Photos from Arizona 2023

As a young, recently hired Youth Pastor, I knew exactly what I wanted to do… what the LORD had called me to do. It was simple! I wanted to…

Okay, so I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but the truth is that I struggled to articulate it well. I didn’t have the vocabulary that would allow me to explain what I wanted to do—what I was called to do. I knew it in my soul, but I couldn’t get it to flow in a clear, easily reproducible way from my mouth.

Thankfully, a friend of mine who was also a Youth Pastor invited me to a Dare 2 Share luncheon at Dave & Buster’s in Columbus, OH. I had never heard of Dare 2 Share, but I trusted my friend and thought it would be a worthwhile investment to ride with him to hear about what Dare 2 Share is doing and how they are serving Youth Ministries around the country. 

I am so glad that I accepted my friend’s invitation to go to that luncheon!

When I arrived at Dave & Buster’s, I was met at the door by an overly-intense, extremely outgoing man with a venti Starbucks in his left hand, a kind smile on his face, and an outstretched right hand welcoming me with a handshake. 

“Hello, I’m Greg.” 

“Hey, I’m Jeff.” I said, unsure of who I was greeting or why…

“I’m glad you’re here!” He said. 

At the time I was unaware of how glad I was to be there, myself.

Not long after that awkward handshake, I took my seat in the auditorium (did you even know that Dave & Buster’s has an auditorium?!) and the emcee welcomed Greg Stier to the stage. It was the same Greg who had met me (and all of the other Youth Pastors who showed up on time—which, admittedly, was probably not quite the majority of us) at the door.

Wow. That’s different.

He took the mic, and began to pour biblical truth into the hearts and minds of the Youth Pastors present. I fully expected him to try to sell me something, but that was not what I was experiencing. I was experiencing the impartation of a passionate preacher, exhorting us to get serious about our faith, and following Jesus, and leading students to do the same.

As he spoke, I realized that he was providing the vocabulary that my heart had been trying to put through my mouth. Suddenly I was equipped with the words that resonated with my soul. 

At the end of his presentation, he did switch into sales mode, but I got the feeling that getting our students to his event was not the priority. The priority was equipping students to advance the gospel and make disciples. His event was just a practical way to begin to live that out. 

And it was! 

I was so blown away by my experience at Dave & Buster’s that I bought way too many tickets to his event… and then somehow found a student for every single ticket. In fact, if I remember correctly, I had to buy more tickets! 

The event was every bit as exceptional as my experience at Dave & Busters! Greg once again took the stage, but this time he spoke to thousands of students, clearly sharing the gospel, practically equipping them to share the gospel with their friends, and then passionately pleading with them to get out of their seats and into the streets to put what they had learned into practice. 

And so we did. 

And God showed up!

And our students led random strangers on the streets of Columbus to Christ! 

And this was just the beginning…

What started as an invitation from a friend to hear about a ministry at Dave & Buster’s in Columbus, OH has become an amazing partnership in the gospel with a ministry that I deeply love and have personally invested my time, talents, prayers, and resources into over the course of the past decade.

That overly-intense, extremely outgoing man who shook my hand at the entrance of Dave & Buster’s has become a dear friend whom I love, deeply admire, and pray for every week.

We recently spent a weekend in Arizona leading worship for a massive fundraising event for Dare 2 Share Ministries, and I couldn’t possibly be more honored to have been asked to be there. 

Once again Greg took the stage, and this time spoke about how God is using Dare 2 Share to equip Youth Leaders across the planet to ensure that every teen everywhere has a chance to hear the gospel from a friend.