Christine Sykes, it's so good to have you joining us. Thank you so much. For our listeners out there that are not familiar with your work, would you mind sharing just a little bit about who you are and what you do? Yeah, sure. Well, thanks so much for the opportunity. And since January 1st, 1993, decades ago, I had been on the road speaking, in high schools across America, nations of the world, sharing what we call our you matter message of hope. The message. It says that God loves you. He's got a plan for your life because you're breathing. You matter. I've spoken it over 4300 events in eight countries. Written 33 books. We have in the last 25 months that 161 million views. Our videos on social. We're just so very grateful for what the Lord does. Well, kind of what maybe separates it a little bit from others out there. We never charge anyone anything. I never have, never will. We just believe this is a message that needs to be heard, and we want to give it to as many people as we can. Married? Three kids. I call them kids. They're all adults with their families. A couple of dogs. And just, we do about 180 events a year. So when I'm not on the road, I'm. I'm spending time with family. And that that's just kind of the, the lifeblood of our ministry is just out there sharing this message of hope. That is awesome. And what a busy guy you are. Oh, my goodness, that is a lot of travel. Yeah, it's it's he does a lot. It is for sure. But the message that you're bringing is so important. And the conversations that you're having really are topics that we need to talk about. So you've got a new book that's coming out. I want to talk a little bit about that because it really, speaks to an issue that we see at the forefront of society right now. So talk to our listeners a little bit about the new book and the message behind it. Sure. That the book is entitled You Matter Finding Hope and Meaning in Everyday Life. It's on Amazon now. When it back when it launched, it was number one in its categories for for a while. And we're so very grateful for that. It's it's a it's a book that is the heartbeat of, of our ministry. When I wrote it, the Lord's dropped in my heart. This is the legacy book of your ministry. And so our message is you matter. In the book, which is it's a short the 104 pages long. People can read it pretty quickly. I talk about I share my testimony, and we can get to much of that if you want to, but I share the message that you do matter. But the overwhelming majority of the book focuses on why you matter. The what I do in life is not get me out of bed most mornings. The why I do it catapults me. And so, I would have students literally kind of go, you don't know me, you don't know anything I've done. You don't know my past. And yet you with this update, to say that I matter with such competence, how do you know that I matter? And I just kept hearing that over and over. Not just since the real directive to go answer that question. And it's found in 16 words in the verse, joke 33, verse four, and it says, The Spirit of God made you and the breath of the Almighty gives you life. And so I smile. Now I'm going to ask this question every single day. Why do I matter? Two word response is always the same you're breathing. That's why you matter. God's never made a mistake. He didn't make you go, oops. Jesus took what I just did. No. He created you on purpose, with purpose and for purpose. And he. He's had a plan for your life. And he. And he loves you. And no matter what you've done, you cannot cancel that love. And so when people begin to understand that they do matter and why they matter. Hopelessness gives birth to hope, and hope gives faith something to hang on to. So show me a person who's hopeless. The word is very clear with a vision, without with a vision. Without it, people perish with one. You can change society as we know it. That's right. But vision loss people are not bad people. They're just they just basically have given up because they've been hurt on this journey. We know is life. And when a person gets hopeless, they move towards something called suicide. And every day in America, 5600 teenagers attempt to end their life. That probably doesn't register. So let me offer a visual to everyone who's watching or listening. In an arena that seats 12,000 people, that arena would fill up every two and a half days with teenagers who, in the previous 60 hours bought the lie that their life did not matter. And so we're on this unimaginable journey that God has put us on to help eradicate hopelessness and end teenage suicide through our You Matter campaign, which is in high schools and lives online. After hearing our message, we know that 156,000 suicides have been stopped thus far, and we're so grateful for that. But man, there's there's so much work to be done. It's not even funny. Oh my goodness. You know, it's it's really troubling to to hear your your team provided us some stats and I want to share those with our listeners because I think really I don't think we grasp how deep and broad this problem really is among our high schoolers. But 22% of high schoolers have considered suicide, 18% made a plan, and 10% attempted it. Yeah, I'm just as a mom. I'm just I'm heartbroken by that. And the work that we do here at covenant is, you know, we tend to be on the the preventative side of getting you know, people looped into the darkness of pornography and all these things. And in society, I think we talk a lot about, you know, how do we, you know, prevent and stop. But how do we meet people where they are? The like your book seems to be speaking to the teens where they are and meeting them where they are and answering those real deep questions that they have. To help them know that they are wanted, they are loved and they matter. So talk to me a little bit about how the book and it was written for the teens. Is that correct, or is it a book for all? Okay. It's a really it's a book for anyone. Because what happens is broken teenagers until healed become broken adults. Yeah. And brokenness attracts brokenness. And when two become one place, they recreate that brokenness or generational curses. So to the to adults listening or watching today who got married? That's I I'm struggling. This book will help because I don't give you I don't pretend to know all the answers, but I should know where to find them. And you know, God's never failed. And so what makes our effectiveness as high as it is with young people is I walk in, I never try to be a teenager. I never try to look like a teenager. I walk in dress how I always talk and I've got a bottle of water listening under the microphone on this hand, I never, I that never ever used a speech in a high school ever. It wouldn't work. And I tell them, if I could talk you into something today, somebody a whole lot better than me, it talk you out of it tomorrow. So I'm just going to share the truth with you as I see it. And here's the cool thing about truth the truth is always true. So you do with it what you want. Your spirit. Your heart will resonate towards truth. You will reject what's not true. Well, I never talk to students. I instead talk with them. I invite them into a conversation. If you were at even our assemblies, you'll find me in the state and off the stage and in the stands. I go sit with him and talk. You got, you know, 1500, 2000 kids watching or 15,000 in the arena or 300 in a small public school somewhere. I want to get to where they are and just share with you you're not alone, that no matter what you're going through, you can make it. Don't don't dare quit. And here's the here's the billion dollar question I ask. What does the enemy of your soul know about your life and the potential that God's given you? That he's trying so hard to eradicate you from this thing called Earth? What does he know that maybe you haven't clued into yet? Bigger? Well, I said, what do you want to do with your life? They go, I don't see anybody doing what I want to do. Well, here's radical thought number two. Maybe you don't see anybody doing what you want to do, because we're all waiting on you to go do it. And the light bulb goes off. They're like, oh, man. And so, you know, if you can get a young person over that in any person to keep the vision in front of them. I mean, people go, you wake up with this much energy, this happy ever. Yeah. But there's such vision in front of us. I mean, people are dying and going straight to hell. We got a job to do. Yeah. I'm sorry I get a little excited. No, I love it, I love it. So when you're out touring, are you speaking in public schools? Christian schools, all the likes. Okay, all of the above. Anywhere there's teenage. That's a. 70. Over 70% of our outreach is in public high schools. That's amazing. I love that you're getting in the door with this message of hope and vision. Because honestly, I think that's the key right there. And, you know, as you think about and you talk to teenagers, you know, often we like to point fingers that, you know, technology and we like to point fingers at culture and all the things. But at the end of the day, I think you really hit on something that was key, that really that loss of vision and hope is what's dragging our teens down into these pits of feeling alone and isolated and and leading them towards things like suicide, consideration. So talk to us a little bit about like when you're meeting with teenagers and they're talking with you and interacting with you, what are some of the things that that themes maybe that come forward that are really impacting the teens nowadays? Yeah, social media is the top of that list every time. Yeah. You know, we've I shared with you early, we've had 161 million views that notices the views I don't count likes. I count views. And here's why. This is what I share with students. If you're still counting your likes, you have no idea how much you're loved. Yeah, right. If somebody likes me today that I'm on Facebook, I've got so many friends, they don't. I don't know these people. I'm thankful they're watching, but we're not friends. Yeah. My wife says to me, she says, here's how you know, if you got a true friend, do you know their middle name? Well, that cuts my list way down, right? Yeah. So the average teenager will spend on average, nine hours every day on his or her device. Now, parents, let that sink in nine. How much time do you spend talking to your parents today? How many how many hours do you spend with your kids on a daily basis? Did you spend nine hours in a month? That would be a standard. Yeah. Much less nine hours in a day. And so I grab my phone the other day and I just started, I went to TikTok, I started scrolling. 48 minutes later I looked up and I thought were those 48 minutes ago. It's addictive. It is. And again I don't I'm not get social. We use it every day. But here's the reality. All things were created by God and for us a God created social media for his, for his good. The enemy always does what the enemy does. He takes it and twist it. Meaning I can grab my phone right now, as could anyone else, and in a few minutes I can hit a button and I'll be talking live to a lot of people. Yeah, I can also close that button and I could go anywhere on anywhere I wanted to go on my phone. Yeah, any I can look at, anything I want. Look, that's why accountability is so important. There are people in my life that in any minute could walk into my wherever I am, say, give me your phone. I would hand it to them, they would have my passwords. They could look at anything they wanted to see. Like like any search history, anything. Why? Because if you. My theory is this. I can't have any authority in my life unless I'm under authority. Yeah. So. So when students go through life and they don't have any authority in their life, they don't have somebody checking in on them. And parents say to me, well, I don't know what to say to my kids. We have nothing in common. Well, you gave birth to them. Find something in common. Ask them questions. Yeah. How was your day? Fine. What made it fine? What was your high today? What was your low today? Who you hanging out with? How? What are your grades like? What are you doing this weekend? What would you like to do? Let's go for a walk and leave our phones. Here's how it did. We were in trouble when our kids were in high school. I'd come in from a trip I was downstairs in our family room texting with my son, who was upstairs in his bedroom. Then I knew, okay, I'm going to change that. And we did. So well, oh my goodness. I think we've all had those circumstances where we texting our kids in the house. It's Yeah, yeah, it's definitely something. But I think what you were really getting at is by as parents like certainly our, our teens, while they might outwardly say like, oh, you're not cool and I don't really need you, they desperately need us and they want us. And they also need that accountability and that guidance. And even if you don't know what to say, sometimes it's okay just to be honest, be like, you know, I don't know, I don't really have anything to ask you, but like, let's just go play pickleball. Let's go play basketball. Like just come up with something like, we have to make every effort, because social media, you're right. Like that isn't absorbent. I mean, most of us don't even work that long in a day, let alone spend that much time on social media. That is definitely shaping worldviews. It's shaping how they see themselves. There's so much comparison online. We we have to counter that as parents. So talk to us a little bit more about the book and the hopes that you have with the book, and how maybe a parent could use the book, maybe as a Bible study or something that you do in the house, or just know just how it can be practically applied. What's happening is we have the book on the road with us, and I'm seeing lots of people buy multiple copies because they want to give it. And they want to start talking about it. And when when people get the book, what happens is it gives them something to refer back to that. It's not necessarily them having a conversation. There's like, hey, I heard this guy, and I got this book for us. And again, it's short by design. I mean, my audience is not going to spend my on it will not spend days reading books. They'll spend a few minutes here and there. And the responses we're getting back from students who are reading it are very encouraging, because that's what the kind of we was going to happen. So the book really, you know, I share my story and the short version of that is I became a Christian at seven, was raised in a Christian home. At 15 years old, though, I was sexually abused and my world was rocked and I made it. Vow I'll never tell anybody what happened to me. I failed P.E. two years later. Even I played quarterback tennis, play and play golf. I'm very athletic. I wasn't going to change clothes. You find anyone 17 and 18. My drug of choice was lying. I lied more than I ever told the truth that you had to catch me telling the truth. I lied so much. A lot of the lie. Second greatest commandment. The Bible is what? Love your neighbor as yourself. I didn't love me. There's no way I'm going to be able to love you. I can't teach what I've not been taught. I can't give it. I've not been given. And so I just. I've created this fantasy world because everybody bought it. Cause I was a pretty good communicator, is pretty at a young person. And they were like, well, yeah, he lives a great life. And I was, I was so insecure it wasn't even funny. At 21. I was so tired. I've been playing this game for it since I was 15. And I said a very simple prayer, God, if you're real, prove it. I don't think you are. I'm in church every time the doors were open, but I would not know you from Adam. People go to me, I go where I see whatever. You're a Christian. They go, I go to church. That's wonderful. My car goes to church. It's not a Christian, right? This is a relationship, not a religion. Well, at 21, I said that prayer. And two weeks later I was sitting in my office downing a phone, and I heard the audible voice of God in my office, and he said on. I swung around in my chair to see who was there. I saw no one but the hair on the back to my ear. New call mom. And when I did, my mother was attempting suicide and I got her to a hospital and God saved her life. And a doctor looked at my dad and said, I didn't save her. This is a miracle of God. I heard that doctor say, miracle God, I knew, okay, something's changing and I can take you to this spot in Park Ridge Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where I leaned against this long run, this corridor, and I had an encounter with Jesus. And from the top of my head to the soles of my feet at the woman's oil like substance, hit me. I didn't hear any more voice, but I heard in my heart I've called you like, what does that mean? He goes, you're going to come work with me? I said, no, no, I'm going into politics. But thank you. I'm not gonna do that. But surely Malachi teaches us I am the Lord, I change it not. He ain't going to change his mind. So I. I finally surrendered about three years later and was working full time ministry and a habit. I haven't had a job since I was 26 years old. I get to do this. I mean, this is just I love it. So that's in the book. It's it's much more impact than that. But the book really centers upon those 16 words, and Joe 33 for that. That's why I wrote it. And had I going to heaven yesterday, this book, this legacy book, will I will continue to just get the message out and make sure that people know, because when a person really grasp the truth, that they matter and they then understand why they matter, then nothing is impossible to those who believe. Because now you know you have the creator of the universe on the inside of you. Right? Oh, I love that. Oh my gosh, thank you for sharing also your story. And I know that in the book you go into more detail. So I appreciate you sharing that though, because it gives context to what led you to the place where you are today. And it's amazing how God just uses us. And sometimes he calls us when we don't necessarily respond right away. But he never gives up. He pursues us with all vigor and passion until we submit. And you know, it's amazing. And because of that, your ministry is reaching so many people and so many teens. So if a parent is listening to today's show and they want to get their hands on the book, and they want to learn more about your ministry, where can they go? Yeah. Let me give you a couple ideas. One is you matter us. While you might us. That's our home. That's everything you matter. There's a brand new link on that page just at the top of that says struggling with a question mark. Click that. And we've gone through extreme amount of work to if you're dealing with suicidal thoughts, if you've lost someone to suicide, if you're struggling today, there's video content there. There's questions. I mean, there's so much content there for the book itself. You can order it on Amazon just or simply just search. You matter. Dean. You matter. Dean Sykes or you can go to you matter. Book us and get your copy there. So, you know that thing that when you were sitting alone, tenants popped into my heart that I shared with people a lot, and that is just maybe a little encourage to some of your listeners today the the obstacle that you overcome in life, the real serious obstacle will oftentimes become your platform. Yeah, I felt hopelessness. I felt like I felt like I didn't matter. I thought suicide with my mom. And now today, all of these decades later, are home messages. You matter. God did not need your help getting into this life, and conversely, he does not need your help getting out of it. When it's your time to go, he'll go. And with regards to your calling, whatever you're called, you know we're on, which is very clear. The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. What you're called to do is never going to change. If we choose to accept that, that's great. If not, welcome to a life of frustration because you're not going to change the heart of God. That is great and that is beautiful. And I think that really speaks to our audience. So it's going to be very inspirational. Well, it has been a real pleasure. I know that you have a wealth of knowledge and wisdom, and I'm going to encourage all of our listeners to get their hands on this book. It seems like an amazing resource for parents, ministry leaders, youth leaders, and potentially for just the rest of us out there that just need a little bit of hope and encouragement. Maybe we need to hear that we are loved and that there is a plan for us. And I, I'm just so grateful for your time today to talk and share with the the audience about your book and your ministry. Thank you. Thank you so much. You're an easy person to talk with. You can tell you do this a lot. Well, thank you so much. And thank you to all of our listeners for tuning in to this episode of the Covenant Eyes podcast. We'll see you next time.