Interview with Alex Hale and Zach McCue: Part 2

Kayla and Jayla
Aug 11, 2017
6 min read

Welcome back to this incredible interview with TeenPact President and Vice President, Alex Hale and Zach McCue. If you didn't get the chance to read Part One, we encourage you to read it here.

How has the message of "Children of the Light" affected your lives personally?

Alex: This message "Children of the Light" has dwelt on my heart for a long time, and I ran because I wanted to share this message with others. For a while I viewed my walk with God as a duty, but I never realized that I would let myself down. Life lets you down. I had to learn what it means to be a child of the light and to depend on Christ. We have to become one with the light. We have to be set apart and become like Christ. Suddenly my walk with God wasn't my walk with God; instead I was becoming closer as I walked on my path of life. My life became very different. There is no way I would be the person I am today without this message. When I realized that everything revolves around God, my life has been filled with peace and joy.

Zach: Being a child of God has been something God has been working on me throughout my life. He has been showing me what humility looks like and having confidence in the Lord. God has been showing me this message piece by piece. By nature I am a people pleaser, and for a very long time I thought I had to make people happy instead of seeking God first and wanting to make Him happy instead. I had to learn to be dependent on God. I can't seek to make people happy when I should be trying to make God happy. We are not called to fit in the crows but rather to stand out. We have to be completely dependent on God. This message has affected me in every facet of life. God is continually awakening me to give everything to God. this message has transformed the way I live and grow in my relationship with Christ. We have to surrender everything completely to Him.

How did you feel during the debates?

Alex: I love talking about the debates because it was so evident how much God was transforming me and giving me supernatural peace. I was so nervous and jittery when Zach debated. I had never been on stage in front of 900 people before. My flesh was scared naturally. I didn't know what questions they would ask. When I depended on my own strength, I was scared, but I changed my mindset and realized that it was never about me. The debate was a great opportunity to share what God has been doing in my life. It gave me joy. The debate was the best I felt all week. I had a great time.

Zach: Debate was a time when I was nervous. When I went into primaries the thought crossed my mind that if we didn't make it, it would be OK because then I wouldn't have to go on stage. Yet God gave me peace. Every time that thought crossed my mind, God was faithful and assured me that He had led me here to glorify Him. God gave me the awesome reminder that it was all for Him. It was all about going up there to glorify God. We put up with people and prayed, and I felt waves of peace. It was all God. On stage, God continually gave me peace. I knew the words coming out of my mouth were not my own. The funniest thing during the debate was seeing Alex grin too much, only to find out later that he was shaking during the whole debate and hid his nerves so that he could continue to assure me. We knew that it was God telling us to share this message. I had complete faith in Christ. I surrendered to Christ. The debate was just a time of complete peacefulness.

How did you feel when you won?

Alex: I was awed, but not surprised. It was unbelievable. I was wondering how it happened. The campaigning and the race itself was unbelievable. I was just in awe. I was excited but more than that I was awed in an unexpected way.

Zach: I was in awe of God's incredible faithfulness, love, and grace. This opportunity could have been given to us, yet God chose cares so much that He chose us to influence people. We have truly seen how good God is and how good he will continue to be.

Alex (yellow bowtie) and Zach (red shirt) watch as the votes are coming in from across the country.

People cheer for their new president and vice president.

Alex and Zach surrounded by people congratulating them.

What advice do you have for teens that have dreams but don't know how to get to them?

Alex: Psalm 34:7 says,

Take delight in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

If our desires become his desires, our dreams will become his dreams. We will know it's the plan God has for us. If it's where God wants you to be, he will be there to help you. If we align ourselves with Christ and embrace the dreams that are greater than ourselves He will help us on our path. Christ is the one guiding us. They key is realizing that it's God's dreams. We need to surrender, and God will get you there. Live day by day and he'll get you there.

Zach: There needs to be a distinction between whether it is a dream you want for yourself or if it is for glorifying God. Dreams that bring happiness and joy are from God. Our dreams can grow more and more in line with the dreams of God. Don't be scared to put yourself out there. Regardless of where the fear is or where it comes from, if the dream is from God he will be faithful through and through. Chase God first. Seek after God. God has an abundant amount of faithfulness. He will come through in ways we'd never expect. God will give us the dreams of our heart when we seek after Him.

Who played a major role in helping you to get where you are in life?

Alex: Definitely my family, and my mom and dad. My dad is a really big role model. My dad knows he is a child of God and he loves others. The way my dad acts and responds makes me want to be like him. And of course, my mom was the one who did all the structuring of school. When people compliment me I always point to my mom for teaching and training me. Without my mom's commitment I wouldn't have the same character I do. A christian family is important.

Zach: There's this thing called political socialization which is basically the process by which people have thoughts ingrained in their heads and how they learn to interpret things. Political socialization and even just socialization itself come from family. Without my parents being such firm examples of what it means to love Christ and love others, I wouldn't be who I am today or where I am today. Not everyone has an example of what it is to benefit from godly parents. My parents had the biggest impact on my life. God blessed me with the parents that I have. God knew what he was doing when he set up my family the way he did.

Where do you feel God is leading you in the next year or so?

Alex: I will be attending Baylor University. God wants me there, but I don't know why. I just know that God is calling me there. It just became clear that Baylor is where God wants me to be.

Zach: I have dreams, but God has taught me patience and trust in Him. This fall I am going to Worldview at the Abbey. It's going to be incredible to be around such godly people and to grow in relationships with people. In the spring I will be staffing at TeenPact. God has definitely set a whole new plan for this year than I thought.

Thank you for being patient for this two day interview! Hopefully it was worth it to you. It was definitely worth it to us to spend two hours interviewing these guys. We left this interview feeling more inspired, and hopefully it did the same for you! Let us know what you thought of this interview in the comments below or by contacting us. Thank you!