“Consider the rooms you pass by each day, pause and walk into one of them where you might be able to make a change, but in the end, it might just change you.” Jack Hishmeh’s Inspiring Hope Story

I have had the opportunity to know Jack Hishmeh for almost 10 years now mostly through a friendship that I have with his Mom, Cheryl and through serving in ministry with his Dad, Joe.  Through the years, I have watched him grow into an amazing young man making an incredible impact for the kingdom!   Jack has a heart to serve God!  He serves on our Worship Team at Church, helps in our Mountain Children’s Program, serves in Young Life at Topeka High School, and leads the way in developing the Special Opps Team at his High School that supports and builds relationships with special needs students.  Jack’s fellow classmates admire him and the younger generation looks up to him as a positive role model! Jack’s courage to change schools after middle school, so that he could follow God’s call is rare in today’s society. He has an uncanny sense of seeing people through God’s eyes and finding ways to brighten their day. That’s just what he did when he took the time to walk into a room of students that had gone unnoticed in his school and catch God’s vision for developing buddies to build relationships with the students, plan fun activities for them, and even write a grant to raise funds to renovate their classroom. This story inspires so much hope in my heart! It shows me that there are still great kids growing up right now that will love people well and care about making a positive difference for Christ, just like Jack! He is leading the way to show us what the next generation will do to make God’s name famous! Jack’s Story & Video… My 8th grade year at Washburn Rural Middle School (WRMS), I had a mentor, Kyle Brown. He met with me every other week to talk about life and what God was doing through my life. He told me he was going to be starting Young Life at Topeka High School. Once I heard that, I instantly pictured myself serving with him at Topeka High. At WRMS, I felt like I had great friends, but I didn’t feel like it was an environment that people would listen to me if I brought up the gospel. So I prayed about it and ended up transferring to Topeka High. The first year and a half there was very difficult to adjust and I didn’t feel like I was doing much to progress the kingdom of God other than attending Young Life and inviting friends.  When I found room 116 (special needs classroom), I discovered that was truly what God had in store for me from the beginning. Having the faith that God was going to do something through me was very difficult at times leading up to my sophomore year. Then I found room 116 and with prayer God opened doors for me to share him and his love with other people. I have definitely learned so much about Christ’s love for us by spending time with these students. They might have a disability that makes them appear limited on choices in life or accessibility, but I truly believe that they have limitless joy and love.   Take heart,   Jack Hishmeh