Urban Youth Ministry

StoryCorps

2011-06-01T12:27:00.004-04:00

Saturday was a good day. It was one of those days that you tuck away in your mind and remember always. I have boxes (photo boxes, shoe boxes, gift boxes) that line the closets of my home. Don't turn me in to the TV show Hoarders. They are filled with letters, cards, keepsakes and things that help me remeber people or certain times in my life. Saturday was the type of day that I will put in my mental keepsake box.

Eli, Sam and I had the opportunity to participate in a StoryCorps interview. "Story Corps is an independent non-profit whose mission it is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives." It is an oral storytelling project. Story Corps has been operating since 2003 and has recorded more than 30,000 interviews. It is broadcasted weekly on NPR's Morning Edition. 1% of StoryCorps interviews that are recorded are played on NPR. A friend of mine invited me to participate and to invite a couple of the youth as well. We were invited to have a conversation about our friendship, our youth group and the lives of the youth. I was the interviewer and Sam and Eli were the interviewees. They are members of the youth group, neighbors and friends. They are both high school students.

The recording studio was a trailer parked outside the Lexington Farmer's Market. We arrived Saturday morning and each of us was a little nervous. I selected some questions to ask the youth from StoryCorps database and then came up with some on my own. I asked about 20 questions total. Here are a few I asked:

What are you most proud of?
What does your future hold?
What makes us such good friends?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
What makes our weekly neighborhood Ultimate Frisbee games so awesome?
Who is the most important person in your life?
Who has had the biggest influence in your life?
How would you describe our youth group?
What are the challenges about being in a multiculural youth group?
How would you describe your faith?
What is something you have been learning spiritually?

I was in awe of Eli and Sam. I already knew they were incredible. I have known it for years, but I was hit in such a profound way by their eloquence, honesty and their insight. Eli is 15 and Sam is 16. Both youth have such incredible stories and have overcome so much adversity in their young lives. Each of them shared things in the conversation that I did not know before. I was grateful to learn more about their stories. I normally see Eli and Sam 5 days a week, but so often, in the busyness of life we don't stop to ask questions and to listen.

I felt honored that my friend considered the work with the youth something noteworthy, something others may want to hear and something that should be presevered. Thanks, Jodie. I am not exaggerating when I say that the interview was magical. The youth were beaming throughout the interview and were proud to share their stories. I think in the process they realized that they truly did have something to say. They also gave us a copy of the interview to keep and remember.

I did the interviewing, but I answered one of the questions that I asked. What are you most proud of? The truth is, as I look at my life, I am most proud of being a youth leader to The Rock Youth. Hands down.

After the interview we met John at Joe Bolgna's for pizza. The food was good and the company was better. A lot of laughter and reminisicing. Also, we may or may not have pretended that it was Eli's birthday and got free cake. Don't ask me whose idea that was.

PS-If our interview is selected and appears on NPR, I'll be sure to let ya'll know.

Belonging

2011-03-17T21:28:00.008-04:00

When John and I first moved into our apartment on North Broadway I was convinced that it was the right choice. The decision to move required very little faith because God’s direction was so clear. I thought, “We are to live in this particular apartment complex, in this neighborhood, in this zip code.” I have rarely felt that certain about anything. I remember my anticipation as we moved in four years ago. I was expectant, excited, and hopeful because I knew that God was up to something.

We had existing relationships and friendships with a number of our new neighbors. Our new neighbors came to welcome us, help us move boxes and offer us food. There was an immediate sense of welcome and belonging. Our relationships with our neighbors began to grow and deepen with time. I began to open our small home on Thursdays to kids in are apartment complex for homework help. Most of the kids coming spoke English as a second language. I began to build a small children's library in one of the two closets in our apartment. We would read all together sometimes and then other times send each kid to a different part of the apartment to read individually. Jose’s, one of our neighbors, favorite spot to read was always the bathtub. J We would play BLURT!, a board game that helps build vocabulary. It would get so unruly at times during BLURT! that my next door neighbors would bang on the walls. I am a firm believer that learning can and should be rowdy.

The kids would also help me bake a desert each week that we would eat for snack and then save a piece for John when he got home from work. We would practice reading directions from a cook book, measuring ingredients, taking turns, and NOT overeating. I remember those days with a deep fondness because it was small, but important time for the kids and for me as well.

Then I remember times that were difficult. I remember holding a crying child on her birthday. Her dad had been taken to jail early that morning and her birthday party was canceled. It was suppose to be her first birthday party…ever. I remember children coming to our house late at night to get away from domestic violence in their home. I remember not being able to sleep because the couple above us was fighting and it sometimes ended in the police being called. I remember not knowing my limits at times. I remember wondering if love was enough to make a difference.

By all logical accounts our move from a rent-free 3-bedroom house on the Southside of town (a corner lot no less) to a one-bedroom apartment at Parkway Condominiums (a very loose interpretation of the word condominium) was a downward shift. Yet it brought me to a community where I found a sense of belonging like I have never known. I have never felt as invested in, as poured out for, and as much love as I do for a place than for my neighborhood. I have found a place and a people that I call my own. It’s the ultimate cliché of do-gooders: You go somewhere expecting to help someone one and in actuality it benefits you, the helper, more than it did the person you set out to help.

I like reflecting on our early, energetic days in the neighborhood. I think it is easy to be consumed by the trials, the tribulations and the mountains we face at times. Sometimes we don’t take time to remember “our story”. Old lovers will reminisce about the beginning, the attraction, the goose bumps, the connection. In the same way I have found comfort and peace remembering how this neighborhood came to be our home. I can close my eyes and bring to mind the call we heard, the lives people opened to us, the life that we have built and are still building. It is a good feeling to belong.

Winter Jam

2011-03-14T10:40:00.001-04:00

On Saturday night we took our youth to this massive Christian concert at Rupp Arena…it’s called WinterJam. It’s pretty nuts…over 20,000 people from all over Kentucky show up for this concert. It only cost $10 so I guess it’s the ultimate youth event…it lasts about four hours, all the entertainment is provided and it’s dirt-cheap. We arrived 30 minutes before the show and all the parking lots were full of church buses and vans. We saw this massive line of people that snaked its way all around the perimeter of the lower parking lot at Rupp Arena. It immediately became obvious that we were going to be sitting in the nosebleeds.

I’m always a bit skeptical of these types of events…massive productions, light shows, highly emotional speakers, etc. I can’t seem to figure out if I’m at a rock concert or a worship service. I guess it’s both, but that confuses me. My last post was about how simple things are usually the best…and WinterJam is not very simple.

However, I can see some merit to these events. We took eleven of our youth and none of them had ever been to something like this before. The bands did a good job and our youth were able to see that there are more Christians in this city than they might think. There are probably Christians at their schools but, if they are like I was at that age, they probably do not talk about their faith too much at school. We also love to expose our youth to new things…whether that is taking them hiking, to museums, line dancing in downtown Nashville, bowling, to serve at the Catholic Action Center, to summer camp, or to a big Christian concert downtown.

We warned them ahead of time that most of the music was “white people music.” We were right…there were two African Americans on the stage the entire evening and one white rapper. The white rapper’s job was to get the crowd hype in between bands. We would get a little urban flavor going for about two minutes and then the next band would start. However, I will say that since DC Talk’s former member, Michael Tait, became the front man for the Newsboys, their sound has a little more urban flair.

The youth seemed to have a good time…We goofed off, danced, sang…One of our boys plays bass guitar and told me I would have VIP passes to his first concert when his future band plays an event like WinterJam. It was a fun evening and I’m thankful that WinterJam only charges $10 so churches like mine can afford to participate.

Rainy Saturday

2011-03-09T11:42:00.003-05:00

We’ve started playing Ultimate Frisbee again on Saturdays. However, the weather didn’t cooperate this past Saturday. Instead of playing Frisbee, we let the kids come over to our house and hang out. We didn’t have any plans for the day, but a few of them called asking about Frisbee and we just told them to come on over. Six guys came over and we had a blast.

We played Egyptian Rat Slap, which is a crazy card game that involves lightning quick reflexes and great concentration…not my greatest strengths. However, my wife dominates that game. We also watched Paul Blart: Mall Cop, scrounged up some food for lunch (we had to get creative), and actually played a little Frisbee when the rain stopped. There was so much water and mud on the field that it was a little ridiculous…but it was fun.

We all had so much fun…Elijohn, one of the high school guys, said we should do this every Saturday. Yesterday at the After-School Program some of the guys were still talking about how much fun we had.

One thing I’ve learned at The Rock is that simple things are usually the best. I’ve said this many times before, but I keep saying it because it is so true. We didn’t plan a big youth event or do anything extraordinary. We played cards, ate PB&J and frozen pizza, played a little Frisbee in the rain, and watched a movie. That’s it…yet it was a great day.

Another important fact is that it would have never happened if we didn’t live in the neighborhood. We would have canceled Frisbee and then gone about our day. However, since we live right by the park, we can be flexible and use our home to bless others. Cristian can walk over in the rain and show up sopping wet. I can easily hop in the car and go pick up a few kids that live a few blocks away.

It sounds so simple, yet people have so many fears associated with urban areas and they think they will never have time for themselves if they live near the people to whom they are ministering. There is some truth to that thinking, but I have found that living in the community actually saves time and allows for more spontaneous ministry to take place. I didn’t have to plan a big event for Saturday…we just woke up and made it happen.

I’ll close with a quote. John Perkins, an African-American man who has served in urban communities for most of his life, writes this about living in urban communities where you minister:

“Another way of restoring the stabilizing glue to our urban areas is for committed Christians to live in these communities. The importance of our physical presence in these communities can’t be overstated, whether it means moving to them for the first time, coming back, or just staying put. This principle that we have come to call relocation is what has given Christian community development success as well as undeniable credibility” (75).

Perkins, John. Beyond Charity: The Call to Christian Community Development. Grand Rapids:

Baker Publishing Group, 1993.

it's been awhile...

2011-02-23T15:52:00.003-05:00

I think is the title to a bad Staind song...I probably haven't thought about Staind since I worked at Disc Jockey about 10 years ago. Anyway, it has been awhile and I need to get back to posting soon. So stay tuned...

We have Youth Group tonight so I won't be putting anything up here tonight, but will in the next couple of days.

Good Grades Celebration

2011-02-01T10:39:00.004-05:00

January 28th was a good day at The Rock. We had our 5th Good Grades Banquet! We had over 50 people attend, ate dinner together, met new people, and celebrated the accomplishments of nine of our students.

Let me explain very briefly...The Good Grades Banquet is our way of honoring the students in our youth group who go against the grain and do well in school. In order to receive the award they must earn all As, Bs, or Cs on their report cards.

This is fairly easy for some, but can be difficult for others. We have many students who speak English as a second language....their parents often cannot help them with their homework because they do not read or write in English. Some of the African refugees lived in refugee camps where education was minimal. One high school boy had to flee rebel soldiers and did not go to school for almost four years. He then came to the US where he had lots of catching up to do. Other students live in chaotic homes where it is very difficult to focus on school.

Kids in our neighborhood face so many challenges and some are rising above those challenges and succeeding in school. We want to honor that.

This year was very special because Centenary UMC, a large church here in Lexington, heard about what we are doing and wanted to help. They raised money for Wal-Mart gift cards (each student received a $15 Wal-Mart gift card), two ladies came and decorated, and others cooked food and helped with set up and tear down. The folks at Centenary reiterated that they wanted to serve us and help where needed. They had no agenda, they just came and served us. It was incredible.

We also were able to take our students to Champs to roller-skate and play laser tag on Tuesday evening. The owner of Champs was generous enough to let us bring our students free of charge!

Paint Lick, KY -- my homeland

2010-10-21T09:24:00.003-04:00

Two Saturdays ago we took the middle school students at the Rock to
Paint Lick, KY for their second annual hay-ride, bonfire, and capture
the flag. I must inform you that I lived in Paint Lick, KY from
1st-7th grade...it's my homeland. Last year I entitled my post:
"Urban Kids Invade Paint Lick"...it wasn't so much of an invasion this
time. Our students have become friends with the Paint Lick folks and
we were all so excited to get together again. Anna, one of the girls
from Club Jesus (that's what they call their youth group) was counting
down the days until the hay-ride on Facebook. As soon as we arrived
they welcomed us as their own.

What a blessing it is to bring kids together from such different
backgrounds. One boy from Paint Lick was explaining to one our guys
named Amarr that in the summers he doesn't even use a shower...just a
water hose in the back yard. Amarr responded, "Are you crazy??? You
do what?!?!" Hilarious.

We played capture the flag. There's something about that game and
youth...they absolutely love it...I love it actually. It's very rare
I get to pretend like I'm Navy Seal on a secret operation trying to
recover my country's stolen goods. It was dark...there were trees,
cars to hide behind...the only light was coming from a massive bonfire
that Doug built in the middle of the field. Merlin, a small Congolese
middle school boy, somehow manages to get the flag every game. He's
got some mad capture the flag skills. I'm wanting to play in our
neighborhood park. Though I'm not sure how that would go over...I
think the park closes at dusk...We may disturb some of the folks who
sleep in the park in the park also. May need to find another place =).

I'm learning if I want to hang with these students I need to be in
good shape. That Saturday we played Frisbee for two hours in the
morning...when we arrived we played football in a field with 6 in.
tall grass (not so easy to run)...and then we played capture the flag
for almost two hours. Needless to say...I was tired...it's a good
tired though...I'm blessed to have such a great job.

Report Cards

2010-10-21T08:01:00.002-04:00

Why do kids show us their report cards all the time? Even if they
have all Fs and Ds...they still show us.

Well, here's my hunch...they know we care. The reason I got good
grades in school was because I knew my parents' cared. I knew they
would be very upset if I didn't do well...and I knew they would be
happy if I did well. I even got cash for As...I raked in some dough
back then.

I'm really hoping that our Good Grades Banquet in January is packed --
maybe wishful thinking...but I hope that 15 kids earn it. Usually
there are 6-8 kids who get As, Bs, and Cs are their report cards
(that's what they need to earn the Good Grades Banquet). So far, I'm
seeing good grades...let's hope they keep it up!

This is why I say that what we really need is people wiling to come
down and hang with us....get to know our group...build
relationships...play Frisbee with us...be present in our community.
Sure, tutors are needed, but relationships make such a bigger
difference. Christians in this country need to think more like
missionaries. They need to move into communities and get to know
folks...it's tough to help people if you don't know them. I still
cling to Eugene Peterson's interpretation of John 1:14: "The Word
became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood." Don't be
afraid to take some risks.

Paint Lick

2010-10-07T09:43:00.003-04:00

This weekend we are taking our middle school students to Paint Lick, KY for a hay-ride, hot-dog roast, bonfire, and capture-the-flag. I lived in Paint Lick from first grade thru seventh grade and the people there played a huge role in my growth as a Christian. My dad was the pastor at Paint Lick UMC during those years and we still have a close bond with the people there.

Doug West, the volunteer youth guy there, sent me a message last year and invited us to bring our youth down for last year's hay-ride (Doug used to baby-sit my brother and I when my parents went out of town for a few days...he was one of the "cool" baby-sitters). I gladly accepted his invitation because I never turn down a free event for our students. I also was pumped to show them where I grew up and show them how my school, church, and house were right next to each other...funny thing is, some of our youth have that experience in Lexington -- their house, elementary school, and church were all right next to each other. I guess Paint Lick and the north side of Lexington aren't all that different...

We went last year and they loved it. They wanted to go back the next weekend. Then at camp this past summer two girls from Paint Lick were at our camp. Our kids connected with them and now they are talking on Facebook about the hay-ride this weekend. Our youth are connecting with Christians from all over Kentucky. It's a privilege to play a part in that.

Click here for more on last year's hay-ride: http://johngallaher.blogspot.com/2009/12/urban-kids-invade-paint-lick-ky.html

Frisbee

2010-10-05T09:52:00.002-04:00

Every Saturday at 11:00am we play Frisbee with the youth and children at the park. They usually come to our house first and we walk across the street to park to play...

Right there is a simple advantage to living in the neighborhood with the youth.

It's not a big event that we have to plan...we play Frisbee with kids in our neighborhood at the neighborhood park.

Last Saturday was awesome. Our friends, Christine and Chad, were in town. Chad was my roommate in college and he is the ultimate beach bum...it seems like everyone in FL plays Frisbee. Well, Christine and Chad know how to play Frisbee...Laura and I like to play Frisbee. We utilized their skills and they taught some throws and plays to the kids. We had over 25 kids, youth, and adults there...Africans, Africa-Americas, Hispanics, Whites...

The kids learn a lot from playing Frisbee...

Some have anger issues...they work those out on the field.

They're learning that their team usually loses if they don't work together and get along (teamwork).

They're learning that when they encourage the others, the others play better...
when they discourage the others, the others play worse and get upset.

They're learning that even though they feel like they can't keep going, they can always dig deeper and find the energy.

They're learning that laziness hurts you and your team.

They're learning that they can do way more than they thought they could.

They're learning that scoring and getting recognition isn't what wins games (I still believe defense wins games...at least in Frisbee).

Most of our youth and kids do not play on sports teams...many do not even have the opportunity. There are great values to learn when playing team sports and they're learning them on the Frisbee field. It's a simple thing we do every week and one of the best.

After-School Program Starts Today!

2010-08-30T15:25:00.002-04:00

I'm sitting here in the youth room waiting for our students to arrive. Today we start the after-school program for the 2010-2011 school year. Unfortunately, we are only able to do it three days a week this year...but it's better than zero days a week.

Our after-school program is probably simpler than some of the others out there. It's really based on relationships. The relationships that the adults develop with the students is what is most important. Their education is certainly a priority, but we find that the relationships really make the biggest difference in their lives. Many of our students will do their homework because they know that someone cares if they do it or not. A couple years ago we started doing Good Grades Banquets twice a year. We reward and honor those students who earn As, Bs, and Cs on their report cards. Since then, the students always bring their report cards to church to show us how their doing.

Kids will try to do better if they know someone will notice...see, the relationship often can spark excellence in school.

So, essentially, we need people who are willing to come and invest a small amount of time each week just to spend time with our students...caring adults...not talented adults. So, let me know if you are interested in volunteering. M-T-W from 3:45-5:30.

john.gallaher@gmail.com

Music

2010-08-19T13:15:00.004-04:00

The Rock Youth officially has a youth praise band. We have a guitarist, drummer, bassist, and vocalist. This blows me away. I'm not really sure how it has happened so quickly...I guess these kids are serious about learning.

I started teaching guitar to three students a few months ago. Shan, one our volunteers, started teaching three kids bass. Another boy learns drums from our Hispanic brothers on Sunday evenings. One of high school girls has been singing with me for a few years now. All of sudden, they all can play a few songs together now!

Last week I was out of town and couldn't lead worship...Esther, another volunteer, said she could sing and she asked Sam if she could play guitar. Sam, a high school freshman, played guitar by herself and helped lead worship!

I am so thankful that our students are learning music, and most importantly, how to lead others in worship.

Last Day of Summer-Program

2010-08-03T15:06:00.003-04:00

Today was the last day of our summer program. The whole thing was pretty simple...we play games (kickball, frisbee, sidewalk chalk, etc.) for an hour or so...each lunch...have a time of reading...then play some board games. We do this two days a week during the summers.

Once again I have discovered that simple things can be very valuable. Our summer program is good for a few reasons:

1) Kids have a safe place to spend time and make friends. Summer isn't good for many kids on our side of town. They don't have sports teams, practices, camps, or pool memberships. Boredom sets in and trouble creeps in quickly. Walking the streets with nothing to do is not good for teenagers...usually they find negative things to get into. Just being together at church matters.

My wife asked one of our middle school boys how his summer was going. He said, "It's alright." "Just alright?" my wife asked. He said, "Well, it's good on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday." Let me explain...on Tuesday and Thursday he has summer program at church. On Wednesday night is youth group. And on Saturday we play Ultimate Frisbee. This church is so important for the teens and kids in the community.

2) The kids get a free meal. One of the smallest girls at our program ate 4 hot-dogs one day. She doesn't get much food at home. One family has 7 growing kids that love to eat. It's hard for them to get full...not enough food to go around. During the school year our kids get two free meals a day at school...but not during the summer. We usually feed the kids everytime they come to church.

3) They spend time reading. This was really neat to see...the kids actually enjoyed reading. I would go around at the end and asked them to tell me what they read. They loved telling me the stories...they really took pride in the fact that they were reading a book. Some our youth have summer reading for school and they were able to do this during our summer program.

When school gets started we will start our After-School Program up again...After-School Programming is so important in urban communities...I'm excited for a new school-year!

Sunday Morning Worship

2010-08-02T17:05:00.002-04:00

Yesterday at church we had a lot of youth at the service. There were close to twenty youth and children at the worship service. The "youth band" played two songs with me and the rest of the youth group stood in front and sang and did motions.

Let me pause for a moment...we have a freaking youth band. That is crazy. Only one youth played an instrument in the Fall...Yesterday we had a drummer, vocalist, guitarist, and bassist. That is insane! The rest of the youth stood in front and sang two songs from camp and did the motions for the songs.

After that, Danisha and Samantha, two of our high school youth, shared about what God has done in their lives over the summer. Danisha had a profound experience on our Mission Trip where she realized that poverty is all about money. Sam shared that she has felt God calling her to ministry...talk about discipleship! This church has invested in Sam's life, she's watched and learned from all of us, studied the Bible, sought God through prayer and service, and look what has happened...God has called her to be a minister! I couldn't be more proud. I also found out that Sean, one of our high school boys, is feeling a calling to ministry as well. God is good.

The church seems to love when the youth are at church...it was joyful Sunday.

1 Peter and Youth

2010-07-30T17:07:00.004-04:00

I am leaning towards 1 Peter as our new teaching series for our Wednesday night meeting. Our pastor, Aaron, says that Peter's letters are going to be very important for Christians living today and the foreseeable future. After a quick read, I would agree.

Peter talks a lot about living as strangers in this world. Christian youth are outnumbered at school and there are not many true disciples in any of our schools in Lexington.

There is something unique about church...they feel peace, acceptance, love, hope, secure...at school that's usually not the case. We have found that many of our youth thrive at church and really struggle at school. School is a tough place to be and a really tough place to be a Christian. To be accepted at school often means you have to sacrifice your commitment to Christ.

Home often isn't any better and it is sometimes worse! Being a Christian at home is so hard for some of our kids. Most parents aren't Christians and some are even hostile to Christ. Many of our parents are struggling with deep sin and it is so difficult for them to see past their own feelings of guilt, shame, and fear...This makes it near impossible for some of our youth to receive any encouragement at home concerning their walk with Christ.

Peter offers encouragement to Christians living during one of the great Roman persecutions. I think our youth can find some hope and encouragement from Peter's words.

summer

2010-07-29T12:53:00.002-04:00

Wow...this summer has been very quick and crazy...but good.

The youth have taken three big trips this summer.

The Mission Trip was really good. We didn't take a very long trip considering we stayed right here in Lexington. Our Nashville plans didn't work out, but it was ok because we had a really time in Lexington. We stayed at Centenary UMC and did some work around Lexington with the Catholic Action Center. I think the best thing we did was walk around our neighborhood passing out popcicles and inviting kids to our summer program. We have some new kids and families coming to church now...pretty sweet.

The last two trips were two trips to Aldersgate Camp. In total The Rock sent 34 kids to camp this summer that would not have been able to go otherwise.

8 elementary school kids
15 middle school kids
11 high school kids

Aldersgate is great -- they pay for half and then we raise the other half. So many generous folks gave money to help support our youth. They have so much fun when they go. They get to swim everyday (did you know that public pools are stinkin' expensive nowadays?!?), play sweet games like capture the flag, play in the creek, hike in the woods, play with farm animals, eat three big meals a day, and get so much love and attention from all the staff and volunteers. Camp is so good and the kids really do experience God in a powerful way. They really become different people after a week at camp. Thanks to all who helped make this possible!

God is doing some really sweet things at The Rock. We really need more people to get involved. If you would like to, please let me know!

john.gallaher@gmail.com

Latest Sermon

2010-05-27T15:25:00.001-04:00

If you would like to hear my latest sermon...click on the link to download.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/812776/Trust%20Me%20%28Mark%2010%3B17-29%29.mp3

Talent Show Videos!

2010-05-24T14:24:00.001-04:00

Talent Show

2010-05-18T13:22:00.002-04:00

I plan to put some pictures and videos on here and say more later, but I wanted to quickly say that the Talent Show was so good. The youth and the adults did so well and it was a blessing. There were people from all walks of life that came to the show. We spend so much time preparing the kids that I forget the fact the the show is such a blessing to the people who come. I see these kids conquering their fears and challenging themselves, but I forget that God uses their gifts and talents to bless others. So many people told me that they had such a good time and that they could see Jesus in our group. Praise God!

Talent Show This Weekend!

2010-05-10T16:16:00.001-04:00

I wanted to let everyone know that our Talent Show is back and it is this weekend! Last year's show was a blast and everyone had so much fun. Don't miss out this year!

Here are the details:
Saturday, May 15th at 7:00pm (Deserts and coffee at intermission)
Sunday, May 16th at 12:30pm (Lunch provided)

The show is free and all donations will go to support our summer mission trip to Nashville and Aldersgate Camp.
Hope to see you there!

Our 2nd Newsletter!

2010-03-01T14:43:00.003-05:00

Please check out our new newsletter from the The Rock -- good stuff happening.
Click the link below:
Newsletter - February 2010

Good Grades Banquet

2010-01-25T11:53:00.005-05:00

Last Friday, January 22nd, the Rock Youth had their 3rd Good Grades Banquet.

Let me explain what this is…We have two every school year so that we can honor the students in our youth group and after-school program for their had work in school. Youth who have As, Bs, or Cs on their report cards are invited to come. Someone might ask, “Are Cs good enough grades to get rewarded for?” Well, for some of our youth, Cs are good. A lot of our youth are failing multiple classes. If they can pull that F up to a C, we want to honor that.

We invited the families, the staff, and the youth volunteers. Over 30 people were there and Lisa and Clinton provided an incredible Mexican feast! Laura decorated the youth room…it looked awesome! We gave the youth a certificate, $10 gift card to Wal-Mart, a $5 gift card to dollar tree, and some other cool gifts. The youth were so pumped!

Out of a youth group of 40 middle school and high school students, we had only had seven who earned this award! That’s not very many! This tells me two important things:

1) The seven youth who earned are very special. They are overcoming the incredible odds that are stacked up against them. They are working hard even when many of their peers aren’t. They really deserve this.

2) The youth in our church and community need help! We need people to come and volunteer at our after-school program. I don’t need you, but the youth do. They need people to read with them…to sit with them and help them understand their homework. Many of our youth don’t try because they flat out don’t understand their work. Many of our kids speak English as a second language. They are still learning to read and write in English…Let me tell you this: Doing science and social studies is very difficult when you didn’t grow up in this country and when you don’t have a good grasp of the English language.

Another important thing to note is that over 10 youth had one grade that was off. They may have all As and Bs, and one D…or one F. I had to tell them they didn’t earn this award, but they are very close. They just need to work a bit harder and learn a bit more. An after-school volunteer could be that difference…keep that in mind!

*Our After-School Program is Monday-Friday from 3:30-5:30. We need volunteers for all aspects of our program:

-preparing meals (can be done anytime during the week)

-tutoring (only a 30-45 minute commitment)

-mentoring (spending time playing and hanging out with out youth and children)

-people to take on leadership in our program

Contact John Gallaher (john.gallaher@gmail.com) or Melissa McDonald (melissa.mcdonald@netzero.com), or the church office (859-255-0712) if you are interested in helping!

Youth Group Last Night

2010-01-14T10:57:00.004-05:00

Youth last night was really good...

We had 28 youth there, no major behavior issues, great worship, and great response from Laura's message. Last week I shared about all the things God had accomplished in 2009...I mean, the list is long (a few highlights: 2 retreats, Talent Show, Mission Trip, Aldersgate Camp, baptisms, youth joining the church, multiple Sunday School Reward trips, lunch with the Goldenaires, trip to Paint Lick). But, here's the kicker, lately I feel like our group is sliding backwards a bit. Kids haven't been seeking God like they had before. I challenged them to not forget about those experiences they had and to continue seeking after Jesus in 2010.

I also shared that one of the biggest things our youth group needs right now is leaders. Youth who will step up and set a Godly example for rest of the group. For the next few weeks, we're going to talk about five crucial characteristics that leaders must have and then at the end we are going to start a youth leadership team made up of youth who are ready to get serious about their relationship with Christ. The group may be small...not sure who's ready. If it's just one...we'll start there. Most things we do at The Rock start small...ain't nothing wrong with that.

This brings us to last night...

My wife, Laura, shared last night about staying connected to Jesus -- The vine...apart from him, we have nothing. So, the most important characteristic that a leader must have is an intimate relationship with Jesus. Their home must be found in him...They must seek him and continually draw closer to him. Without that, nothing else matters too much.

After she finished sharing she gave the kids a time to pray with adults if needed. Three kids went back for prayer and three kids shared they were ready to be leaders...they were ready to get serious.

Can't wait to see where God leads us....

One thing we will need are mentors. Each student on our leadership team will be paired with a mentor that will challenge them and hold they accountable...pray for them...be a friend...etc...

Party House

2009-12-18T13:20:00.003-05:00

After last weekend our house as been named, "The Party House." On Friday night we had over 50 people come to Blake's graduation party and then on Sunday night we had a huge party for Laura's birthday. We used to live in a small apartment right on N. Broadway...one bedroom...thin walls and noisy neighbors. We couldn't have parties there...not a lot of celebration at our small apartment. However, we know have this sweet house we lots of room to have people over and show some hospitality. Both parties were so much fun and I think we all really needed it. It's good to kick back and have fun together.

One of the highlights of both parties was how much some of the youth helped out. Since Sunday, multiple people have commented about how sweet our youth were...sweet???? Not sure where they get that one from....anyway, two of our middle school boys, Jimmy and Jose, took care of drinks. They would go around and ask everyone there if they wanted something to drink. They were relentless and didn't give up until they were dying of hunger.

I'm thankful for my wife, Blake, my friends, my house, and my youth group. I'm blessed.

First Ever Newsletter From The Rock!

2009-12-17T11:50:00.004-05:00

Check out The Rock's newsletter for the month of December.
I'm really proud of it and it's pretty sweet to see all the stuff that's going on at our church...and this is only a small part of it! Stay tuned for more newsletters in the months to come.

Also, if you would like to support our ministry, there are details about how you can do that in the newsletter. Just click on the link below and it will come up in a google viewer.

Rock Newsletter -- December

sunday morning

2009-12-07T15:21:00.002-05:00

Yesterday at church about 10 youth and few adult leaders got up in front of church and sang one of the youth group's favorite songs. I gave the disclaimer beforehand -- "We are not a choir, we are just some people who enjoy worshiping God." They sang their hearts out...it was pretty sweet.

patience

2009-12-01T14:27:00.003-05:00

"Perhaps the essential quality for anyone who lives in community is patience: a recognition that we, others, and the whole community take time to grow. Nothing is achieved in a day. If we are to live in community, we have to be friends of time.
And the friend of time doesn't spend all day saying: 'I haven't got time.' He accepts it and cherishes it." (134, Community and Growth by Jean Vanier)

I read this book last year and it was so powerful. I recommend it to anyone. Anyway...I heard a guy who does urban ministry say that if you really want to see results, you've got to be in it for 15 years. 15 years! Talk about patience. He has been serving in a neighborhood in Chicago for over 30 years so I guess he knows what he's talking about. This really goes against so much in our culture.

We want quick results so we focus on the wrong things.

If we want a big youth group...or a big church...we can get it quickly if we use the right strategies and gimmicks...

but discipleship takes time...real growth takes time...change takes time....

Urban kids invade Paint Lick, KY

2009-12-01T14:05:00.003-05:00

In October, we took the middle school kids at The Rock down to Paint Lick, KY for a hay-ride and cook-out. It's crazy how this happened. I spent 7 years of my life in Paint Lick...from first grade thru 7th grade...while my dad was pastor at Paint Lick UMC. This guy named Doug West went to the church and he would watch me and my bro when my parents went out of town. He is now the volunteer youth pastor at the church and he sends me a message out of the blue and invites us to bring our youth group down for a hay-ride and hotdog roast. Of course I said, "we'd love to!"

So, the urban kids from the north side of Lexington went down to Paint Lick, KY and hung out with their youth group. It was so sweet -- two totally different groups getting together and having fun. Most of our kids had never been on a hay-ride before so Laura messed with them a bit and told them that it was kind of like a roller coaster. When the tractor started up and moved incredibly slow, the kids were a little angry -- hilarious.

Doug built the biggest bon-fire I've ever seen, we had tons of food, and played capture the flag in the dark. Our kids had a blast and wanted to go back the next week. I love exposing our youth to new things and on this trip many of them experienced many new things: hay-ride...bon-fire... farm...capture the flag...small country church...

Thank you Paint Lick UMC for inviting us and showing us love and hospitality!

Baptism

2009-12-01T13:50:00.002-05:00

Danisha, one of our youth, was baptized on November 15th. It was an awesome way to end our retreat. Aaron, our pastor, asked if anyone wanted to come up on the stage to be with her when she was baptized...the entire youth group came up. It was sweet -- there were probably 30 people up on the stage surrounding her as she was baptized.

Rock Youth - Fall Retreat 2009

2009-12-01T13:39:00.001-05:00

On November 13th-15th, the Rock Youth took our 7th retreat and our 5th retreat to Red River Gorge. We raised close to $1,000 and the good folks from our church provided all the food. Our first retreat was back in the fall of 2006 and only three youth and four adults attended. On this retreat, we 19 youth and seven adults attended! Praise God!

While at the Gorge we worshiped, had quiet times, prayed, reflected on scripture, enjoyed God’s creation, hiked six miles, and had a blast. Most of the youth had never hiked before coming on these retreats with our church. A 6th grade boy commented after hiking six miles that he had never tried his hardest at anything before that day. He really felt like he could accomplish anything after finishing that hike.

Our youth are being transformed through their involvement in this ministry and it’s an honor to part of what God is doing.

Cook-Out at Castlewood Park (from Laura)

2009-09-29T13:49:00.001-04:00

Friday was a good night. We had a cookout at Castlewood Park, right across from our house, and then worship back at our pad. It was simply a time to be together and an opportunity for those kids that hadn’t been over yet to see our new digs. A funny thing about our new house is that the youth from our church have been just as excited as we have. Sure, they love us, but it’s more than just that. They see our new home as their new home, our blessing from God as their blessing. One of our kids exclaimed, “Jackpot!” the first time he saw our house. We pray it will be just that for the kids and youth in our neighborhood. It has been a blessing from God to be in a house, to be centrally located across from the park, and to share our new home with Blake. We pray that we won’t hoard or hide that blessing, but that many people will share in it.

We ate and played at Castlewood. There was corn hole, a mean game of ultimate frisbee, football and talking. Lisa and Clinton bought us Sonny’s and the food was really good. Our new next-door neighbors have a few grandchildren who live with them that are youth age and they came with us. Youth playing ball at the park came to the edge of our circle, took drinks we offered them, and observed our rag tag group. We really are a sight to see. I wonder how we look to outsiders sometimes. I imagine we look like a crazy, adopted family. You know, when you tilt your head and think, “How do those people know each other?” All we have in common is Jesus. Over 30 kids came, and quite a few we met for the first time. Of course, our old regulars were there too.

After the eating and the playing we went back to our house. John, Blake and I…along with 18 youth….walked on over. John played his guitar and we sang loudly. We lit candles, and burned incense. It creates a worshipful attitude, but mostly it helped to disrupt the sweaty, youth smell that enveloped our house. And in true Rock Youth tradition, we had a short dance party to close our time. I guess our time was typical enough with the kids, but it was extraordinary to me. It was powerful to be together, to play, to eat, to sing and to dance. God has woven very different, broken people into a community of faith that is alive and vibrant. God is with us. You can see him, hear him, and even smell him among us.

I love my job...

2009-08-27T10:00:00.002-04:00

Cristian, one our youth, decided that he wanted to throw a surprise birthday party for his little sister, Lisette. He asked Laura and I about doing it at the church. We said that was fine...so Laura did some decorating, Melissa got some drinks and snacks, we invited some of her friends, and Cristian's mom got the cake.

It was so awesome. There's something sweet about birthday parties. We've thrown quite a few since we've been at The Rock and each time I'm reminded that being the church means much more than getting together on Sunday mornings. Part of being a Christian means that you get to have this huge family called the Church. As you can see in the pictures, there were people from all different countries and backgrounds at her party. We had no other reason to be together except for our common bond in Christ.

more on after-school program

2009-08-25T09:04:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we had 15 youth at our after-school program. That amazes me. They all know that when they come they have to either work on homework or read a book quietly. Yet, they all come anyway. Most of them actually get out their work and get started on their own.

Sunday at church one of my friends said to me, "Don't underestimate the value of just being together."

That's true -- there is this trend in youth ministry, and in churches as a whole, to always do something big...
to be the sleekest...
most efficient...
the coolest...
to do something completely radical and different...
to spend lots of money...
to have huge events...concerts...rallies...

In our efforts to draw people in and keep them entertained, it seems like we often forget about the people. We don't have time to just be together because we are planning for the next big event or we're so strapped/stressed at the programs or events that we have no time or energy to spend with any of the people. At youth group on Wednesdays, I will sometimes get so caught up in all the details of the night that I forget to spend time with the youth. That's no good.

Our after-school program is shaping up to be pretty simple...yet our kids don't seem to care about that. Simple things are usually the best. They show up...we spend time together while eating a snack...then we help the youth with their homework.

Since the relationships are most important...we need people who are willing to come and be with our kids. Just sit with them while they work and help them if they need it. Very simple. Yet powerful stuff. If you want to get involved, let me know.
john.gallaher@gmail.com

After-School Program

2009-08-21T11:47:00.004-04:00

So we started an after-school program at our church. It is for elementary thru high school aged kids. There are 12 elementary school kids signed up and then the middle school and high is more of a drop-in kind of deal. We've have about 8-10 youth-aged kids that are coming. Many of our kids can't find much peace at home. It's hard for them to get their school work done and many of their parents either don't care about their school work or don't have the capabilities to help them. Many of our kids are from other countries and their parents can't speak English well...and certainly can't read and write in English. That makes it very hard to help with them with their homework. So, every day of the week the kids can come to church and do their homework and get help if they need it.

Most of our kids just love being at church. At church, they know they are wanted and loved. The church has become a family for many kids in our community...a refuge as well.
Now, they can come to church 6 out of 7 days a week. That's awesome.

Birthday Party

2009-06-25T10:07:00.000-04:00

So Laura and Amanda through an incredible birthday party on Monday. Who's birthday was it???
So glad you asked...it was mine...and Burto's. We had the party at Castlewood Park, which is in our hood.

We invited the youth, children, friends, and family. There were probably close to 50 people that came! It was such a great mix of people. Americans, Hispanics, Africans, African Americans...

We played some soccer that night and at one point, Hughes, a Congolese friend, suggested we play Congo vs. America. Some of the youth seemed to think that was racist. Well, it certainly was unfair, but not racist...=). Lets just say that the Americans didn't win.

My party at Castlewood felt more like church than most things we do at church. It's sad that is what church has come to. I guess it's also encouraging though -- Christians really don't need anything. We already have all that we need. Church can happen at a park, at a house, in a parking lot...it doesn't matter!

Something has got to change. We have massive church buildings all over the country with hardly anyone in them. A huge portion of the money goes into maintaining old buildings and administrative costs and little goes to ministry. If we already have all that we need and people are the church, then we may need to rethink what we're doing.

One of the best things we do during the summers at The Rock is eat lunch and play kickball in our back parking lot. The food is free from God's Pantry and kickball costs nothing (except about $8 for a good ball). Everyone gets to play no matter your age, abilities, talents...none of that matters. We include everyone and let the youngest kick first. The kids learn about looking out for the weaker ones, encouraging each other, having good attitudes, exercise, the list could go on...

And it's all free...Jesus work is usually pretty inexpensive. And if it isn't, God provides through those who have resources. We've raised a few thousand dollars for camp this summer -- all because of the generosity of others.

It's all pretty simple.

small beginnings...

2009-06-16T09:35:00.003-04:00

When Laura and I started here there were only a couple of Sunday School classes and none for the youth. So, with the leadership of Blake, Amanda, and Laura, we started a class for the youth. We knew it would take time to grow...we only had a couple of kids at the beginning. There were actually weeks when only one kid showed up! However, we stuck with it and invested in that small group. With time, it began to grow. More kids started coming...more started sticking around for the service afterward.

Last Sunday, we counted 13 youth at church on Sunday morning! Now, that's significant for many reasons...one being that none of their parents come to church. So, they all want to be at church on Sunday morning!

Roz pointed out a scripture passage that is relevant here.
Zechariah 4:10: "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin."

Here, God is speaking about the rebuilding of the Temple. I believe these words are true today as well. Often, we try to start something important, and hardly anyone shows up at the beginning, so we just scrap it all together. Our first retreat, we had only 3 kids show up. We had 4 adults - more adults than youth! Now, it would have made sense to cancel it...but we stuck with it and we had 24 total people on our last retreat!

Small beginnings shouldn't discourage us...this work takes time.

Tuesday/Thursday Lunch and Kickball

2009-06-16T09:30:00.002-04:00

We started up our Tuesday/Thursday lunch and kickball last week. Every Tues and Thurs during the summer Melissa (the children's pastor) and prepare a free lunch from God's Pantry's summer feeding program, have a short devotional, and then play kickball. Last summer we did it and it was so successful. Last Thursday, only our second day, we had 27 people out back playing kickball in our junky parking lot!

There's a difference this summer...we have more leaders. Some of the youth are showing up early just to help set up. We have less adults helping this summer, but it's ok, because the youth are stepping up.

Golden Corral with the Goldenaires

2009-06-02T14:39:00.003-04:00

Last Sunday, May 31st, the youth from the Sunday School class and the Goldenaires (Seniors Group at our church) went out together to the Golden Corral. My wife Laura worked with Charlotte to organize this outing so that the youth and the older folks could get to know each other.

It was a huge success...the kids felt a bit awkward, but by the end of our time the older folks were hugging the youth and telling them how much fun they had. I think the youth were blown away by the fact that some of the men and women had been in the church for so many years and stuck with it through the good and bad times.

Christ breaks down walls. Read Ephesians and you'll see.

Pictures...

Talent Show

2009-05-28T08:51:00.007-04:00

Friday, May 8th, the Rock Youth put on their first ever Talent Show! We had 15 total acts that included singing, rapping, poetry, dancing, musical instruments, and drama. We served dinner first and desserts during the intermission. Lisa demonstrated her mad cooking skills in the kitchen by providing us with an Italian feast. We set out a donation box and raised $570 for our summer mission trip!!!

Highlights:

-85-100 people were at the event. The interesting part of that is that most of the people who came were not part of our church. Rosario brought a crew from Embrace, some people from the Monday night mission group came, lots of family members, some people from the 11:00 worship service, and then some random people I’ve never seen before.

-A couple of homeless guys who came told our pastor that they hadn’t laughed so hard in years. Laughter is a good thing…

-The kids did such a good job. Laura and Blake had them rehearsing for months in advance and it really showed. This event was good for the church but probably better for the youth. Many of them had never performed like that in their entire lives. Everyone clapped and cheered for them and I know it was a huge boost to their confidence. After Charlie, one of our high school boys, finished dancing on stage, I said to him, “I bet you never thought you would be dancing on stage in front of a hundred people, eh?” He agreed.
A lot of our youth lack self-confidence because they don’t receive a lot of encouragement. I hope this event crippled Satan’s efforts to tear down our kids.

Below is a video with short clips from each performance...

Here is another video...

Reeeeetreeeaaat!! Where to??? Red River Gorge!

2009-04-28T13:01:00.008-04:00

Last weekend we took 17 youth and 7 adults on a retreat to Red River Gorge. It was the 6th retreat we've taken and it was the best yet. We had 6 kids go who had never been on a trip with us before and they had a blast.

There are so many things I could say about the retreat but for now I will only offer a few highlights...

I love the diversity of our group - whites, Hispanics, Africans, African Americans, Cambodian Filipino, able-bodied, disabled, poor, medium poor, not-so-poor...we're all learning to be friends regardless of what we look like...what our families look like...how smart we are...how much medication we take...how much money we have...what our clothes look like...what country we come from...Christ breaks down walls.

We had three quiet-times over the weekend. I want to teach the youth to experience God in the stillness and quiet -- So I force them to be quiet for three 20-minute quiet-times (2 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday). I noticed the youth were really using that time well. 6th grade boys were writing in their journals. Some of the kids expressed that the quiet times were their favorite part of the trip.

On Saturday we hiked between 5 and 6 miles. Now some of the kids were fast hikers, and some were not. Some like hiking, and some hate it. The coolest part was that kids were helping each other. To the right is a picture of Jonathan (6th grade boy) helping Robert (7th grade boy). These two boys aren't necessarily friends. However, it didn't matter on the hike. They were really looking out for each other.

Saturday evening we took about an hour and a half to sit down and encourage each other. We all sit in a circle and one-by-one each person sits in the middle of the circle. We go around the circle and every person says something encouraging to that person. I love being in the middle - it really does feel so good to have everyone encourage you. But, it also feels good to encourage the people in our group. Encouraging words are rare -- so instead of just telling them they need to love each other, I thought we could practice instead.

We raised all the money we needed to pay for the trip!
THANK YOU so much if you helped financially or through your prayers!

easter sunday

2009-04-14T14:35:00.003-04:00

Worship on Sunday was so good.

Worship...baptism...testimony...preaching...

Can't get any better than that...actually, if we ate a huge lunch - that would be better. I like to eat.

The coolest part for me was that one of our 8th grade girls, Samantha, shared her testimony. It's the first time we've had a youth share a testimony in the service. She told me before the service started that she spent time praying that morning at her house. That's the kind of stuff I want to hear -- that the kids know Jesus -- that they spend time with Him. She knows that when she needs help, prayer is the best option.

She rocked her testimony. She shared that her dad never was there for her growing up. However, she knows that she has a Father in heaven so she knows she's loved. Jesus has changed her life. Praise God!

2009-04-07T09:43:00.002-04:00

On May 8th at 6:30pm the Rock Youth are hosting their first ever TALENT SHOW! Laura and Blake are heading it up and it will be a blast. We will have a free dinner to go along with the show. We are hoping to raise some money for our summer trips - a mission trip to Nashville and Aldersgate Camp. Please come and bring some people with you! I promise you will not be disappointed. Blake is going to sing (maybe I shouldn't have told you that...)

it ain't me

2009-03-26T13:13:00.002-04:00

Last night I spoke to the youth about the resurrection. I told them it's the power of the resurrection in our lives that breaks the endless cycle of sin and death.

There were so many distractions -- most of them with technology (does technological advance really help us that much...not so sure after last night). My message didn't seem to connect or make any sense. Yet, at the end I told the kids that if they wanted to pray with an adult to go the back of the room. I prayed with Chris and Sam and both wanted prayer concerning what I spoke about. I saw Blake and Laura praying with kids as well.

How about that...When I feel like I made no sense -- people were affected. It's a reminder that it's all the Holy Spirit. John 16 is clear that it's the Holy Spirit that convicts people of their sin and leads people to Jesus - NOT us. What a relief, eh?

school sucks

2009-03-24T14:12:00.003-04:00

Often when I ask kids what they think about school they immediately respond by saying, "School sucks!"

For many of them, that's them being completely honest. School is so hard for so many kids today. Last Wednesday at youth group both Blake and I prayed with different kids who say they are being bullied at school. Just yesterday, I had a long conversation with a high school student who is made fun of every single day. If he gets a haircut then the kids say his hair looks stupid. They make fun of his shoes, his last name, his clothes...After a while he gets really angry, he pushes one of the boys, and gets in-school suspension for a week. The teachers at the schools are so overwhelmed by all the issues and problems that many of them just let stuff like this continue.

I don't know the answer to this problem. At The Rock we just continue to encourage and love the kids when we see them. We try to make it very hard for bullies and jerks to thrive in our youth group. We welcome all, but there's an expectation that this kind of crap isn't tolerated.

The big problem is that we only get a few hours a week with the youth and they spend almost 40 hours a week at school. We have at least 20 kids at Winburn Middle School. If only they could learn to stick together and look out for each other. One reason the early Christians spent so much time together was for safety. They lived in dangerous times. There's strength in numbers...We need to be Christian gang who stick together no matter what...Who will lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. Obviously we don't fight with glocks and assault rifles...we fight the evil in the world with love, prayer, truth, hope, faith...

Need Cash-Flow for Spring Retreat

2009-03-17T14:24:00.004-04:00

One challenge with the Rock Youth is paying for trips. Our retreats, camps, mission trips, etc...they're all so important...I would say life-changing.

However, they cost money. Most youth ministries can plan a trip...figure out the total cost...divide that number by the number of youth attending...and then charge the youth "x" amount of dollars in order to attend.

We can't do that...Almost none of our youth can pay. If I charge $15...most families still can't pay. So the church has to flip the bill. That can get pricey. So, for our Spring Retreat we're looking for sponsors. It will cost $70 dollars to sponsor one youth...if people can't pay $70, we'll take any donations. If you want to help...just let me know.

We are going to Red River Gorge...We stay in big cabins...we worship...have quiet times...hike on Saturday...encourage one another....eat together...dance...play...

The goal is always to grow closer to God and grow closer to each other. We seek to experience God in the stillness and quiet.

To read about previous retreats, click below:

Fall Retreat 2008

Spring Retreat 2008

Metal Concert

2009-03-17T14:10:00.002-04:00

I've got to give props to my boy Forrest. He is one of our youth volunteers - a sophomore at Asbury College, drummer, guitarist, fan of heavy metal...Well, a couple of weeks ago his metal band had a concert in Wilmore - where he lives. He drove all the way to Lexington just to pick up one our 8th grade boys and take him to the concert. That's a 45 minute drive (one-way!).

This is how youth ministry should work.

Our team shares the load. There are 11 other volunteers who do the same thing on a regular basis...

that 8th grade boy will remember that metal show for a long time because Forrest went out of his way to take him.

The same is true for those trips to Dairy Queen...making Christmas cookies...even trips to the grocery.

As ministers, we must invite others to share in our life with us.

hope

2009-03-17T14:06:00.003-04:00

Over the past couple of weeks God has reminded me that Jesus is the hope for the world.

More specifically...
He reassured me that Jesus has the power to transform even the lives of our youth.

I had begun to doubt that the kids had any hope. Their lives are so difficult and it can so often feel like they have no future (in Lamentations, the author laments that his children have no future...it hit home with me the other day).

But then God drew my attention the Gospel...

The message of the Gospel says that no matter how messed up your life is, the Cross and the Resurrection are enough - even for our youth.

He told me that I must trust in the power of Jesus Christ -

The power of the Cross.

So I made a decision (God actually made the decision) that I'm going to preach the Gospel and trust that God will work in our kids' lives and lead those who want it to Himself.

Rewards Banquet

2009-02-23T14:40:00.004-05:00

February 6th was a good night at The Rock. Laura had this sweet idea (she has all the good ideas!) that we should do something to honor the youth who are doing well in school. So we decided that we would have a banquet to honor the students who had some combination of As, Bs, and Cs are their report cards. We invited their families and we had over 30 people there (students, family, staff, volunteers). We had dinner from the Loudon Square Buffet and a short ceremony where the students received a certificate and a $10 gift card to Wal-Mart!

We told my dad about our idea and he said something interesting...

He said, "That really cool you're doing that. It's not too often that you reward kids with average grades."

At school, the kids get rewarded for being on Honor Roll (not sure what that entails - Cs aren't apart of it...I know that). Many of our youth have a really hard time at school. Fs are more common than As. Honor Roll is a long way off for most of our kids. Cs aren't average at The Rock - they're above average.

Consider this...
A 15 year-old refugee who only completed 3rd grade in Africa. He comes to the US at 13 years old and he's put in 8th grade. Doesn't speak English. His middle school graduates him, even though he hardly learned anything in the few months of 8th grade. Now he's in 10th grade trying to do Algebra and sophomore English.

For some, we have to rejoice when they go from Fs to Ds. Then from Ds to Cs...and so on...

At least 75% of our youth have at least one F on their report cards. The sad thing is, only 9 kids earned the reward. That's out of 40-50 kids. So, we're going to honor Cs...because for many...that means they've worked really hard.

The hope is that the others will follow their peers' example and work harder -- that they will know that Christian youth should be hard workers and good students.

winburn middle

2008-11-11T16:37:00.002-05:00

Most of the kids in our youth group are middle school kids from our neighborhood. Therefore, most of them go to same school. That can be a good and a bad thing. If they have problems with each other at school, they tend to bring those problems to church. However, when a new kid shows up, it's almost guaranteed that they will know someone - they all go to school together.

Winburn Middle School is the main school for our kids. Blake and I visited yesterday (something we've done many times before). However, this time we were especially surprised by the amount of kids we knew and who knew us. In the 6th grade lunch alone, we counted somewhere between 12-15 of our youth. Lunch is only about 20 minutes long so we didn't really have much time to talk with the kids - we were jumping around from table to table making sure we got to talk to all of them. That's just the 6th grade lunch - we have a handful of kids in both 7th and 8th grade as well. That's well over 20 kids at one school!

God reminded me that Winburn is a vital mission field and I need to be consistent in going there. The coolest part isn't that I get to see my youth - it's the other kids that we get to talk to. Kids are always interested in who we are and what we do - Some kids are like, "Is that your dad?" Some of my youth say I'm their step-dad -- I'm not sure what I think about that one...

When we enter the schools we get the chance to meet more kids and challenge our youth to invite them to church. It's difficult to describe, but things just seem to happen when we are willing to show up.

last night's youth meeting

2008-10-30T08:10:00.002-04:00

Last night was good. It felt more like a youth group than it ever has. We had over 30 kids...and very few problems. When working with urban youth, few problems means for a really good night.

We've been talking about "sexuality", "sex", "sexual sin", etc...I figure we're way past due on looking at this subject. I figure that our kids are learning about sex through television, internet, and school - which obviously isn't good. One of our youth told me, "You supposed to learn about sex at home...not at church." Well, they're not learning about it at home - and if they are, they're not learning about the good sex that God created. So...I think it's fair game for the church to talk about. And frankly, the church needs to talk about it. We've already seen one of our past youth get pregnant at age 15 and I don't want that happen anymore - not with out youth. Waiting until marriage is a foreign concept to most of our kids. They don't have too many married couples to even look to. Nor do they have too many abstinate singles to look up to either. I'm always pleasantly surprised when one of our youth tells me they live with their mom and dad. I've learned to ask them, "Who do you live with", as opposed to, "Who are your parents." Most don't live with both of their parents and many of them live with some other relative or family friend.

Back to last night...Samantha brought two friends to church. Two more kids from our neighborhood that hopefully will keep coming. One of Sam's friends told her that she was acting really hyper -- It's not so much she was being hyper...she's just happiest when at church. I think her friend was pleasantly freaked out. Youth groups are so important because they are often places where kids feel welcomed and loved. They feel free to be themselves. They don't have keep up an image...or try to be cool...they can be their normal, silly self. School is a really tough place - kids get ragged on for petty and stupid things. If they wear the wrong clothes or say something awkward...It's sad. That's why we take such a serious stance on making fun of each other. We don't let that stuff slide. Church must be different - Jesus isn't joking around when he tells us that we must love one another - that's how the world will know we are his disciples. Maybe Samantha's friend got a glimpse of that last night...

I've been playing my electric guitar during worship. For some reason, they really love the electric guitar. There's something about a little distortion that resonates with youth.

familiar prayer...

2008-10-21T14:12:00.004-04:00

During our retreat last weekend one of our students in the youth group prayed out loud. I noticed something as she prayed - she said, word for word, some of the things I've prayed in my prayers. I was thinking, "That sounds awfully familiar..."

Now this is powerful...pay attention...kids listen and watch much closer than we think. They mimic what the people they look up do. They learn from watching us live our lives.

They learn how to pray by listening to us pray. They learn how to worship by watching us worship. They learn how to treat others by watching the way we treat others. They learn how to love by watching us love.

It's a little scary I know...but as long as we're living the lives God wants us to live - it's ok. We make disciples, in large part, by just living our lives with other people. Talk is overrated - live your life for Jesus.

Fall Retreat 2008 - Red River Gorge

2008-10-20T16:32:00.004-04:00

Last weekend we took 17 kids and 6 adults to Red River Gorge for another retreat. We all crammed into a cabin that is advertised as "comfortably sleeps 12." 23 people in a cabin that comfortably sleeps 12 - you may think I'm crazy. Well, I am. Also, I like to be all together in one place...builds better community in our group...and the fact of the matter is that we can't afford for everyone to have beds. The church flips the bill for almost everything because virtually all the families don't have the money to pay. So we don't have much choice - which is fine by me because it's kind of fun cramming into a swanky cabin in a gated community (though the owners aren't too big on that...)

Our first retreat we had 3 kids and 4 adults. That was two years ago. This retreat we had 17 kids and 6 adults. I say that not to brag, but to emphasize that God is working in powerful ways. Our church has a vision to be a church for the community we live in. The youth and children ministries are leading the way on this. Both groups are almost completely kids from the neighborhood. And they're not just one race - we have whites, African-Americans, Africans, and Hispanics - all together in one group. And that's our neighborhood - very diverse. We don't really have any clue what we're doing. We're all learning as we go and we are, by no means, experts on this kind of ministry. God is doing the work because he has to - we couldn't do this on our own if we tried!

One of the best aspects of our retreat was that a girl named Jasmine got to come with us. She has rough case of cerebral palsy which confines her to a mechanical wheelchair. She's an incredible girl with a strong faith in Jesus. She wanted to come on our trip so we made it work. Her wheelchair has to weigh at least 300 pounds so it took about five of us to lift it in and out of Blake's truck. Blake and Amanda, two of our volunteers, stayed back at the cabin while we went and hiked. They prayed for us while we were gone. Jasmine's strength and courage blows me away.

It was neat to see how the youth stepped up and helped out when they were needed. Our group has its problems. However, our youth are some of the most accepting kids on the planet. It doesn't matter who you are, what you look like, where you come from, whether your smart or not, whether you have a disability, it doesn't matter. They accept you and don't judge you. It's cool to have a neighborhood youth group because when new kids come - they always know somebody...they go to school with all these kids and live in the same hood. It's easy for us to bring new kid into our group.

Saturday afternoon we went hiking and, for many, it was their first time. The breathtaking views, the exercise, the fresh air, the quiet times...it's cool to introduce kids to these things for the first time.

We survived another retreat...Praise God!

Crazy season of ministry

2008-10-16T08:25:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted on here. That's mostly because Laura and I have been busy with ministry and school that I haven't had much time to process all that's happened...

Wednesday nights are blowing up...We've had more youth than we've ever had and I thank God for that. However, more kids have led to more issues...more arguing...more stress...less discipleship. You see we've had a crew of rougher kids who have started coming. I love it that they're there. However, some of the kids just come to cause trouble. Last week we had a middle school boy pull an elementary school kid of his bike and he proceeded to attempt to hurt him and steal his bike. Then the elementary-aged kid's brother jumped in and wanted to pound the other middle school boy who did it - which I completely understand...if someone tried to hurt my little brother - I would be pissed also. Fortunately, the older brother decided not to fight. We've also had some youth-aged kids who don't come to church - they just like to wait outside of church and mess with our youth after church is over. I will not stand for that garbage. The trouble-makers in the neighborhood are going to really hate our church because we're not going to allow our kids to mistreated and picked on. People think pastors are push-overs...not in our neighborhood...we won't last.

This week at youth group we had 5 kids who were not allowed to come because they have been so disrespectful. Growing up in youth group I never heard of someone getting suspended from church. In our setting - it's something we have to do on a regular basis.

Back to the blessing part of having more kids...New kids are coming to our church and finding a place where they are loved. Most of them aren't causing trouble - they are coming to be apart of something. They know that we have their back. They know they can be themselves. Some of our youth have lots of problems at school and at home. Yet, at church they don't. It's not because we have such a great ministry...it's because they know they are loved and wanted.

I wish I could start a school for the down-and-out kids that's based on Christian love...maybe someday...

cool stuff happening...

2008-07-03T16:01:00.003-04:00

Things have been really busy lately. Last week our good friends Kevin and Emily were in town so we were out doing something every night. This week Burto's gettin' hitched so I'm busy with wedding stuff also. Times are busy, but they are certainly good.
Some highlights...

-Devin, a 16-year-old kid from the trailer park next to the church came to youth group for the first time. We've gotten to know him through playing ball out back in the parking lot and then through our lunches and kickball on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It took him about three weeks of playing kickball with us to realize that while we are weird, we're still good people to be around.

-I've been surprised at how easy it's been to do youth and children's ministry together at the same time. At our Tuesday and Thursday lunch/kickball times we've had kids from 4 years old to 18 years old. We all eat together, have a devotional time together, and then play kickball together. We've had zero problems and had so much fun.

-Our back parking lot is such a prime place for ministry. Though there are weeds and grass growing up through the cracks in the pavement, broken basketball goals, tree limbs, and other unmentionable items in our parking lot, it still serves a place for ministry. Our basketball goal was recently destroyed by a tree from our neighbor's yard which puts a damper on things, however, we have a plan. My plan is to build a full-court out back in our parking lot - with lines, nice goals, new pavement - the whole works. You see, many of the kids can't go all the way to Castlewood Park to play, so instead, they come to our church parking lot. If we had a full-court there would be kids outside playing all the time. It gives them something to do but also gives the church the opportunity to get to know them and invite them into our church family. The only problem is money - which I trust God will provide.

There's so much more that I could talk about but I have no time right now. More will come soon...

more on tuesdays and thursdays...

2008-06-17T14:32:00.003-04:00

This Tuesday and Thursday lunch deal we're doing is so sweet, yet it is so simple. All we did today was go outside, set up a table with a water cooler, order six pizzas, and set up bases for kickball and the kids came from all over. There were 19 kids here at the church and that's all we had to do. We got to eat with them, talk, have a short devotional/teaching time, and play kickball. We've already had a handful of new kids come that we don't know and one of them has already come to our Wednesday night youth group meeting. Praise God!

Big, expensive, flashy events just aren't that necessary. They end up consuming so much of our time, energy, and money that could be used for other ministry. Pastors must fight this temptation...the trend now-a-days is to think that if we ramp up our worship services and youth meetings that un-churched people will magically show up. That's not the case. What happens is the word spreads to other churches that you have a better thing going so people leave their church and go to yours. Non-Christians aren't being reached. We have to get outside of our building in order to reach non-Christians...a contemporary worship service with a rockin' band isn't going to do it. A awesome youth meeting isn't going to do it. It's going to happen when you build relationships with people who don't know Jesus.

When Maggie and I were planning this time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, one of our main goals was to build relationships with kids we don't know in our neighborhood and then, hopefully we could get them plugged into our children's or youth ministry. It's already happening and it's because God is bringing people to us. We are in a neighborhood with so many young people who are eager - who are desperate - for a place where they can belong and be loved. The Rock is that place for so many young people.

tuesdays and thursdays and other things

2008-06-16T14:50:00.003-04:00

One thing we're doing this summer is getting together with the youth/children every Tuesday and Thursday for lunch and games. We've had a couple of cook-outs and we've played some serious kickball. It's been a huge blessing so far. We already have one girl come to youth group because she comes to lunch. Our kids live so close to the church and they love to be there so it's easy to do things like this.

A lot of youth pastors are having to fight just to get their kids to commit to being at church every week. Youth have so much more going on these days and church is usually last on their list of priorities. They will be at church as long they don't have football practice, a baseball game, a theatre rehearsal, a band concert, a test to study for...the list could go on forever. This is a huge problem and as youth pastors we have to speak truth to our youth. They need to know that these activities are good, however, church is much more important. I told one of my youth last week that if his soccer coach won't let him leave early on Wednesdays, he shouldn't play on the team.

Fortunately, I don't have to deal with this problem too much. Most of our youth aren't involved in too many activities so they can be at church whenever we have something going on. Now, when they come to church we often have to deal with crisis situations and we have to be hard-nosed about discipline. Getting them to come isn't the big problem - it's dealing with them once they're here.

What a blessing it is to spend time with kids. It blesses us and it blesses them. As a youth pastor, my main job is discipling (teaching them to be disciples, or followers, of Jesus) youth - that means I must spend time with them. Discipling doesn't happen at a computer or at a desk. It's easy to get so consumed in administering a youth ministry that you never actually leave your office and spend time with youth. I'm not a manager or a director, I am a pastor. I must spend time with my people.

new kids...

2008-06-05T09:29:00.004-04:00

Last night was the first night the new graduated 5th graders could come to youth group. We had five new kids last night - Dorcas, Miguel, Keith, Denny, and Christian. There are others who didn't come last night. I hope they will make the transition.

A good children's ministry is the best asset to a youth ministry. It's really easy to get young kids to come to church - especially in our neighborhood. All we do is drive a bus around the neighborhood and the kids get on the bus. There are actually a couple of other churches that drive buses through our neighborhood - Clays Mill Baptist and Mt. Olivet. They have large school buses and they pack them out every single week. I think what they do is good, yet it isn't enough. Clays Mill Baptist is on the other side of town, so it is a once-a-week event they bring the kids to and they don't see them again until the next week. The Rock has an advantage because we are right in their neighborhood. We see the kids at the park. We see the kids when we go on walks or bike rides. Their families actually have the option of worshipping with us because we are in walking distance from their homes. Some churches wonder why there are only middle and upper class folks in their services - the first thing they can look at is their location. If your church is on the outskirts of town in the suburbs then many people aren't going to be able to get there. When kids in our youth group move out of the neighborhood, they stop coming to church... they can't get here anymore.

Back to the idea that a good children's ministry is important if you want a good youth ministry. The younger the kids are, the easier it is to get them to church and the more influence you can have on them. Someone once told me that you have to catch urban kids at a young age or you don't have much chance in saving them from all the evil forces in the city. I believe there is a lot of truth to that. So, we have a good children's ministry at the church and that makes me happy. Our youth group is growing just by graduating these kids up from the children's ministry. Our impact in the community is growing - if we can catch the kids early and keep them all the way through high school - just imagine the positive influence for Jesus we can have in their lives!

Hiking Trip Pictures

2008-05-28T11:30:00.000-04:00

Kickball...

2008-05-27T11:51:00.003-04:00

This was our first kickball game as a youth group - it was on a Mammoth Cave Trip last summer. Mammoth Cave was certainly cool, however the kickball game was the highlight of the trip.

Last week we played kickball before youth group...we started with about 10 people and it grew to over 20 in just 10 minutes. Kids were climbing out trees, the sewers, parachuting from the sky...coming from all over asking if they could play. This summer we're planning to play lots of kickball and and other games in public places. It's good for our group to play together and it's good evangelism when other kids come and join us. I'm hoping we will meet some new kids this summer through playing games in our back parking lot and at the park.

Backpacking in the Gorge

2008-05-27T11:10:00.002-04:00

On Sunday night Laura and I took Samantha, Charile, and Keith (all siblings) backpacking at Red River Gorge. Samantha and Charlie are in the youth group and Keith is in fifth grade so he will join the youth group in just a few days. Laura and I were planning to camp that night anyway so we just invited the three of them to go along with us.

*sidenote: In minsitry, you don't always have to change your plans - just invite those you work with to do participate with you. Laura and I still got to go camping and we were able to take some of our youth along with us!

Our lives don't have to be so segmented...

I got to spend time with my wife, do youth ministry, and go backpacking, something I love. Too many boundaries can really hurt minstry possibilities while also taking up more of your time. If you have so many segments in your life - it really takes up time - spouse, friends, family, church, ministry, work, neighbors, activities, fun stuff...these don't have to be separate all the time.

Back to the trip...
We packed up mid-Sunday afternoon, stopped at Arby's for dinner, and headed to the trail. We hiked about 2 miles in on the Swift Camp Creek trail. It's all downhill on the hike in and all uphill on the hike out. We hiked down to the river and our spot was taken! Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, however, we had three tents and there isn't much flat land in that area. We ended up crossing the river and making our own campsite. We managed pretty well.

It's so cool be able to expose kids to things they've never experienced. None of the kids we took had been backpacking or camping. They had never made smores over a campfire - when I went to pick them up at their house, the first thing Keith said was, "Can we get some Hershey's, marsmallows, and Grahm Crackers...I want to make smores!" I told him we definetly would. They had never climbed on rocks by a river. They had never scurried up huge boulders before. That's part of my job - let these kids see something beyond their neighborhood.

Monday morning we woke up, ate pop-tarts, made hot chocalate, packed up and hiked out. It was a difficult hike, but they did great. We then took them to this really cool overlook that Jason Dilliard showed me. You have to do a little bit of basic climbing - it's a little scary at first...there are some steep cliffs. Laura, Samantha, Charlie and I headed up the rock and saw an amazing view. Samantha said she felt like she could do anything after climbing up that rock. Pretty neat stuff...

2008-05-23T10:25:00.004-04:00

This is our group photo from our retreat weekend. This was taken on the first leg of the hike, so they still look happy...I should have taken one half-way through the hike out...I would like to remember their faces. Maybe I'm mean, but it was a somewhat cool to see them suffering through the hike.

Retreat and other stuff...

2008-05-22T10:37:00.005-04:00

Last weekend we took ten youth and four adults on a retreat to Red River River Gorge. We rented a big cabin for the weekend and we all piled in. Some of us slept on the floor and some in beds. We stayed Friday and Saturday night and we hiked somewhere between 5 and 6 miles on Saturday. We hiked this sweet trail that goes along Auxier Ridge and leads to this gigantic rock called "Courthouse Rock." There's this one spot on the trail where you step onto this rock that's about 15 feet wide with drop-offs on each side. It is probably the best view in all of the Gorge. To your left you can see Double-Arch and some rock faces and to your right you can see another ridge with lots of rock faces. I think it's my favorite part of the gorge. It was awesome to see the youth's reaction when we stepped on that rock. They were a little freaked-out by the cliffs but they were mostly blown away by the spectacular view. The entire hike in I couldn't wait to get to that section of the trail because I knew they would love it.

The first part of the hike was a breeze. They hiked the two miles without much trouble so they were eager to hike the longer way out. There's this loop you can do that adds about one mile to the total hike...we took a vote and the majority voted to hike the loop. You see, they thought the way back would be like the way in, but it was much more difficult. I guarantee some of the them were cursing me in the heads while hiking back. It was butt-kicker and a few of them thought they couldn't make it. I knew they could do it and they did. By the end of the hike, Chance (one of our youth) was asking when we were doing it again. He accomplished something he thought he couldn't do and it felt good.

The retreat was good...our youth are growing up and maturing in Christ. They are learning when to be serious and when to have fun... They aren't fighting as much...It's encouraging that we can take ten of our youth on a two-night trip without having any major problems. That's a big deal. It may not be a big deal for most youth groups, however it's a big deal for ours.

Both Laura and I came back from the retreat with more confidence in our kids. We trust them more and both of us had the thought that we could take them on a mission trip...maybe even this summer! We are at a point where we have a group of student-leaders that can begin to set the tone for the rest of the kids.

I had a short conversation yesterday with Wes Olds, one of my former youth pastors. He said, "You've got two years under your belt...now you can get to the good stuff."

That's the truth. It's taken almost two years of hard work from our incredible team of volunteers to get to this place -

My wife Laura - she does so much that no one even sees. So many youth and children love her deeply and it's because of all the love and work she does every single day.

Laura, Roz, Amanda, Maggie, Esther, Paul, Burto, Blake, Crissman, Abigail, Jodi, and Josh - who have in the past, or who are currently, faithfully serving every single week.

All the faithful people who have cooked for us each week

Leo who helps me keep the room clean

The 12th street crew who let the kids hang at their crib on Fridays

Aaron and Jessica who let the youth hang at their crib on Thursdays, work out with the youth on Wednesdays - you know, it's freaking awesome to have a Senior Pastor who spends time with our youth...that doesn't happen too often.

The countless other people who invest in the lives of our youth in their own unique ways.

Our possibilities for ministry are opening up. We are getting some new kids in a couple of weeks from the children's ministry. The summer will be a great time to hang with the kids. They're here in our hood with nothing to do but be at church...we must take advantage of that.

We must praise God for the work he's doing. Somehow he's working through us in some very powerful ways.

pastors...do they exist?

2008-05-08T09:10:00.000-04:00

"The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, the proclaim freedom from the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners" (Isaiah 61:1).

Lately I've been thinking a lot about pastors - What is a Biblical understanding of the job? It seems like there aren't a ton of true pastors left - at least in the mainstream Church. The popular pastors we read and hear about look more like savvy business men/women or intellectuals than pastors.

The trend now is that pastors are supposed to be "equipping pastors, " that is, equip others to do the work of the ministry. That certainly is important, however, many pastors don't do any pastoral work anymore. They only train others to do it for them. They will say they are following Jesus' model. He equipped the twelve disciples to do the work of the Lord. That's true, but the problem is this: Jesus wasn't sitting in his comfy chair behind a desk while his disciples were doing the work. He was with them; showing them through his actions. He was doing the work with his disciples.

So what is the work of the pastor? This is a question I want to explore. God has called me to be a pastor - not merely a director or manager of a ministry. I want to be obedient to God and follow his lead...not the latest trend. I'm really want to dig in to the passage in Isaiah that's above. Jesus quotes this passage in the Gospels and this looks to be like a good pastoral mission statement.

commitment

2008-05-08T08:15:00.003-04:00

Most Christians in America really struggle with commitment. I know this because I've been in enough churches and I've struggled with this myself. It's like pulling teeth just to get volunteers to commit to hanging out with kids one night a week.

One night a week...

Before I say another word I must say that I'm guilty. I'm still learning how to be committed to a place, to people, and most importantly to Christ.

The children's ministry at The Rock is growing like crazy - we're talking a jump from about 10 kids to almost 50 kids in less than a year. They desperately need help...it's mostly boys and the volunteers are mostly women...

Why is it that so many Christian men fail to step up the plate and get involved in kid's lives?

So many kids are growing up without fathers and it is the job of Christian men to stand in the gap. Children/youth ministry is not just for women. It's not just babysitting.

Read through the Bible...you'll see that all the godly men and women gave up their lives to serve God - in both Old and New Testaments. They didn't serve God one day a week or every other week. It was their life! I just finished reading a book by Dorothy Day, a catholic lady who started the Catholic Worker Movement. She and her people worked with the poor day in and day out with little-to-no breaks. They took a voluntary vow of poverty and lived among the people they ministered to. They started houses of hospitality where they took in the lame, the crippled, the addicts, the homeless. They lived with them and showed them the love of Jesus. Jean Vanier, a guy I've talked about before, started these communities called L'Arche. Christian men and women would live in community with the severely disabled and handicapped. Everyday they would give baths, wash clothes, administer medication and therapy - all in order to show the love of Christ to people who are usually discarded and forgotten.

So what are we doing?

Why are our schedules so full that we can't take out one night a week to spend time with kids who need so much love and attention?

Why do we go out of town so much and fail to invest in the people near us?

A while back Laura reminded me that we don't remember and admire the people who had great boundaries...the Dorothy Days, the Mother Theresas, the Jean Vaniers, the apostles, Jesus Christ - they aren't known for setting up great boundaries between them and the people they ministered to. They tore down the boundaries and allowed others to be apart of their lives.

bring us your freaked-out kids

2008-04-29T08:44:00.000-04:00

"It would be sad if communities accepted only perfectly balanced, flexible, open and available people. Those with difficulties also have the right to the possibility of community life. But we need communities with different structures, to welcome people with different needs." (Jean Vanier, Community and Growth p. 274)

We're trying to create a youth group that can handle kids with difficulties. We've made a decision from the beginning that we will be a youth group that welcomes all kids. This means that we must have a structure that allows for difficult kids to be involved.

The current mainstream youth structure does not work with difficult kids. I still haven't found any resources that actually help me in our situation at the Rock. Youth Specialties, Group, and all the other youth ministry corporations I've looked at target large and wealthy youth groups with mostly well-behaved kids. All the games, lessons, activities, music, trips, examples, etc. are for that certain type of youth group - large, wealthy, well-behaved. I attended the National Youth Workers Convention in Cincy a couple years back and I've regretted it ever since. It was outrageously expensive and it offered me no help or encouragement. I left discouraged thinking I was doing something wrong because my youth group looked nothing like the ones they talked about and praised.

At our staff meetings we've talked a lot about how we don't want the structure to determine our ministry. We want our ministry to determine our structure. We could create a youth ministry that looks just like wealthy church down the road and it would fail. We would then have to go across town and recruit wealthy kids to be involved - which wouldn't work anyway because we don't have the cashflow to have a cool and hip youth group (nor do we want one). Instead, we've decided to reach out to the kids right here in our hood so we've had to re-think youth ministry and change our structure to fit our ministry.

widsom shortage

2008-04-24T12:12:00.001-04:00

Last night's youth group meeting was interesting. I introduced the topic of wisdom. I figured that most of the kids would have at least some understanding of the term - I was wrong.

I posed the question: "Who is the wisest person you know?" The answers they gave were interesting, to say the least. The only people they named were some of the adult youth leaders. Granted, the youth leaders are certainly wise, however, we're all fairly young and there are certainly wiser people around. When I asked why so-and-so is wise they gave answers like:
"We like the same sports"
"So-and-so is a good friend"
"She's cool"

We've got a lot to teach them about wisdom, eh?

Last night Laura and I were talking about this and we realized something sad.

Our youth don't have hardly any good role-models to look up to.

We, as youth leaders, are the wisest people they know because they really don't know any other wise people. This is true for so many youth and children in our country. They have no clue who to look to for advice and guidance on how to live their lives. So they end up repeating the bad examples of their parents and peers.

The church must do something about this.

We need Christian men to step up and show these boys how to act - most of our youth group is middle school boys who desperately need men to mentor them.

We need Christian women to step up and show these girls what self-confidence looks like, what beauty really is.

We need Christian married couples to show our youth and children what Christian marriage looks like. Many of them don't understand marriage, let alone Christian marriage. We took some youth to their first wedding last weekend...not too many people in their lives get married. This one little boy Laura knows through her school refers to me as "Ms. Gallaher's man." Husbands are rare.

More Christians need to move into the poor neighborhoods in their cities and towns and love their neighbors. A handful of "weird churches" can't do it alone. All churches must come together.

We need missionaries to move into the poor neighborhoods and be the presence of Jesus among these kids living on the brink of destruction.

Wisdom

2008-04-22T09:51:00.001-04:00

For the next few months with the youth we are going to talk about wisdom. Wisdom is usually passed down from parents to their children, however, more and more parents are passing down their bad habits and lack of wisdom.

So we have so many kids who are learning the wrong things at home and, frankly, the schools are teaching them very well either. Schools in KY have become so focused on test taking and numbers that learning and growth appear to have lost their value. So what is the church's response? We must teach them wisdom. We must teach them to make good choices. We are much more than babysitters or a fun after-school club. We are into what Jesus is into - transformation of lives. Believe it or not, but transformation isn't a one-time powerful experience at the altar. It takes time and with our youth it may take a long time. But we have to believe that as we are teaching them anger management, honesty, integrity, hard-work, sexual purity, good health, devotional habits, etc. they are learning what it means to choose Jesus everyday of their lives. Through this they will experience transformation.

Life's a B

2008-04-08T11:39:00.000-04:00

While Laura and I were on vacation last week, one of our youth sent us this text message:

"It's been a kinda hard week 4 me. But I have Jesus by my side."

Aaron and I were just talking a couple of weeks ago about this very thing - that we must teach the youth that they can take Jesus with them wherever they go. Jesus doesn't stay in the church. This particular student understands one of the most important promises from God: No matter what we face in life - Christ is with us through it all.

Life ain't easy for youth, ours included. For some, it's really hard. But if they understand this powerful truth then they will be ok - Jesus will be with them.

Aaron Weiss, a guy in the band mewithoutYou, said this:
"I don't see hope so much as expecting things will get better than they are but believing that things are better than they are."

Our lives aren't as bad as we think.

Our hope rests in the fact that Christ is with us and in us. No matter what life brings us, that fact remains true: Christ is with us. With Christ life is different.

Sucess

2008-04-08T11:11:00.000-04:00

Success is a hard thing to measure - especially in youth ministry.

Jesus said, "Narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matt. 7:14)
"FEW" - That's a small number.

It's so easy to get confused. All the "successful" youth pastors have large youth groups. At the conferences they'll tell you that numbers aren't important but it's hard to take them seriously. Most of them have aspired to work in churches or for organizations that have giant youth groups. They are telling us one thing, yet doing another. Christians seem to look at success just like the world does.

In urban youth ministry (or any ministry which works with the poor) numbers can't be too important.

In poor communities there is very little stability:
people move a lot
work is sporadic
kids often live with relatives other than their parents
evictions
addictions
many live-ins (boyfriends, girlfriends, friends)

On top of that there is very little stability in churches. People come and go so often. I've had numerous people tell me that they want to help with the youth ministry one week and then I don't see them ever again. Parents will get bent out shape and leave with their kids. Kids will get bent out of shape and never come back. Youth join sports teams, clubs, theater, and dance - and then we only see them when their schedule permits.

In a large youth group it's not such a big deal when 10 kids leave, but in a small youth group - that could be half your group! If your idea of success is based on numbers and half your group doesn't show up - talk about discouragement!

But then we come back to what Jesus said, "Narrow is the road...few find it."
FEW find it.

Success ain't numbers folks.

You can have a church full of people and have no disciples. We're call to make disciples - not entertain a whole bunch of kids. We have to set the bar high and expect a lot from our youth. We must teach them to be disciples. A few disciples is better than a lot of luke-warm and half-hearted Christians.

The psalms are more than just pretty poems

2008-03-21T12:13:00.001-04:00

Aaron got me into reading the psalms. A while back, he challenged the church to read 5 psalms a day - everyday. I haven't kept up with doing it everyday, however I've made reading the psalms part of my life with God. The psalms are a unique part of scripture in that they are prayers. It was the prayer book of Israel. So, when we read the psalms, we are doing more than reading - we are praying.

I'm currently reading The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day. In her book, Day writes about a time when she was imprisoned while protesting for women's rights. While in prison, the only book they let her have was a Bible. She wasn't yet a Christian, though she read it anyway. She says this about that time: "I tried to persuade myself I was reading for literary enjoyment. But the words kept echoing in my heart. I prayed and did not know that I prayed" (p. 81). She prayed and didn't even know it. When we read the psalms we can not help but draw closer to God. If your prayer life is struggling, try reading the book of Psalms.

Sometime last year we had a "Psalm Week" at our church. For five nights in a row people from the church gathered in a different home each night to read the psalms aloud together. The book of Psalms is divided into five sections and each night they read one section, so by the end of the week they had read all 150 psalms. Laura and I participated in two of the nights. It was the first time I had read that much scripture in one sitting. The coolest part was hearing it read aloud. I don't know how to describe it, (you just have to try it I guess) but there is something powerful in hearing scripture read aloud. We've talked about reading through the New Testament in the same way we read through the psalms. We could divide it up into sections and read it over a few months. We could actually do it a few times a year. Reading scripture is so powerful and when it's done alongside prayer and service, life transformation happens.

More patience...

2008-03-18T13:15:00.000-04:00

Patient Love

2008-03-12T15:51:00.000-04:00

"Love is patient."
1 Corinthians 13:4

If love is patient, then love requires our time. We cannot patiently love someone if we are in a hurry or if we don't have spare time. This is something Laura and I are learning. A while back we decided to clear out our schedule - no more weekly commitments - especially in the evenings. We've realized that in order to develop relationships with our neighbors we have to be home.
People often say, "I have no time," which isn't true. People may be too busy, but they do have time. They have chosen to spend their time in a certain way. They have chosen to fill their schedules with certain activities. We are in charge of our schedules. "I have no time" is not a valid excuse for anything.

In order to love we must be willing to stick with people for the long-haul. This doesn't sit well with people - especially Americans. We want quick results. We want people to change immediately. We want to see quick results for our efforts. This usually doesn't happen. There is no "fool-proof" plan when it comes to loving people. This is why people give up so quickly. We say, "I tried, but I just can't do it anymore." Loving people is so difficult. If we only love people when it's easy, what kind of people are we? Is this the way of Jesus? Did Jesus tell us to love only when it's easy? Not that I know of. The true gut-check comes when things get really hard. Do we bail, or do we stick with them? Sometimes I want to run. Sometimes I want to give up. It often seems like some kids will never learn. It often seems like it will never get easier. I don't like it when kids misbehave. I don't like to keep correcting kids over and over again. It gets stressful and sometimes down-right discouraging. Shouldn't we expect this though? Did we think following Jesus would be easy and fun? Maybe our ministry in this community is one of patient love - sticking with people even when it sucks.

When I'm tempted to give up Jesus reminds me that he doesn't give up on me. Love is patient - it never gives up. The hard truth is that we can give everything we have to someone and they still may not change. Look at Jesus' example - he gave up his very life and many people still don't accept him. This doesn't mean we quit though. Jesus died on the cross knowing full well that many would still not accept him. He did it regardless. We must love regardless.

The Rock - We Got Your Back!

2008-03-12T10:27:00.001-04:00

This is a story from December, 2007...

While I was cleaning up the stage after worship on December 9th, I was interrupted by Robert, one of our sixth grade boys...

Robert came in the sanctuary and told me that his brother Matthew was bleeding really bad because he got "woomped" real bad. I went outside to see what the deal was and everyone told me that Matthew, Robert's older brother, got jumped by two boys while walking home from church and Laura is chasing the boys down the street. I was'nt surprised, though a little weary of the fact that my wife is chasing two violent boys down the street. They pointed me in the right direction and I saw Charlie and Jason in the distance following her so I jumped in my car and drove after them.

I ended up pulling over at the small Mexican grocery at Loudon and N. Limestone and ran across the train tracks to N. Upper where I found Laura and some others talking with some people who live there. Apparently the two boys ran into that house, however, the tenants were a little nervous about the 10 people on their street so they refused to tell us the names of the boys. More people from the church showed up and they finally realized they better speak up. Laura says that at one point she turned around and saw Charlie (who had shed his polo and was wearing only a wife beater), Jason, Ros, Burto, Me, and Don and she felt so proud to be from The Rock. We were a tough-looking crew.

The boys ended up getting away so we never found out exactly who they were, though we did have a couple of names. Matthew is ok (turned out that he wasn't hurt bad) and those boys will most likely stay away from him for a while - especially after they were chased by almost ten people from the church. Matthew has a family here at the church that has his back. Don't mess with The Rock! It's very rare for someone to have so many people stick up for them like we did for Matthew. I hope his family realizes that the love of Christ is a serious thing. If the church will stick up for Matthew like that, I know that I'm ok.

Some Hard- Knocks of Youth Ministry

2008-03-06T10:56:00.000-05:00

"Don't you see how wonderfully king, tolerant, and patient God is with you?...Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?"
Romans 2:4

Youth ministry ain't easy. I don't have much experience but I have enough to know that it's not a walk in the park (I have this hunch that some people choose youth ministry as their occupation not because God has led them to it, but because they think it's easy - those people probably don't last long). It's especially hard when you love the kids you're working with. Laura and I both feel like we have so many children - even though none of them are our own. Just like when your son or daughter screws up, we feel the pain when one of our youth screws up. One night when some of our youth made me especially angry, I had a conversation with three of them as I drove them home. I told them that I was pissed off and the reason I was pissed off was because I loved them. It's hard to see people you love make bad decisions.

God loves us out of our sin. That's what Paul says in the above passage. We must do the same for the struggling people in our lives. The government will discipline people for doing wrong (which they should), however it doesn't affect change in their lives. The government lacks love. Christians don't. Love is a main weapon in fighting all the terrible things in the world. We can make a student go home one week because they're not acting right and we know that they will most likely be back next week because they know we love them. Our discipline works because we love first.

I can't believe I went to the Willow Creek Leadership Summit

2008-03-05T10:09:00.000-05:00

August 27, 2007

God spoke to me pretty clearly last Wednesday at prayer and fasting in the chapel, but I'm going to start with a few weeks ago at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit at Centenary. I didn't want to go to this conference for any other reason than the fact that I could see some peeps from Centenary, hang with Ros, and get some free snacks. And the most important part, the tickets were free. I love free things. I don't have good feelings about Willow Creek and I didn't care to hear Bill Hybels speak. But it was in the one of the most unlikely places where God spoke to me. Hybels spoke about vision. He said there are two types of people in leadership - the owner and the hired hand. The owner would die for his vision but the hired hand runs when there is trouble. The owner puts everything into his vision and the hired hand is half-hearted. This hit me hard, because I realized that for the past few months I've been a hired hand. I've half-heartedly loved our kids. I've half-heartedly taught on Wednesdays. I haven't owned the calling God has placed on my life. He went so far to say that we must be willing to die for our vision. This death must happen now. I must die to myself now. Ros spoke to us about Stephen the martyr. He died long before he was stoned. That's why he was able to preach such a powerful message and die with courage and boldness when he was stoned. He had already died.

This brings me to last Wednesday at prayer and fasting. I heard God asking me a very difficult question. Just like Jesus asked Peter on the shore after the resurrection, God asked me, "Do you love me?" I wanted to say yes, but I felt like I couldn't because the next thing God said to me was "If you love me, then you will feed my sheep." Am I feeding his sheep? They go hand in hand. If I answer yes, then I must do something. I can't say I love Jesus and if I don't feed his sheep. After that time I felt a change in my heart. That night at youth group I felt an enormous amount of love for all the kids there. I wanted to talk to them, actually listen to them, encourage them, and let them know they are loved. I had this wealth of love to give out that I've never had. I wasn't teaching that night so my attention was completely focused on spending time with them. I told them I missed them and I actually meant it. God is answering my prayer - that my heart would be broken for our kids in this church. Break my heart Jesus. Show me how to love. Put the love in my heart.

Simple things are usually the best things

2008-03-05T09:55:00.000-05:00

April 18, 2007

Our game night last Friday was huge success. We had about 15 kids there and about 8 or 9 adults. I was very impressed by the adult turnout. We have incredible youth volunteers. I learned something about the importance of spending time together. Youth events are great opportunities to spend time with kids – if there done right. They don't need much preparation and thought.

I went and bought some snacks, a video game, and brought some board games from home. The kids showed up and we spent time with them. Here's what I'm thinking: Imagine if I planned a large event where we played extravagant games and went crazy. I would have to spend hours preparing for the event – taking away from time I can spend at school or with kids. During the game there really wouldn't be much time for conversation, so the adults wouldn't have any quality time to spend with the kids. The leaders would mostly be chaperoning the game and making sure the kids play the way they should. The way we did it gave the leaders two hours of quality time with the kids. It's like when Aaron was talking about his boys. He said they would rather do something low-key with their Dad than go out and do something extravagant. They want to spend time with their Dad. I believe the same is true for the youth. They want to spend time together. This brings the group together and makes it more like the family it should be.

So, essentially, less is often best. I'm always tempted to spend a lot "preparing" for things (though I'm really bad at it). There is no need for that. Henri Nouwen said something about this. He basically said that we need to live in a constant state of "preparedness." Mostly what people want is to share our life in Christ with us. Preparation is not a top priority. Relationships and prayer are.

Kids from the southside invade our hood

2008-03-05T09:44:00.000-05:00

March 17, 2007

The youth at Centenary are participating in World Vision's 30-hour famine this weekend. They fast for 30 hour in an attempt to understand what life is like for the millions of starving kids across the world. They also are raising money and awareness for the growing problem children face today in Uganda. It's a pretty cool deal. The thing I think is so neat about is that they have so many kids willing to be apart of this. It is probably in large part because all their friends are doing it, however, they are still doing it.

Last night Laura spoke to them about her experiences when she lived in Uganda for 4 months and shared some of her insight about what life is like for so many people in the world. She did an excellent job! I was also very surprised at how respectful the kids were. I guess I forgot there were kids that could sit still and listen for 30 minutes. I could use some more of those in my youth group!

I ran into some of those kids from Centenary today at The Rock. They were picking up trash around the church and the neighborhood. Pretty cool.

I hung out with Kenneth, a ninth grade girl (Ria, I believe), and another eighth grade girl (not sure her name). It was pretty neat talking to them. They were very interested in The Rock and the neighborhood. They asked a lot of questions about my job, the church, the trailer park, the community - I was actually very surprised by their interest. One of the girls said that she thought this part of town was beautiful. That's certainly not the first word that comes to mind when I see this part of town, though I think she really did see beauty. There's something about the honesty of this community that is beautiful. There's something beautiful about The Rock shining a light in the darkness.

It's amazing how isolated both sides of town are. Kids from this hood usually don't see the other parts of town and the kids from the southside hood don't see this part of town. These kids may have never been in this community and I believe they saw something they liked here. One girl said she had a friend who lived in the projects and she's "not allowed to spend the night at her house." Her mother thinks it is too dangerous. She wants to get to know people different than her, but she's not allowed. It's sad.

Overall, I was encouraged and blessed by the few minutes I spent with these three kids from Centenary.

2008-03-05T09:38:00.000-05:00

March 6, 2007

"Here is the conflict that will emerge at The Rock La Roca. I say it now so that no one will be surprise when we have to face it. The conflict will be around the disruptive behavior of the kids. We are going to keep pushing hard to work with the kids and youth of the community. But what will happen is that some people—parents, other kids, volunteers—will start to balk at working with the difficult kids, at being patient, at being firm in love. We'll start to say things like, "They're disrupting the other kids." And that will be (is) true. We'll say, "We need to be able to minister to kids without the disrespect and the hassle." All of what we will say is reasonable, and no one would argue with it. Except me and a few others, because we see that this is, as Bob Lyon put it, the terrible logic of Caiaphas. "The Caiaphas Principle," that someone should be sacrificed so things will run smoothly or be "manageable," makes such sense, is so effective, that Christians agree with its basic premises, even though it got Jesus killed."
-Pastor Aaron (italics mine)

As the youth leader in this church I must continue to remind myself that I'm here to love all kids. It doesn't matter what behavior problems the kids have, how disruptive they may be - we need to fight to keep them here. Jesus said, "Let the children come to me," and I believe the church should say the same. There were no disclaimers on Jesus' statement. We shouldn't put any on ours either. Thanks to Aaron for the encouragement.

Thoughts and reflections from the last year

2008-03-05T09:33:00.000-05:00

I'm going to post some thoughts/reflections from the past year or so that I think are relevant to youth ministry and especially our situation here at The Rock.

New Blog

2008-03-04T14:08:00.000-05:00

Stay tuned for adventures in youth ministry from The Rock UMC in Lexington, KY...