When CrossPointe Church Youth Pastor David Howard was 14, he decided to give his life to Christ.

Now 30, Howard has been in student ministry for 12 years, and said he is still fulfilling the purpose and plan God has set out for him.

“I really feel like he’s called me to be a missionary and work with whoever he’s planted me around,” Howard said.  “I feel like he’s put me in this city and this place for a reason.”

Howard has been a full-time youth pastor at CrossPointe for almost three years. His ministry entails pastoral guidance, public speaking and organizing camps for teens. He’s also team chaplain for the baseball team at Bob Jones High School.

“My favorite part of my job is spending time with the kids and getting to know them,” he said. “I say that if you don’t build relationships with kids, don’t expect a life change to happen.

Another huge part of what I love doing is taking God’s word and explaining that to a teenager and sharing that through messages, preaching and seeing a light turn on in their life. If it weren’t for the kids and the potential that you see in youth, I wouldn’t do what I do.”

Howard grew up in the church in the Birmingham area. After attending Bible college, he worked briefly with Cook’s Pest Control.

“There was a point that I realized that I needed something greater than me,” he said.

One day he found an ad for a youth pastor at CrossPointe and took the job.

“We want students to be mission-minded, culturally relevant, theologically sound an Biblically literate,” he said. “I would them to stand up and walk on their own and know their faith and share it with other people. They’re going to lead us one day and they have to be able to do that.”

He now lives in Madison with his wife and three children. On Wednesday nights, the church’s latest ministry, Crossfire Fuse, meets in the main auditorium. Crossfire is a student ministry designed with a crowd-type mentality of worship.

For more information about CrossPointe services and ministries or to get involved, visit the church’s website at Cpcfamily.org, or call (256) 772-4463.