When Blake Heckel’s world changed in April 2016, he was lost.

Blake attended St. Andrew from his elementary years and completed Confirmation, but upon transferring schools before ninth grade, he got sidetracked. “I was really trying to fit in,” Blake said. “I would do whatever it took.”

Things fell apart with the death of Blake’s friend last April. Blake was in church the next Sunday and hasn’t missed since.
And it was only the beginning of unimaginable grief over the following 10 months. The community mourned in July the passing of Christian Sanchez, an active member of St. Andrew student ministries. Blake lost another friend in August. Two more of Blake’s peers – Shepton High School sophomores – lost their lives in an accident in February 2017.

“It just seems nice to have the backbone, someone to have your back, a foundation,” Blake said.
The student ministry aims to reach many more students, including the many who came the Sunday following February’s accident. Room is becoming tight, though.

“I’ve always said that I don’t want somebody to miss out on this opportunity like I did my first two years,” Blake said. “I think it would be selfish to keep this youth group to ourselves because it’s such an amazing experience, like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. There’s so much love and faith and amazing people in here, it could change someone’s life just like it changed mine.”