“Can you give me one reason I should want to keep on living?”

There had been a long line of teens waiting to ask me one-on-one questions. Alongside internet star Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA, it had been my honor to speak at a Biblical worldview training conference in Wisconsin. After training some 200 teens in God’s Word and sharing facts about America and Christian civic involvement, we headed over to the Milwaukee arena to attend the Republican National Convention.

This youth’s question, however, would require more than a quick, off-the-cuff answer. I asked, “Do you search the internet for information about suicide? Are you planning to do yourself harm?”

The response to my first question, was, “All the time.” The answer to the second, was, “Maybe.” Wiping tears away, the teen went on, “I just don’t want to live . . . I’m so afraid. What is the purpose of . . . anything?”

Evangelizing a generation searching for purpose and meaning

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reports that 10% of students in grades 9-12 have attempted suicide in the last 12 months. At a camp in Georgia, a female attendee about 16 years old, said “Please pray for me. I stay so depressed.”

Several of the other teens nodded in agreement before our group of adult counselors. It’s sad, really — youth was once a season of life usually characterized by unbridled optimism. Today so many of our young people seem paralyzed by fear,........

© Townhall