Dara Blandon, age 20:
You would think that being an only child and having everything I wanted would make life easy, but it didn’t. It was empty and lonely.
I didn’t have a lot of friends, and my parents worked all the time. They were also very religious, but I didn’t like the God that I saw in them. I truly had a life without purpose, and I felt very alone.
One day I went to an event for youth at One by One, and I liked it a lot! It was really fun, and they talked about Jesus Christ in a way that was easy to identify with. It helped me understand that Jesus Christ wanted a relationship with me.
Weeks later I decided to give my heart to God. It was an experience too wonderful for words!
Today I’m a servant in the program. I love to serve God by serving the youth, knowing that when others come the way that I came that first day—empty, lonely, searching, without much to give—they can learn that there is a God who loves them, and he’s cold but fun, affectionate, and loving.
