Levi lives in Greenville, SC and is a rising senior at Eastside High. He has three siblings-- a sister and two brothers-- of which he is the second oldest. Born in Indiana, Levi has since lived in Michigan, and, for the past ten years, SC. He currently attends Grace Church.
Levi came to know Jesus as his savior at a young age. “I was probably four or five years old. I grew up in a Christian family that brought me to church for as long as I can remember.” He had heard a lot about Jesus, but that age was when he started to realize that the Gospel applied to him, and that he hadn’t yet believed in Jesus, and was not a Christian. He remembers not being able to go to sleep, because he kept thinking about what Jesus had done, what that meant for him, and how he had done wrong things. He spoke with his parents about how he had done wrong, and asked them how he could have Jesus. They talked to him about how Jesus took the punishment for anyone who would believe in him, what that meant, and how Levi could believe. Levi prayed and asked Jesus to forgive him of his sins. “God started to change me more, and made me realize that I shouldn’t continue doing the wrong things I had been.”
Before he began attending Grace church, Levi attended Horizon Church. There he met Melissa Young, who was involved with Good News Clubs. She helped him set up an interview with CYIA. As he began this process, he prayed and asked God what He wanted him to do. He was encouraged to meet so many Christian people his age at pre-training. He saw that they wanted to get closer to God and help younger children to get to know Him. “That was something I wanted to be like. I’d always loved children, and I’d been saved at a young age. I knew that they for sure could get to know Christ, and I would love to have a part in that. So I decided to join.”
This is Levi’s third year serving with CYIA. His first year, he was very timid, and not very outgoing. He said it helped that a lot of the other people were outgoing, because at his middle school, he didn’t have a lot of Christian friends. He had seen people start to drift into the world’s view of pleasure and success, and it made him really sad. His first year made him realize that he could have friends who knew God, loved God, and wanted His will in their lives. It also helped him to start being able to better communicate.
Levi’s brother Job is also a CYIA summer missionary this year. Levi said it has been good to see Job grow closer to the Lord and other Christians.
During his free time, Levi enjoys rock climbing. In elementary school PE, Levi tried a wide variety of games. “I was relatively fast for my size, but there were larger people who were faster. As a small person, I wasn’t very good at basketball or football or the traditional guy sports. Around when I started high school, my older brother went to college where he was introduced to rock-climbing. When he came back, he introduced it to us.” Levi said being small was an advantage in itself because he doesn’t have as much weight to lift up. He also enjoys playing ultimate frisbee and spikeball, and his favorite animal is a narwal.
Please be praying for Levi and his team as they begin wrapping up for the summer. He said that with even fewer summer missionaries this year, there is a jump in responsibility because there are still a large amount of children at clubs. “With three people, it’s manageable but it’s definitely a lot harder to keep the kids under control and also just to make goody bags for them all.”
