Inspiring Teens Magazine Features

Kade Hoilman

1/21/2020

Kade Hoilman - North Carolina
Interview by Claire Plath
Nomination and Photography by TAP Photography
Issue 29 of Inspiring Teens Magazine

The Nomination: "There are so many ways to describe Kade as an inspiration it is difficult to sum up. Peers speak of being inspired by Kade’s leadership skills in his youth group and athletics. Teachers say he’s an inspiration by being so respectful and kind as well as perseverant through difficulties with his vision.
Kade’s caring, compassionate nature shows through mission trip work and volunteer work in the community. He also honors God by using his voice to praise Him!
Kade inspires those around him to be better people because of his consistent enthusiasm, respectfulness, love for God, intelligence, loyalty and humbleness!"

Photography by TAP Photography

Through your faith, how have you used your voice and passion for singing inspired many others?
Singing is an ability that God has blessed me with, so I aim to use my voice to further his kingdom. One of my favorite bible verses is in Psalm 100. Part of It says, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands” this is something I have always tried to keep in mind as I use the talents God has given me.

Photography by TAP Photography

How have you been able to persevere through challenges in your life through your strong faith in the Lord?
When hardships come, I always try to tell myself, whether I understand or not, My God will lead me through. Through it all, God has a plan and a purpose for each and every life he has put on this earth. God will never leave us nor will he forsake us and I find my peace in His refuge.

What would you tell kids your age who are struggling in their faith, and how have you become an inspiration to others through your encouragement and strong love for God?
My advice is, don’t ever give up. Do not ever think that God doesn’t love you anymore or that you are too far out of reach for His Hands. I try to take God at His word and if he tells me to share my faith or do something for someone, I try not to hesitate and just go for it.

Photography by TAP Photography

What do you love most about being so actively involved in your community and volunteering to help others?
The thing I love most about being a volunteer and a large part of my community is the aspect of all the bonds and friendships you are able to make.

Tell about mission work you are involved in and how you have been able to become a spiritual leader to others?
I have been involved in mission trips to places other than my community but my community is where it started. The biggest way you can show people that God loves them is to be different and to make them see the difference that God has made in you. At no point do I ever try to conceal my faith, nor do I try to take credit for the blessings God has given me. It’s all God and none of me.

Photography by TAP Photography

What high school activities are you involved in, and how have you applied your faith to your interests in life?
I am involved and multiple sports, FCA, and Key Club. In Sports, my faith has been applied by just trying to lead by example and let folks on the team know that they can always come to me with anything and I will do everything in my power to help them. Through these clubs, I have had the privilege to work in efforts to give back to our community and show folks God loves them.

Kade will be featured in Issue 29 of Inspiring Teens Magazine!

Click here for more information on issue 29 of Inspiring Teens Magazine

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Ashlyn Storm

10/12/2019

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Ashlyn Storm - Texas
Interview by Zoe D'Angelo
Nomination by Kendi Skelton
Photography by Krissi Prince and Ashlyn Storm
Issue 27 of Inspiring Teens Magazine

The Nomination: Ashlyn puts 110% into everything she does. She is the local FCA leader, and a Sunday school teacher. She does this while participating in Volleyball, Basketball and Track. She can put a smile on your face in a heartbeat and always spreads love and happiness wherever she goes. Ashlyn is an amazing athlete but more importantly, she’s an amazing person with a heart of gold!

Above, From her mom, Wendy Weathers:
Here is a clip of Ashlyn in her role as FCA Leader, delivering her favorite bible verse in front of thousands at an event called fields of faith that is held yearly for area youth. I was just so proud and wanted to share

How have you made an impact in young people’s lives through the church?
Working in the church, I have met so many kids and people. It’s hard to see how you’ve impacted kids right off the bat. It’s a long-term thing. I think I’ve put a form of consistency in the kids’ lives that don’t have it at home, and I have given them something to look forward to. Another thing is showing the kids how to love people. Serving is all about sharing love to the kids who need it the most, and it shows other kids that we need to love everyone no matter the circumstance.

What is it like being an FCA leader?
Being an FCA leader is a challenge. A lot of times it’s hard to get myself out of my comfort zone and tell other high school students about Christ, because I’m at risk of getting rejected or making others feel uncomfortable. So far, it’s been so worth it. It has been a battle to get FCA started at my school because of all the adversity, but last Monday we had 47 students show up and it’s just amazing to see what God can do!

Photography by Ashlyn Storm

Tell us what it is like being a Sunday school teacher. What things do you teach your kids?
Being a Sunday school teacher is literally the best thing ever. I get to devote almost a whole day to teaching kids about the Lord. I’m such a kid myself, so it’s easy for me to connect with them. Every Sunday is like a party with the kids, but we’re partying for Jesus. I dance and sing with them and get them out of their shell. I get to teach them about God and all the great things he has done for us through super fun activities and games. I love kids with all my heart, and I love planting seeds in them for Christ.

Photography by Ashlyn Storm

When finding places to take the perfect photo, where does your inspiration come from?
My photo inspiration comes from God’s beauty in all of his creations. For me, photography is finding beauty in the smallest creations that are typically overlooked by others. I get to give the overlooked things a chance to shine, and make people have a different perspective of them.

Photography by Ashlyn Storm

Tell us about your soap company!
My soap company was inspired by Pinterest. Since I’ve started high school, I’ve needed a job or source of money (other than my mom). With school, sports, church, family and myself I just didn’t have the time to get a job. Then I decided to go on a hunt for something I could do that I enjoyed that made money! I was scrolling Pinterest and saw a thing for DIY soap bars, and I fell in love! I’m very creative person so this was absolutely perfect for me.

Ashlyn will be featured in Issue 27 of Inspiring Teens Magazine!

click here to purchase Issue 27

click here to nominate an inspiring teen

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Laken Reed

8/26/2019

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Laken Reed – North Carolina
Interview by Claire Plath
Nomination and Photography by TAP Photography
Issue 25 of Inspiring Teens Magazine

The Nomination: Laken Reed is an inspiring teen. She is co-captain of the varsity cheerleading squad and coaches young girls in youth league cheerleading, helping to inspire them to become confident young women. Laken loves to encourage others to do well. She recently won All-American with the Universal Cheerleading Association and will travel to London England to be in the New Year’s Day parade. Laken is active in YoungLife and her church.

What is your favorite thing about being co-captain for your varsity cheerleading squad?

My favorite thing about being co-captain for the varsity cheerleading team at Mountain Heritage would definitely be that I get to be a leader and have underclassmen look up to me and I get to show them exactly how I learned to be the cheerleader I am today. Showing them that it is okay to mess up as long as you continue on with a smile.

Tell me a little but about the Universal Cheerleading Association you are involved in.

UCA is an organization that runs cheerleading camps for JV and Varsity cheer teams. UCA has a cheer team called All-American. In All American you are chosen by performing in front of a panel of judges. You perform a cheer, dance and you do a jump. The dance and cheer you learn on your own time while you are at UCA camp, in a 3-day period. A day later you are announced in front of the whole camp if you got a spot on the team.

What do you love most about coaching your youth league cheer team?

The best part of coaching youth league cheer is getting to show these girls what started my love for cheerleading. I get to teach them how to be playing a sport and love doing it. I tell them all the time that cheer is not a sport for just anyone, you have to really want to learn.

How has your faith impacted who you are and how you choose to live your life?

My faith in Jesus Christ helps me day to day. I know that without him I am nothing. I talk to him daily, and I have parents that have taken me to church, raised me on reading the bible, and showed me how to do right in His name. In everything I do, I ask myself what would Jesus do? I cannot lie and say that it is easy because nothing is easy, but I am loved by Him unconditionally.

How are you involved in your faith through your community?

I am involved in a club through my high school called YoungLife, which is Christian based. We have weekly meetings where we read the bible, sing songs, and play games all while fellowshipping with our close friends. In the summer we take a huge trip to YoungLife camp, where we grow our relationship with friends from our high school and make new ones. The biggest part of Younglife is trying to get your friends from school to have a relationship with God so you bring them to Younglife!

I also have volunteered in the past two major floods that has happened by packing buckets with supplies to help people on the coast of North Carolina and Alabama have the living essentials.

What is one piece of advice or encouragement you would give to someone reading this?

My biggest piece of advice is to always be yourself, and love yourself. Life is short and you should never try to change who you are to please anyone. You are loved even when you do not feel it. Always show your confidence and be strong because you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Laken will be featured in Issue 25 of Inspiring Teens Magazine!

Click here to nominate an inspiring teen for an upcoming issue of
inspiring teens magazine

click here to purchase issue 25 of inspiring teens magazine

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Sarah Wainwright

6/27/2019

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Sarah Wainwright - Alabama
Interview by Claire Plath
Nomination by Jennifer Wainwright
Images by Stacy Jay Photography
Inspiring Teens Magazine – Issue 23

The Nomination: Sarah Wainwright is not your average teenager. She is the most considerate, always thinking of others first, person you will ever meet. She is a strong Christian girl who reads her bible and does devotions daily. She is always trying to figure out how to help someone else. She is passionate about what she wants and strives to give more than 100% in everything she does in school with grades and sports. She always tries to do the right thing in every situation.

In what way has your faith impacted how you live your life?
My faith has impacted my life by changing my way of thinking and helps me choose whether to do certain things or not. I am not perfect, but my faith has helped me face temptations and turn the other way.

How does your faith in Jesus strive you to be a better person?
I always give 110% at everything I do. I try to treat people the way I would want to be treated. I try to be a positive influence on social media by putting bible verses up or encouraging quotes so people can see them and have a change in their heart or just make them feel happy when they are sad and to know that they are loved.
What are some ways you strengthen your faith daily?

Every night I read a daily devotional and then I like to mark the things I find important or that stand out to me. Then I like to mark the bible verse from the devotion in my bible.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to be where you are today?
Always work hard in everything you do even if you’re the only one trying because it will work out in the long run. Never give up!

How do you keep yourself organized with everything you have on your plate?
I am a very organized person and I am always on top of everything.

Pizza or Tacos? Soda or Water? Cats or Dogs?
Pizza soda dogs

3 Things on your bucket list
1. Play in the FIFA World Cup
2. Go to Hawaii
3. Go to Disney Land in Paris

Image by Jeb Wainwright

When did you start playing soccer and how did you get interested in playing it?
I started playing soccer in the 8th grade. My friend encouraged me to play so I decided to try it out. When I played my first game, I realized that I loved it and wanted to play forever.

What type of dance is your favorite and how did you first get involved with dance?
My favorite type of dance would have to be Hip Hop or jazz. My mom first put me in dance when I was 2 years old and I stopped dancing at 14 years old to pursue soccer. While I was in dance I participated in many competitions and I got to dance at Disney World and perform in The Russian Nutcracker Ballet.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years/what are your plans for the future?
Playing college soccer and working to be an athletic trainer.

Sarah will be featured in Issue 23 of Inspiring Teens Magazine!

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The History of Methodism

7/1/2018

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By Amanda Wisner

With countless religions being celebrated by their own beliefs and believers, in our world, these religions are usually drawn back to the first three majors: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Within these branches are variations of each different belief system, there are the bigger, more popular religions, and the more humble, merely recognized religions. One of these only somewhat common religions is Methodism.

John Wesley and the ‘Methodists’

          Methodism in the United States goes as far back as 1736, even if the Methodist church wasn’t founded until 1968. It all began with John and Charles Wesley, when they had disagreed with the Church of England’s beliefs. Because of this, John Wesley had began to preach in the streets, while Charles had gone onto write more than six thousand hymns, (Which a handful are still found in modern worship) and was one of the founding fathers of the Methodist denomination. However, before John began preaching, he had, one day, decided to tune into a preaching in the streets. After the sermon, John said; "In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading (Martin) Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." Meanwhile, George Whitefield, another former member of the “holy club”, had been a successful preacher around Bristol. So many people had come to Whitefield for help, he had pleaded help from John, who accepted the position with hesitation. Sooner or later, John had began preaching in the streets himself as he warmed to the ways of Whitefield’s preaching.
          After John had been preaching for some time, he had been given control of the movement due to his organization skills. However, Whitefield was a firm Calvinist, whereas Wesley did not fully understand this belief. With the movement, Wesley argued that “Christians could enjoy entire sanctification in this life: loving God and their neighbors, meekness and lowliness of heart, abstaining from all appearance of evil, and doing all for the glory of God.”
          The addition of John to the group of preachers had brought impact to more people, as he had been listened to by people, and had gained followers. However, when a person or cause gains a following group, there’s always at least one or two people that hold heresy (The obvious hatred of a religion shown through protestant actions) against the group, and John and his group weren’t special selections. Critics of the teachings John and the group spread had nicknamed the believers ‘Methodists’, (Yet this label was worn proudly) and the heretics had gone even further, as Methodists were frequently met with violence as paid protesters had broken up these meetings, and even had gone far enough to threaten Wesley’s life.
          Even when John had scheduled his meetings as to not interfere with local Anglican services, the bishop of Bristol had objected to John’s meetings. Leaving the response “The world is my parish”, (In which this phrase later became a common slogan in the Methodist church) John had eventually traveled over 4,000 miles annually, preaching some 40,000 sermons in his years of ministry.
          Few Anglican priests had joined the Methodists, yet John held onto the majority of the preaching, along with other tasks that needed to be taken care of. Keeping these responsibilities in line, John had also organized the Methodists into “connections” and “circuits”, which were all under the power of one “superintendent”. Along with periodic meetings, “annual conferences” were held, to worship and make sure all organizations were in order. Eventually, in 1787, John was required to register the lay preachers as non-Anglicans, and had ordained two lay preachers, and Thomas Coke as superintendent. Even if Methodism was moved out of the Church of England, John Wesley had remained Anglican until his death.

Growing Up in the United Methodist Church

          After learning about historic Methodism, there are many questions that still waver around in my mind, and these questions are the “What if’s” and others along similar lines. Along with (Extremely briefly) learning about Methodism in school, I actually have learned about John Wesley and the Methodists in church. (Through confirmation class) It’s very interesting to learn about your own religion, whether it be through school, church, or even one’s own curiosity.
          Growing up, I had not attended church regularly, yet I had occasionally gone to Sunday school at 9:30 AM, while my parents went to mass. We had been extremely busy during my childhood, yet now, I enjoy church, as there’s more available at church as people get older. I have been attending Lehman Memorial United Methodist Church (In Hatboro, PA) all of my life, and it is truly a beautiful church, both spiritually and architecturally. With an attempt of not boasting about my religion, I will touch on this briefly.
          Being a Methodist means several things to many people, whether some find Methodists offensive to them, or others absolutely love Methodists. There are many loopholes to these emotions, as they could be anything. I personally love how (At least in Lehman) everyone can easily get along, as no discrimination exists in the Methodist beliefs I was raised with, as well as everyone being extremely humble, and not shoving their religion into each other’s faces (Like some people assume) and it’s overall a very peaceful and understanding religion.

Numbers and Summary

After Methodism being around for about fifty years, nearly 30 million people have/do still follow the denomination, through their own choice, along with being born into a Methodist church could be possible influences to these people. However, when Wesley died, he had 294 preachers, 71,668 British followers, 19 missionaries, and 43,265 American followers, with 198 preachers. After all of Wesley’s work, many people had supported him then, and support his beliefs still today.
With a quick wrap-up, we can recall Wesley’s work to go against the Church of England, and had payed off by creating the Methodist denomination, and now to see how John’s contributions affect our society today is pretty neat if you ask me. Overall, Methodism has come a long way, from John Wesley and the Methodists to our Methodists today.

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Kade Hoilman

Kade Hoilman - North Carolina
Interview by Claire Plath
Nomination and Photography by TAP Photography
Issue 29 of Inspiring Teens Magazine

Ashlyn Storm

Ashlyn Storm - Texas
Interview by Zoe D'Angelo
Nomination by Kendi Skelton
Photography by Krissi Prince and Ashlyn Storm
Issue 27 of Inspiring Teens Magazine

Laken Reed

Laken Reed – North Carolina
Interview by Claire Plath
Nomination and Photography by TAP Photography
Issue 25 of Inspiring Teens Magazine

Sarah Wainwright

Sarah Wainwright - Alabama
Interview by Claire Plath
Nomination by Jennifer Wainwright
Images by Stacy Jay Photography
Inspiring Teens Magazine – Issue 23

The History of Methodism

By Amanda Wisner

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Kade Hoilman

Kade Hoilman - North CarolinaInterview by Claire PlathNomination and Photography by TAP PhotographyIssue 29 of Inspiring Teens Magazine​

Ashlyn Storm

Ashlyn Storm - TexasInterview by Zoe D'AngeloNomination by Kendi SkeltonPhotography by Krissi Prince and Ashlyn StormIssue 27 of Inspiring Teens Magazine​

Laken Reed

Laken Reed – North CarolinaInterview by Claire PlathNomination and Photography by TAP Photography​Issue 25 of Inspiring Teens Magazine

Sarah Wainwright

Sarah Wainwright - AlabamaInterview by Claire PlathNomination by Jennifer WainwrightImages by Stacy Jay PhotographyInspiring Teens Magazine – Issue 23

The History of Methodism

By Amanda Wisner

Featured

Archives

Categories

Kade Hoilman - North Carolina
Interview by Claire Plath
Nomination and Photography by TAP Photography
Issue 29 of Inspiring Teens Magazine

Ashlyn Storm - Texas
Interview by Zoe D'Angelo
Nomination by Kendi Skelton
Photography by Krissi Prince and Ashlyn Storm
Issue 27 of Inspiring Teens Magazine

Laken Reed – North Carolina
Interview by Claire Plath
Nomination and Photography by TAP Photography
Issue 25 of Inspiring Teens Magazine

Sarah Wainwright - Alabama
Interview by Claire Plath
Nomination by Jennifer Wainwright
Images by Stacy Jay Photography
Inspiring Teens Magazine – Issue 23