In our last Connecting You, we shared how young people without church connections have been just turning up at churches nationwide. SU Mission Enabler Jordan Cousins can empathise deeply with them – because he was a ‘turner upper’ too! He relates how he came to faith and reveals a Bible verse that inspires him.
Recently, I was preaching at a Surrey church that supports SU. I got chatting to the curate who told me a story of a lad in his mid-teens – let’s call him ‘Pete’. He had no connection to the church, but he turned up at their 9.30am service with a friend one Sunday in late 2023. His friend stopped coming, so everyone was surprised when Pete returned every week, especially as this service is very traditional and has an older congregation. But Pete would stay on for coffee and a chat afterwards and found a warm welcome and friendship.
A year after he first turned up, Pete decided he wanted to be baptised.
So how did Pete come to be there? Well, his interest was first kindled by RE/philosophy lessons and debates in school and he wanted to find out more. His parents aren’t Christians but were happy for him to explore faith and try church.
And that’s my story too. My family weren’t Christians, but they sent me to an SU holiday club at a local church – it was free childcare!
Asking questions
Later, in my teens I was exploring things like life after death. I got hold of a Bible and the first thing I read was Revelation 21 about how there will be no more crying or pain. I wanted to ask questions about this, so I asked my dad to find me somewhere to help. He discovered that the church with the holiday club also had a youth group, so he sent me there. I learned a lot but was yet to encounter Jesus in my heart.
Then the church took me to Spring Harvest. At an evening session, young people were sharing what they’d been doing that day. One girl said ‘Well, I walked’, and we all laughed, because hadn’t we all been walking? But she explained, ‘Last night I was in a wheelchair, then my friends prayed for me and now I can walk.’ And I remembered I’d seen her being prayed for, and thought ‘Wow, this is real! This stuff actually happens today!’ I found my youth worker and we prayed for Jesus to come into my life.
Back home, I got involved in some of the children’s work – and I loved it! Later I became a youth worker myself, and in November 2024 I joined SU as a Mission Enabler.
Zephaniah 3:17 (New Living Translation) really spoke to me as a teenager, and it still does:
‘For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty saviour. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.’
I found it so powerful that God not only loves us, he positively delights in us!
Young people don’t want clever theological arguments. They want to know how God can make a difference to their lives. This verse explains how God wants a relationship with them – he is a mighty saviour, yet he lives among us, offering love and grace freely to all.
And I love that while we’re singing praises to him, he is rejoicing over us with ‘joyful songs’!
Jordan’s story is just the beginning
As a Mission Enabler, he’s now empowering churches to reach those on the margins – the curious and the questioning in the community, and those who walk through church doors with no faith background but a hunger for something real. It’s your generosity that makes this possible. Your gifts help place Mission Enablers like Jordan across England and Wales, equipping churches to welcome and journey with young people who are discovering Jesus for the first time.