Asking Questions: Dave Navarra, 19, was at a conference when the seed of an idea was planted in his mind.

"One of the speakers said something that really hit a nerve in me," the college sophomore says. "He told the crowd, 'Jesus is the answer to the question most people aren't asking.'"

Dave jotted that sentence down on a piece of paper, stuck it in his pocket, and completely forgot about it. "About a week later, I had the same pair of jeans on and that paper fell out of my pocket," he says. "That's when I felt God urging me to come up with something that would get people asking questions. If they were thinking through life questions, then believers could help them see the answer: a relationship with Jesus."

For the next few days Dave prayed about how to get people thinking. Soon, he found himself pondering the traits of the Lord and how he'd explain God to others. "That's when I concluded that everything about God is love," Dave says. "So I wanted to come up with the cheapest thing that would tell people they're loved and also spark them to ask questions about who loves them."

Two days later, he thought of the perfect thing: making buttons that simply read, "You Are Loved."

Spread the Love: Since he'd be funding his project out of his own pocket, David figured he could afford to make about 500 buttons. Besides, he couldn't help but wonder if anyone would really catch his vision. Would most of the buttons end up in a box gathering dust?

But when he got to church that week, he was given a check for enough money to purchase 5,000 buttons. Unknown to him, his congregation had taken an offering to support his idea. His church believed in him. He was blown away.

From there Dave began speaking to local youth groups with his message of love. Before he knew it, he'd visited 16 different groups. "The results were amazing," he says. "I was just basically sharing my heart about how everyone could use these buttons to spread the gospel message of Jesus and how much he loves them."

Dave's message is definitely getting out. He's already given away more than 18,000 buttons—and not just to local youth groups. "Missionaries have taken hundreds of these buttons on their trips overseas," he says. "And soon we're going to send them to soldiers in Iraq." He's also set up a website at youarelovedby.com.

"Now, I would really like to take this to the next level with a You Are Loved mission day, where we go throughout the community and love people and help them with whatever they need," Dave says. "We have to be the ones who show love, but these buttons are a great way to get them asking questions."

Read more from 'Interesting People'

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