Three teens inspire many
The Harry Denman Evangelism Award for youth and young adults was presented to three young women from Olivet United Methodist Church—Tess Oplinger, Jaedyn Oplinger and Carol Johnson, at the 23rd session of the Dakotas Annual Conference in Sioux Falls, SD.
Photo: Tess Oplinger, Jaedyn Oplinger and Carol Johnson, awards recipients from Olivet UMC, recorded a video message that was played at the 23rd session of the Dakotas Annual Conference in Sioux Falls, SD. The three girls were recipients of the Harry Denman Evangelism Award for youth and young adults. Photo by Pastor Sara McManus.
These three young women were nominated by several members of their church and community, who wrote, “In my opinion we have three young women here in Olivet that are true evangelists—Tess Oplinger, Jaedyn Oplinger and Carol Johnson. They are high school students that were confirmed a short time ago. During Pastor Tom Peterson’s instructions they decided that they wanted to reinstate VBS in the church. VBS had gone away in Olivet because, as one member put it, “we are a ?mature’ group.” Their dream ministered to 53 children last July. Many of these young people were “unchurched” or “lightly churched”.
Olivet is a small rural community with a population of 74 according the the 2010 US Census. The United Methodist Church has an average worship attendance of 45-50.
Tess, Jaedyn and Carol have been an active part of the church all their lives. They provide music, readings, skits, puppeteering, are members of the youth group, acolytes, serve in Sunday school and also participate in Fellowship of Christian Athletes. They also actively bring other youth visitors to worship.
Their faithful witness isn’t seen only inside the church, however. When they heard of a family who ran a therapeutic foster home, they asked, “What we can do to help those four girls know that we care and that God loves them?” As they learned more about this mission, they discovered that when a child is removed from their home, their belongings are often put in trash bags for transporting them to new homes. Social services found that the children equate that with putting their lives in the trash. Carol, Jaedyn and Tess spearheaded a fund drive to help buy suitcases that are available to social workers to present to children so that their lives are not transported as trash.
The award was presented by Bishop Bruce R. Ough, on Thursday, June 9, 2016. The girls could not be present because of a school band trip and summer work committments, so they accepted the award and recorded a brief video message.
