Burke-Divide Electric Cooperative has selected Avah Bullinger to represent the cooperative on the National Rural Electric Cooperative Youth Tour to Washington, D.C., June 15-21, 2024.
Avah is a sophomore at Powers Lake High School and is the daughter of Burke-Divide Electric Cooperative members Jessica and Jeremy Bullinger of Powers Lake. At school, Avah participates in Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Future Farmers of America (FFA), Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), basketball, volleyball, and track.
Outside of school, Avah participates in her churches’ youth group and 4-H and works on her family’s ranch.
Burke-Divide Electric Cooperative is proud to have Avah representing the cooperative on this year’s Youth Tour!
As part of the selection process, Avah was asked to write an essay on the following topic: If chosen as a Youth Tour delegate, you will be traveling to Washington, D.C., to experience and learn about America’s rich history. What moment in American history do you wish you had been a part of and what would you have contributed?
Read Avah's winning essay!
Saving Lives
“Love is the ultimate revolutionary force that can transform hearts, societies, and nations.”-Lonnie Frisbee. If I could go back to any time period of American History, I would go back to the late 1960’s to 1970’s to go experience the Jesus Revolution. I feel that it was a very transforming time in our culture, and it would be so amazing to witness all that happened first-hand. This is why I would love to go back in time and experience to the Jesus Revolution.
One of the first reasons why I chose to go back to this time is because it was the awakening of Christ to the people in and around our country. The U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, and a group of young people, called hippies, were protesting against all wars, with their motto being “peace, not war”. They described and fit the definition of a hippie, which is “a usually young person who rejects the mores of established society and advocates a nonviolent ethic” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). This group of people was fun, wild, usually had long hair, and were all over the country. The hippies felt left out and abandoned from the middle-class society, which was why these teenagers turned to drugs and bad habits. The hippies also attended and hosted anti-war marches and other gatherings to protest against the war. This anti-war protesting was started by the youth in the U.S. and spread all throughout the whole world. Amid the protesting, an extraordinary movement began to unfold. It all started on the west coast in the late 1960’s. A group of hippies were searching for truth when they came across a very special young hippie named Lonnie Frisbee. He was the face and beginning of the Jesus Revolution, and used hitch hiking and walking to spread the gospel and the good news of Christ. Until this time, most hippies wanted nothing to do with Jesus and being saved. Lonnie Frisbee ended up at the house of a man named Chuck Smith, who was a pastor at Calvary Church. Chuck didn’t welcome the hippies into his church at first, but as soon as he started to understand Lonnie Frisbee, his ideas changed. This was the start of the Jesus Revolution, and the main people that began it.
The second reason why I would go back to this time is because believers in Christ were nearly doubling every day. Through the partnership of Smith and Frisbee, Calvary Church quickly outgrew its small building. Hippies were coming from far and wide to learn about Jesus. The church grew so much that they had to set out a giant tent to hold the services because of the escalating numbers. They also did many baptisms down at the Pirates Cove Beach. In just one day they baptized over 4,500 people, which to this day is the largest amount of people baptized in a day. From these humble beginnings, the Jesus Revolution, also known as the Jesus Movement, spread throughout North America, Europe, Central America, Australia, and New Zealand. This period in history left a lasting legacy on the American Church, as it ignited the development of many new denominations.
When I envision my involvement in this moment in history, I see myself helping to spread the gospel. I would have loved to have been involved in the outreach and to experience the impact of God’s love changing people’s lives in such magnitude. I find this revolution so intriguing and amazing because in my life, my biggest value is my Christian faith and finding ways to incorporate it in my every day. I cannot imagine a more exciting and inspiring point in history to witness and contribute to, saving lives for eternity through Christ.