders. About 75% of Alex's current team is women, and they need men willing to step into the lives of boys. If that's you:

www.younglifeseviercounty.com

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CHAPTERS

00:00 The kid I still think about

03:03 Divorced at three, church every Sunday

11:55 The dealer's apartment that scared me straight

19:41 What Young Life actually is (and isn't)

23:53 70% of teenagers aren't in any youth group

25:42 What kids around here are carrying

26:20 "Why won't my dad choose me?"

29:31 Getting students into a local church

34:18 The part of this job that wears you down

37:13 Ministry at night, family at home

38:25 Seniors leading freshmen

40:56 What Christian parents keep getting wrong

43:46 You're not too old to reach a teenager

45:09 What Alex needs you to pray for

49:50 What God made me for

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The God Made Podcast with Greg Rains

Northview Church | Kodak, TN