Hall of Fame: Adam Hill

Adam Hill (above, with Lisa Kraus and Cyndi Reep) was one of the most unique young people ever to pass through a student ministry.  I knew Adam before he aged into the youth group at FUMC-K, as his mother Kay and older brother Nate were already involved when I arrived.  Adam was a study in contradictions from the day he set foot in the the youth room.  He was quiet, yet still managed to make a mark through participation almost every week.  He was an outstanding student in both middle and high school, yet was always a bit on the goofy side.  He had wonderfully bizarre ideas about some things, but was, from the beginning, a strong believer and student of the Bible.  Adam was the kind of guy you wish you had about 10 of in every youth ministry.

There are two silly stories that stand out in my mind about Adam.  We held an event when he was in middle school (I believe it was a Radical Sabbatical- more on those to come later) in which we spent a night in the youth room.  Adam attended, and decided that for the length of the event he would say only one word- POTATO.  When you said hello, he said POTATO.  When you asked him a question, the answer was POTATO.  It was weird, it was quirky and it was hilarious.  He stayed with it for at least most of a 24 hour period.  But that was (pardon the pun) small potatoes compared to the week at Myrtle Beach (see picture) in which he refused to brush his hair.  Every day his hair grew taller and wilder, and every day he did nothing to it.  At one point he named it, although the name has slipped from my memory.  It became a major focal point of discussion at the Betsy B, and every time I see a wild hairdo on a guy my son Will has to listen to the story of the week Adam let his hair run wild!

But neither of those stories are the reason that today I induct Adam into my Youth Group Hall of Fame.  Adam was a young man after God's own heart.  At a time when many of spoke of it, Adam was truly a Jesus Freak!  He wanted to soak up the scriptures.  As a high school student he first took and then helped teach Disciple Bible Study, a 34 week commitment to reading the vast majority of both the Old and New Testaments.  He was a regular at our Breakfast Club Bible study, even though he hated getting up that early.  A few times he even got up extra early to go with me to Orlando and get hot Krispy Kreme doughnuts for the entire crew.  In fact, Adam seldom missed anything we did.  After I left Kissimmee and wandered through my time in Chicago, we moved to Tampa.  Adam, Josh Fry, Sarah Crudele and Andrew Rogers (with occasional others) would drive from Kissimmee to Tampa on a regular basis and eat dinner with Marilyn, Will and I.  Adam went on to serve as a missionary in Italy for Campus Crusade for Christ.  He went out of his way (in what could have been a decision that created some issues for him) to invite my family to his wedding in May of 2009, and we were thrilled to be there.  He has become every bit the fine young man of God that he was goofball in that hair picture.  I, and many others, are very proud of him.

Adam Hill is exactly the kind of human being and Christ-follower I pray my son will turn out to be.  And I have to tell you, there is no higher honor I can bestow upon him than that- not even a place in my Hall of Fame!

Because of Jesus,