JOHNSON COUNTY — In one Johnson County community, a picture says a thousand words. This picture of shoes caught my eye as I scrolled on social media.
Early in the school year, a Center Grove couple felt a calling to create a safe space for their teenage daughter and her friends to grow in their faith.
"We saw a need in her life and her friend's lives to open up our home and offer them a fun atmosphere, something that they can come play games, talk about tough topics that they are dealing with," says Erin Nikou. "It's hard to be an eighth grader right now."
Erin and her husband Aaron got together a group of their friends and neighbors who also had kids in eighth grade in Center Grove Schools and they offered up their home for fellowship on Sunday nights.
"Whatever political party, whatever race, whatever gender. The struggle is, they are lost," Aaron Nikou said. "And they are broken. And they need a place to come."
They started the fellowship night at their home with about 30 teens in attendance. They led discussions on topics like identity, social media, making goof friends, making choices, and mental health struggles.
Aaron started leading the talks and says they didn't really go into it with a plan, just let God lead them and let the kids make suggestions for the topics of discussion.
Week by week, it grew exponentially with the teens inviting their friends to join them on for fellowship.
They shared pictures on social media and more and more kids were curious and wanted to come.
"How are you fitting these kids in your house?" Erin Nikou said.
She says they would try to figure out ways to move furniture and squeeze people in as numbers grew past 100. She says somehow, each week, everyone had room.
"It's almost like the story of feeding 5,000, your space multiplies in ways as long as you are just obedient and let God move in the way he wants to move," Erin Nikou said.
The parents supplied a meal for the kids and opened up a Venmo account so other parents could contribute. Erin says somehow each week they would have enough to feed all of the hungry teens in attendance.
Then local businesses, like nearby McDonald's, stepped up to donate burgers and fries for the kids.
Volunteer Katie Nikou was invited on Week 3 to be the guest speaker on a difficult topic.
She lost her husband to suicide a few years ago and came to talk to the students about mental health and anxiety.
"I've always said, if his story can help somebody, then I'm an open book," said Katie Nikou. "And I think in today's society with mental health and everything, it's really important for these kids to have a safe space and a parents or an adult to talk to."
While she is not a parent to a student here, her niece is part of the group, and she has come back week after week to help lead discussions when they break into small groups.
"The world we grew up in is completely different than the world they are living in right now," said Katie Nikou. "If they are going through something similar, they have a safe spot here on Sunday nights to talk to an adult and get the help that they need."
Katie says seeing the group grow week after week is a sign.
"I think it's just, its a huge God thing," Katie Nikou said.
With the fellowship night's organic start with the Nikou family and other parent volunteers, it has continued to grow, welcoming students and speakers from different denominations and faith backgrounds.
Danny Anderson is the lead pastor for Emmanuel Church in the community and he heard about the group meeting on Sunday nights.
Some of the parents invited him to the Nikou household to speak and lead a discussion with the students.
"And I was blown away," Anderson said about seeing all of the kids attend this fellowship night and pack into the house. "Car after car after car, because middle school kids don't drive, so parents were dropping them off and I'm like, oh my goodness."
Anderson describes himself as a "systems" guy who likes to have a plan for the logistics of things, so he got concerned wondering how all of the kids outside the house playing games and getting dropped off would fit inside.
"How are all these kids going to fit inside this house?" said Anderson. "It's just, it's not going to work."
But he was amazed how they all fit and were open to sharing their faith.
"This organic explosion of God's moving in student's hearts," said Anderson.
He knew the group would keep growing and he urged his fellow leaders at Emmanuel to help in some way.
They decided to open up their field house to the fellowship group on Sunday nights, allowing the faith movement to expand beyond the walls of the Center Grove Middle Schools.
Now they welcome eighth grade students from several nearby schools, and hundreds show up for food, fellowship and fun each week.
"Our heart is that parents don't feel alone," Aaron Nikou said.
He says the fellowship night is a safe environment to learn biblical principles in a comfortable, safe and non-judgmental environment where kids can open up and ask questions. He says they have been getting feedback from not only the teens and their parents, but from people who work in the schools saying they are noticing a difference in the students.
"I can't tell you how many teachers have reached out to us saying we need this," Aaron Nikou said.
Jolynda Wilson taught middle school students in the Center Grove community for years and now she is a parent to two daughters, one is in eighth grade and in this group.
Wilson volunteers as a parent-mentor. She says it is important for kids to open up and connect with other adult mentors who love them and care about them. She says being in eighth grade now comes with pressures her students didn't have to deal with years ago.
"The pressures are a lot more significant," said Wilson. "And there's a lot more weighing on these kids than just 10 years ago."
Wilson got a little emotional expressing what this group means to her and her daughter.
"My youngest daughter that's in this group is someone that doesn't like to talk a lot, but this has gotten her to express more of what she is feeling, the struggles that she is having," said Wilson. "And approach them in a totally different way than she did before."
Wilson says she sees the need for these teens to have emotional and spiritual guidance especially with social media and all of the choices they are faced with in today's world.
For parent Calvin Beaman, he sees a difference in his son who recently started attending the group with his friends.
They live in Clark Pleasant Community Schools and started attending fellowship night when it opened up to other schools.
"Being able to open up without being judged," said Beaman. "Almost like, this is the answer. This is the thing we've been looking for."
WRTV sat down with several students from different schools to learn about the pressures they face.
Lilly Roller says the pressures can be different for boys and girls at this age.
"There's a lot of pressure, like for boys, I think its a lot of sports," said Roller. "And for girls, it's like comparing to like, what other people have and what you want to look like."
Chase Casber said, "They are not like, being good enough at their sport."
And Easton Lowe says there is pressure meet expectations of friends, parents and coaches.
For Ryan Mokaya, some of the peer pressures he sees at school can be even more serious.
"A lot of people start vaping and doing drugs and stuff like that," said Mokaya. "So its a big peer pressure."
But since joining the fellow night, these students are noticing a change in their schools in the cafeteria, the hallways, in the classroom and online.
Samaira Gala and Myka Nikou say that it's helped them feel like they are not alone in what they are going through.
Kennedy Kemper and Lilly Roller say it has helped break cliques in their school.
"The friend groups have like intermingled a lot more, which is not normal for Center Grove," said Roller. "It's been really cool to see people interact with each other."
They say the schools have gotten much closer as well.
Kyler Hardacre, Colton Watson and Ryder Myers all attend Clark Pleasant Schools and agree that they are seeing more similarities with kids from other schools and that since attending the group, they are noticing less negativity and more positivist and personally are growing closer relationships with each other and God.
"You are enough in God's eyes, so you don't have to keep trying to be somebody for other people," Mokaya said.
It's these conversations and changes the Nikous hoped to see but the had no idea would grow to this level when they first opened up their home.
Their best advice to any other parents in other communities looking to start something like this, just go for it, and don't think too much about it. Trust God to lead you.
"Open your home up," Erin Nikou said. "We have such a small window of time to impact these kids."
