Sitting there, I felt like my life had just gotten turned upside down right in front of me, and I did not feel like I understood the reasoning behind it. Pastor Mike meant so much to all of us, but now he was leaving. I have known him for years and never expected him to do so.

That is how I felt over the summer at a camp called 86 Hours. It was my first year at the camp, but yet I know it will be my saddest. It felt as if I was at a funeral the night we were spilling our hearts out to Pastor Mike. He has such a pure heart and we all loved him like he was our father. But he was moving to a different city, so he could no longer be our youth pastor. I still get to see him though. He comes back to our school and speaks in chapel. God Bless him and all that he does!

When I entered middle school a few years back, he became a huge part of my life. He was the youth pastor of the church that my school was a part of, and every Wednesday we would meet in the school gym for our youth ministry. He knew each and every one of us by name and loved us each individually. Pastor Mike was and still is a caring man who loved the Lord and spread God’s love everyday through his words and actions. He took any opportunity possible to minister about Christ and His love.
Pastor Mike is not like some people. He is not self-centered and does not think he is perfect or better than anybody else. He doesn’t tell us to do something that he can’t do.
Pastor Mike is like a big kids sometimes! He talks and laughs with the youth and he understands the struggles we go through. He is always open and honest with us, even when it hurts him to do so.

He is an amazing servant of God and deserves the best! He is the coolest person I will ever know!