I came across an interesting video the other day. Sometimes I just save links because they interest me, or look interesting enough to check out later. This was one of them.

This is a big time of year for football, here in Canada it’s our national university final (the Vanier Cup) and Sunday night is the CFL final (Grey Cup). In the US, the NFL is ramping up for it’s final month of games, and things are getting interesting. So yes, the below video does contain football, but the story is far more than that. Check it out.

(click here if you are unable to see it the video)

What a great story. Here is a bunch of outcasts who have no family, no fans, no supporters. I’m sure most of the games they go to they are treated like lepers in the Bible. No one talks to them, no one makes eye contact with them, and I’m sure there are a number of comments being made about where they come from which are hurtful to the boys on the team when they hear them, intentionally or not.

But here is one school who wants them to know they are loved. Here’s a school that wanted to make a difference for them. And when the original email was sent, it could have easily been ignored, yet the whole school embraced it.

To see the faces on those young men telling their story, to see the joy on their faces as they recount how it felt to be cheered and adored, just like the other teams they play against before they head back to their lifeless jail cells.

A simple thought, expressed in an email, the spirit of which, caught by others helped touch the lives of a group of young men who have been forgotten by society.

We all have ideas for helping.

Some might sound ridiculous, or we may think no one will like it.

Our churches have ideas, and you may think nothing of it. But a simple thought, like the one above at a Christian school touched the hearts of “hardened criminals” and moved them to tears. That will have a profound impact on their lives. Forever.

Don’t be afraid. Reach out. Touch someone.

Jesus did it all the time, and invites us to do the same.