Early adolescence is a very critical and difficult time in a person's life. The operative word in early adolescence is "change," and lots of it! Educators, psychologists, and youth ministers have stated that middle school might be the last great opportunity we have to positively impact and assist a child in his or her educational, spiritual, emotional, and social development.
Middle school adolescents are trying to figure out who they are and what they believe. They are struggling to put the pieces of their life's puzzle together. It is during this "doubting Thomas phase" that many youngsters become leery of their faith, and begin to question as well as doubt what they believed as children.
Those who minister to middle school youth are in the seed-planting business. They are working with kids who still have many significant and important decisions ahead of them, and the ministering adult has the opportunity to plant the seeds of Jesus’ love, hope, and peace in the middle school child.
The EDGE provides an unparalleled moment in the life of a middle school youngster to offer guidance, reassurance, and Jesus' love to a group of people who have so many options and choices before them.