Next Generation of Hope

The Boys & Girls Club saved my life—both physically and spiritually.

Forty-four years ago, as a young boy, I walked through its doors not realizing that simple step would forever alter the course of my life. At only five years old, I had faced the heartbreaking tragedy of losing my father to suicide. That loss left an empty place in my life and the kind of questions no child should have to wrestle with. Yet God, in His mercy, directed my steps to the Boys & Girls Club.

The Club became more than a safe place after school; it became a lifeline. It was where mentors invested in me, where leaders showed me what it meant to believe in someone, and where I first experienced the power of hope. As a child and then a teenager, those relationships and that atmosphere of encouragement became the soil where God began preparing my heart for something greater.

It was in 1990, inside the Club’s gymnasium, that the greatest change of my life occurred. I was helping distribute football equipment when I encountered the love of Jesus Christ in a real and personal way. Right there in that gym, I surrendered my life to Christ. The very place that had given me hope as a boy became the place where I found eternal hope in the Savior.

From that moment forward, my life took on a new direction. The Lord called me not only to live for Him but also to give back to others in the very setting that shaped me. Over the years, the Boys & Girls Club has continued to be woven into my story, reminding me that God redeems every broken piece of our past and uses it to shine His glory.

Today, my passion is to return to the Boys & Girls Clubs—not simply to reminisce, but to reinvest. I want to pour into the staff and the kids spiritually and prayerfully, to remind them that they matter, that God has a plan for them, and that hope is not just an idea—it’s a person, Jesus Christ.

This calling has become the foundation of a ministry I have named The Next Generation of Hope. Just as hope was extended to me when I needed it most, I now want to extend that same hope to others. My vision is to see young people rise up, equipped not only with skills and opportunities but with faith, resilience, and the unshakable knowledge that they are deeply loved by God.

The Boys & Girls Club gave me hope. Christ gave me life. Now I dedicate my life to pouring both back into the next generation.

Contact me so I can share how you can be a part of one of the greatest movements on planet earth that changes the lives of kids.

- Pastor Shane