December 2025
Lately it seems that songs from my past keep coming to mind. One that has been frequent is “Basics of Life” by the group 4HIM, which was released back in 1992. The first verse says, “We’ve turned the page, for a new day has dawned. We’ve re-arranged what is right and what’s wrong. Somehow we’ve drifted so far from the truth, that we can’t get back home.” Hmmm, many would say are you sure that wasn’t written this year. Yet I suspect that every generation feels the same – the seams of the fabric that hold us together are being ripped apart. I am grateful to say that for us, here at the Lighthouse, this past year has been one of weaving things back together, of finding the broken strands and retying them, and figuring out what really matters to us.
I remember hearing my mentor, Tom Robbins, saying so many times “Children spell love T I M E.” The struggle many have when trying to connect with teenagers is finding activities that are engaging, things that students want to participate in. Yet what I have found is that our students genuinely just want and need our undistracted time. Because of the changes we had to make at the Lighthouse this year, our weekly attendance has gone from 50+ students and adults to just around 30. Yet these changes have brought back incredible opportunities for one-on-one time with students. On activity nights students have a variety of activities they can sign up for, one of those is “games”. We have a student who regularly asks for someone to play monopoly. Now, we only have roughly an hour – and monopoly is not a game you finish in an hour. Usually I have to tell him, when nobody else wants to play, “Sorry, we’ll need to choose something everybody wants to play.” Last week this happened again, with him pleading. We only had a 14 students present that night, so I said, “Yes, I’ll play monopoly with you.” And so we did. Just the two of us. He was the banker – and he counted every bill out loud, talked non-stop, and eventually at the agreed-upon “the game ends” time – he was ahead by $27. After finishing the evening and closing everything up, while walking back to my truck, I sincerely felt like the Lord said to me, “Keep doing that.”
In addition to our activity nights, we have also started having regular age-separated bible study groups that meet every other week. The smaller group sizes and age separations have given students space and time to ask hard questions. Thankfully, the men teaching these bible studies are godly men with solid theological training backgrounds (both went to bible colleges). Overall it feels like we are exactly where we are supposed to be, even though a year ago I saw no clear picture of what this point in the journey looked like. This is one of the wonderful things about faith. Very often we do not see the whole staircase, only the next step, as Psalm 119 says “Thy word is a lamp to my feet.” Sometimes we just have to take the next-right-step and trust that it is in the right direction.
Some exciting things are on the horizon. The Lighthouse will be starting our 16th year in May. I have “surrendered” more responsibility this year than ever before as I have trusted others to lead and to teach. I am grateful that the Lord continues to trust us with the hearts of these students. I am thankful that you, our friends and family, continue to trust us with your financial contributions. Even though things looked bleak this time last year, with regards to how we could continue, you have been faithful. Our number one need right now is more help. If you love Jesus and you love kids (especially middle-schoolers) – please consider this opportunity. If you would like to come check out the building and hear more about what we are doing, you can contact me directly at chris@LHBH.org and 765-271-6687. I would love to tell you our story. If you would like to help by sending a donation, you can mail it to The Lighthouse, PO Box 336, Bunker Hill, IN 46914. You can also give electronically via the link on our website, LHBH.org.
Gratefully,
Chris Edgington, Director
PS: To end the year, I asked our team to bring a word to share with the team. The word I am sharing is “friend”. I’m curious what word you would share – I would love to hear back from you.