Why the Church Keeps Failing the Ones Who Need It Most

Inside the hidden structures that leave the wounded behind

Image created by author on Sora

Before I ever worked in big churches, I helped run Christian camps for some of the most broken kids you could imagine.

Most of them came from situations no teenager should ever have to live through — violence, addiction, sexual abuse, years of bouncing between foster homes. They would show up angry, defensive, shut down. Some barely spoke. Others swaggered and swore their way through the first day like they didn’t care about anything.

And yet by the end of the week, after the games and the worship nights and the tearful altar calls, something seemed to break open.

I still remember sitting in the back of the tent after one of those final-night services, watching it happen. Dozens of kids with their heads bowed, arms around each other, tears running down their faces as they said yes to Jesus.

We were convinced we were witnessing miracles. The transformations seemed so dramatic, so undeniable.

We’d stand together as leaders and tell each other how different they looked. How soft their faces had become. How their whole posture had changed. We’d say things like, “This is what the love of God can do.” We’d take photos to show at the…