A Texas High School Tradition

Rewind to a year prior, when Blake found himself on a plane headed to the African continent where he found a world starkly different from his own. Instead of an easily accessed faucet with clean running water, hot or cold, Blake found communities lacking access to clean water altogether. When he returned home, he could not stop thinking about what he witnessed while abroad.

(Photo by Enrique Macias on Unsplash)

“[He] had really gotten this heart for the people there and noticed that there was an issue with the clean water, there’s a lack of access to clean water. It was something that he couldn’t get off his mind and couldn’t get off his heart. It was just always there in the back of his mind…every time he took a sip of water or washed his hands,” says Jeff Johnston, marketing communication manager with e3 Partners.

Inspired by the “I Am Second” video and passionate about the need for clean water, Blake set out to use the homecoming traditions of mums and garters for a bigger purpose. Johnstone says high school football in Texas is as important as college football is for the rest of the United States. Homecoming is an even more serious matter; students will spend between $100-400, or more, creating their mums and garters.

(Learn more about the mums and garters tradition here and here.)

“I Am Second” Inspires Generosity

Rather than spending hundreds of dollars creating mums and garters, Blake proposed a different idea. What if these resources were spent on providing wells for communities in need instead? Thus, the Hope for Africa club was born at Blake’s school.

(Photo by Riley McCullough on Unsplash)

“He decided he should use his high school’s homecoming as an opportunity to really raise money for these people in Africa that need water, to raise money to build wells to get them clean water,” Johnston says.

“Blake’s idea was…he made these little pins that you can just put on your shirt…He started putting the word out across his high school and across other high schools. ‘Hey, instead of spending money on a garter or a mum this year, why don’t you donate that money to go to clean water for people in Africa to build wells for clean water, and instead just wear this pin’.”

Blake’s idea flourished. The Hope for Africa club raised over $6,000 during homecoming from the pin sales. The tangible result was two wells in Southern Sudan.

(Listen to Blake’s story with “I Am Second” here.)

Get Inspired and Pray

For Johnston, Blake’s story is what e3’s “I Am Second” is about—inspiring people for Christ. Will you dare to be inspired and put yourself second? Find your inspiration through “I Am Second” here.

Pray “I Am Second” videos continue impacting people live second and to live for Christ. Ask God to use “I Am Second” videos to make His love known to believers and non-believers alike.

Header photo by Carlos Delgado on Unsplash.

How?

By way of celebrity-status stories shared across multiple media platforms.

“These [are] stories of people that have experienced Christ and turned to Christ in their own lives,” e3’s Marketing Communications Manager Jeff Johnston says.

“Through the I am Second platform through all the media, we’re able to push those stories out.”

I Am Second

The platform has become an outlet for major names like Chip and Joanna Gaines or Brian Head Welch to share their stories of how God has moved in their lives.

(Photo courtesy of e3 Partners via I Am Second)

“It’s become a really good opportunity to plant seeds of the Gospel and in all sorts of people’s lives,” Johnston says.

Johnston says what began as a local movement has garnered astronomical attention both domestically and internationally. In 2018 alone, I Am Second had over 25 million content views.

However, videos are not the only medium the movement uses to spread the message. At its website are blog-posts and small group materials. I Am Second gear, such as bracelets and T-shirts, are helping get the word out, too.

“It’s helping the Gospel go viral because it’s just almost become a movement of people that have declared ‘I am putting God first in my life’,” Johnston says.

New Developments

The movement is also rolling out a second edition video series. The series features followups to conversations with previous interviewees. These videos revisit previous conversations for updates and a fuller picture of how God has moved.

“They’re really encouraging, they can be inspiring, and they can even just kind of help you think about things in a different way,” Johnston says.

Diving Into Discipleship

Today, e3 is going even further with this movement by connecting people to discipleship opportunities.

“Our focus now is on getting people to that next step…And so, we’re working on bringing those people from seeing an I am Second film to, you know, just accepting Christ into their life, and then connecting them with it with an e3 USA person. Or just with people in their area that can help disciple them and help them grow in their relationship with Christ, or get them plugged into a local church or into a local small group,” Johnston says.

How to Get Involved

One of the ways e3 is moving towards discipleship is through its collaboration with the app Takl for a project called Second Helping.

“Second Helping…is a partnership that I Am Second has with this app called Takl that allows you to do chores for people like mow their lawn, clean their house, all that kind of stuff,” Johnston explains.

“It’s just kind of a way to serve people, maybe even people you don’t know. That should lead to opportunities to get to know them or to share the Gospel with them.”

(Photo courtesy of e3 Partners via I Am Second)

Materials are available for Second Helping participants to help direct conversations towards Jesus.

For now, would you pray? Ask God to continue to use I Am Second stories to impact lives with the Gospel. Pray God would guide the I Am Second movement and that God’s story.

Want to get involved? Then check out some I Am Second films here.

To learn more, click here.

Header photo courtesy of e3 Partners via I Am Second.