I have now been involved in Urban Impact for over a year, and through this time I have been privileged to be a part of and run many great programs. Because of this I have been able to befriend and get to know a lot of young kids, but I know the need is much greater than friendship. The kids of the North Side have a bunch of friends. Many of them are great, but most pin each other down with expectations set by past generations: Welfare, drugs, and lots of sex with all of its consequences. This reminds me of what Principal Rick, one of the founders of the UI: Choir, told me, "Our kids don't need friends, they have enough of those. They need people to keep them out of jail and off of each other." We went on to talk about what really makes a difference. Urban Impact programs keeps kids off the street, tell them about God and the great rescue through Jesus, teach them skills, and feed them. Not a bad list, actually pretty good, really good, down right snazzy, but what in that list helps them beyond choir or basketball practice? Yes, you might answer Jesus and I wouldn't argue with you, but have you ever heard of a Sunday Christian, the guy who goes to church, sings, sits, listens then goes home and forgets. It's no different with our kids; they are Program Christians except when they go home and forget they sell drugs and guns. What makes it stick? How can our kids take what they learn and put it into practice instead of throwing it into a Proverbial trash can?
If you have the answer to this let me know. Until that time we have found that we must live the life of an incarnational missionary.... What!? Despite incarnational not being a real word I believe it means that I need to walk in the shoes of those to whom I minister. I know I'm not black and there is no way I'm going back to high school, but I do want to be a part of my kids' lives. I want to be there when they are making the hard choices, to help them with home work, and show them God at work in me and them. This will be tough, but it doesn't always have to be. A couple weeks ago I took a group of guys to hunt zombies at a local church youth event (they had a biblical metaphor of those who were truly living as opposed to the walking dead) and last week Laura and I had a Super Bowl party and had them all over to our apartment. The only thing tough about those was getting up off my cow derriere and doing it. So, if I challenged myself to a New Year's resolution I would say it's walking the walk with the kids to really make an impact.
Prayer Requests and Praise:
- Praise for the volunteers who have stepped up to help in the Performing Arts
- Praise, one our students made it into CAPA (the best public high school)
- Prayer for the Performing Arts Academy
- Support raising for Urban Impact's Ministry Associates
- One of our PAA kids who is going through some "stuff"
- Continued challenge for myself and others to get more involved with our student's lives
Thank you all for your prayers and continued support.
