Chris, a senior in high school, was having the toughest year of his life. He experienced the death of close family members, as well as serious injuries that prevented him from playing the sports he loved. He thought relationships with girls would make life seem better. They didn't. He also tried partying and spending all his time with his friends. But that wasn't enough either.
"I knew at this point that I needed something, something to fulfill my life and make me whole," Chris said.
His younger brother, Sean, had been involved in Young Life. Chris had seen his life be impacted by God. Chris started going to club, where he began to listen to his Young Life leader, Dan Ormond, explain the love of Jesus Christ.
Chris was intrigued. He wanted to know more, so he started to meet with Ormond, and then he also signed up for Young Life camp at Rockbridge that summer. Within his first day at camp, Chris knew his life would be forever changed.
Chris and some of the college-aged volunteers at the camp helped a quadriplegic camper named Alan go through the camp's obstacle course on the first night.
"By the time I was finished [carrying him] I couldn't lift my arms," Chris said. "Every award, ski race, football or lacrosse game I had ever won, put together, could never amount to the feeling I had when we reached the finish line with Alan. For the first time in my life I had done something fulfilling, and it was the love of Christ that had fulfilled me."
Throughout the week, Chris spent time with Alan and the other Capernaum campers. "Every day this made me realize what God had given me physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually," he said. "As my relationship with these kids grew, so did my faith and love for Christ. I had learned the things He did for me so that I could have eternal life."
At the end of the week, Chris shared with nearly 400 other campers his new faith in Jesus Christ. And that was just the beginning.
In the fall of 2006, Chris headed to college in the Northeast, where he continues to grow in his faith. "Chris has been pursuing Christ with relentless passion," Ormond said. "He has been involved in leadership training and has just been placed as a Young Life leader."