Tyler Thompson, a senior at Hillside High School, and I started a group called "The Real". Every week students gather after school and discuss topics that they don't broach during class -- from Jesus to tattoos. When asked why he helped to start this group Tyler responded, "I've seen the world...I want to reach out to the youth. I want to help save all the people I can."Tyler has seen his brothers go to jail and been pursued himself by gun-toting gang members. As he felt himself being caught up in that lifestyle, he began looking for something real. Although he grew up in church, it had become routine for him. One day his mother came to him and said, "If nobody can help [you], then a man named Jesus can. Just give him a try."
"He changed me in a big way," Tyler said about Jesus. "I could have been dead...He changed my life by stepping in and giving me chance after chance...When the gang related stuff went down hill, I found the real understanding of Christ."
When asked what he likes about "The Real", Tyler said, "The growth capacity. People are starting to see how real it is."
"Learning about people and perspectives of Christ," he adds. "...learning how they were brought up...the stories of their lives...we feel what they go through."
