"What do you leave behind?"
In a recent trip to the famous Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, God moved me to start thinking about many things that paralleled with a visit with some dear friends who are on our partner team back in Kansas. As we walked through the cemetery and the rich history, we couldn’t help notice that each headstone had inscriptions of the persons’ legacy left behind. Some messages were inspirational, some were about their service to country and some were about their faith. It brought Amy and I to notice a lot of what each deceased persons’ way they impacted others and to the point if others loved them enough to visit and decorate their place in the cemetery.
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This is one of the many photos we took while visiting the
famous Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, GA.
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Before departing in 2012, I had the pleasure of having a great French meal with a couple who have partnered with us in this mission since the starting process. Through the meal, I got to know their personal stories, impacts and dreams moving ahead. The one thing that has stuck with me since that day was how Dan shared something very impactful with me in this mission and ministry to military teens. Dan noted, “Phil, what kind of flavor do you want to leave with people you interact with?” Dan was commenting on the ‘flavor’ of French food and it was all about what was added to make the boldness stand out. That’s what Dan was sharing with me at that moment. How do I want these military teens to feel after spending time with me, even for a short season?
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David (right) with a crew of our middle school students and
Cora (front) as we hung out over Popeye's one night. |
Low and behold, I never knew God would flip the coin and He would use the students, their stories and their lives to ‘flavor’ my soul as we start to prepare for the end of the school year this semester and take a glimpse on what has happened in our duration here. From the giant summer kickoff we had last year with laser tag and roller skating where 135 teens showed up to the 55 students who blasted paint all over each other in the color war and the 85 kids who kicked off the school year as we rented the bowling alley, we were able to bring impact by reaching ‘every military teen’ with things they loved to do together. However, God also showed us mightily it wasn’t about the pretty numbers or statistics. It was the amazing 1-1 interactions with our students like Cora on Sundays at Chapel or personal conversations over Popeye’s chicken with David and KyLeah for dinner before Club. But it wasn’t even all of those things completely…..God used other things, too.
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Eric with Amy (mama Phil) as he dropped
by Club and see everyone while on leave. |
We saw students share their own personal ‘story’ with their peers and get deep and real quickly like we never have seen before. From Ashanti to Jaylon to Cora in high school and from Kiersten to Chrisraine in middle school, we got the chance to hear our students stand in front of their peers and unpack their lives and where they are coming from as military teens. Then add in the students who crave showing up so early that our small group time becomes the epic hang out for students who are escaping their home lives. They share what’s the latest in their school life, home life, plus shoot around a basketball or hang on the outside wall which has become the new ‘place’ for our Stewart teens. Or the new hangout becomes the place where our past students show up to revisit Club while they are home, as Reggie and Eric did while on leave during their time with the Air Force. It also could look like when a past student from college, Devon, reaches me when he’s in the middle of a big relationship break-up and don’t know where to turn and who to trust with their raw emotions.
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| Amy and I with Kenzie from Hunter during Easter photos at Savannah Christian Church. |
Throughout our moments shared here with Fort Stewart and Hunter teens, we have seen an incredible impact through continued efforts where we haven’t given up on what God could do for each teen that walks through the doors of our sites. Keegan, one of our tenured teens at Hunter recently stepped up into a role never seen before by anyone. While shooting hoops, he continued to encourage and work with another student who moved to Hunter recently, named DJ. He was giving him tips on how to do better with shooting, dribbling and his overall basketball game. It was breathtaking seeing God on the move. God is showing me that it’s through vital providing the weekly ministry at any location since our military teens don’t get that in their lives. Adding more of the ‘flavor’ to Keegan’s life includes attending 2 summer camps, spring break work project, weekly Club and moments where I step out and pat him on the back with how he provided that encouragement to a peer. Seeing him step up in maturity rather than be about himself stopped me in my tracks—that’s God.
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| It wouldn't be Hunter Club until they did something insane as a group - take this photo as they all chose to run and flop against the wall. That's our squad! |
If it isn’t being slapped on the ‘caaalllfff’ by Ethan or Justin at Hunter, it could be the outrageous welcoming and somewhat overbearing ‘HI!’ to our arriving students at Stewart, each of their own personality has rubbed off on us in one way or another. Every one of these amazingly incredible teens has been a ‘seasoning’ upon our hearts. Continue to pray as we are given moments with them through our finish of the school year and into summer camp. Rich moments like these are forever.
Leaving our ’flavor’ with the teens who leave theirs within our souls for God’s glory,
Phil and Amy Parsons
Phil and Amy Parsons
