Wednesday, May 24, 2017

May 2017 Newsletter


First Baptist Church of Leavenworth: their story

Jerry (in grey t-shirt) working with the group one
Tuesday evening during basketball.
Last month, we shared about how we had been spending time with adults and building relational bridges throughout our area and learning about Kingdom impact opportunities already happening to reach the lost teens all around. I’ve been spending a lot of time with our good friends of First Baptist Church of Leavenworth each Tuesday evening when they open their gym to middle school and high school teens since there aren’t many options for them to play in a place that’s safe and available for free. The pastor, Jerry has equipped his son, Carey, to lead the sports ministries from the church’s standpoint and throughout my time showing up and getting to know them, they have allowed me to step in and help out whenever one or the other isn’t available. Part of their need included the issues that came up last semester from competitors getting so angry in competition that they started to threaten other folks and even tried to pick fights. This almost killed the program where folks had to be asked to leave if they couldn’t keep their cool. It all began when I shared with them the vision and mission of Youth For Christ Leavenworth County and there was a big alignment in their
Carey (in black sleeveless tee) with a group of students.
basketball outreach plan. All I cared about was helping if they needed and provide another adult who wanted to keep the space safe for all who came out to play. Eventually, Jerry even asked if I could help provide a message every once in a while. This wasn’t my agenda, but I was and still am humbled to be able to do anything for them on a Tuesday night. That’s Kingdom work. We were paired together to love these teens, regardless of where they’re coming from.




Mark and Dave: their story

During my time spent on Tuesday nights at their gym, I got the opportunity to know and hoop with a few guys who most would say were ‘rough around the edges.’ These guys were exactly what I had been praying for in getting to know and meeting on ‘their turf.’ We'll protect their identity by changing their names in the letter. Mark and Dave are brothers and usually they arrived with an older friend who hooped with them, named Seth. These guys were street ballers for sure. They had the aggressive mentality for basketball, especially in the neighborhood. It was awesome to get onto their team, since I was the odd man out, being the near-40 year old dude with little hair on my head and bad knees. After playing a couple of games with them, I started to encourage them when they would get extremely agitated or would get down about missing a few shots. I also provided a small amount of in-game coaching for the offensive and defensive side of the game, so we could figure out how to play better together. Oddly, I ended up being picked to get onto their team on a regular basis week after week since they saw how I was more of an encourager to them on their team and not much of a shooter but wanted to keep everyone’s head into the game and not lose their cool when things got testy. To say that these guys played to win was a shortfall – they wanted to win at all costs, no matter how dirty the game got, even to the point of almost fighting with one another when passes or shots by the other brother didn’t go well.

Dave playing aggressive defense while
his group plays basketball together.

God must have had some certain plans to open our eyes to what He saw on a regular basis of these high school guys who were coming to play each week. It was when Amy and I chose to partner in helping our dear friends at Unity in the Community one Friday in delivering meals to people in need, which they do each month in the Leavenworth area. It was in one of our final deliveries that as I pulled up to the neighborhood, I noticed we were in the area where Mark and Dave lived. As Amy read the address, I realized – we were going to deliver 9 meals to this family with much need. When I jumped out of the car to get the meals ready out of the back of the car, Dave and his buddies walked over to the car and he noticed me and gave me the usual brotherly handshake of acceptance. “Delivering some food your way tonight, 9 meals, right?” I shared with a huge smile to Dave. I then shared with them we had a bit of extra that evening from a couple no-shows at their homes and threw in 3 extra meals for them when they said they’d enjoy them. Dave carried the meals up as Amy and I walked up to the house to get the necessary signature of receiving the meals and God showed up again that night. We noticed the front door had glass broken out and inside the home was anything and everything covering the carpet. It’d looked like a tornado had gone through the duplex. It rocked my world. It was exactly what we needed to see and understand what the teens in our area were living with day in and day out.

The biggest thing that hit me about our teens in our county: if they are coming to us and they live in anything that looked like what these young men lived in, how or why would they want to hear anything about a God that loved them and us?! If we aren’t willing to jump into their world and really care FOR them and provide a place that is safe for them to get real with us, should they even bother listening about our own story or God’s story?
A panoramic view of the FBC gym during a Tuesday night gathering of students.

YFC Leavenworth County: our story

This shouldn’t have rocked me as hard, but it was a reality check to the need of our teens in this area to KNOW them and where they are coming from before anything else. Another thing has hit me hard lately in preparing to provide training to adults who work with youth is this: the average student in school is talked at or to 60 hours a week if time at home with parents or coaches is included. So often, our students are involved in one-sided conversations. Why then is it that we in ministry feel mad when kids don’t want to come visit or spend time with us?! Our mission is simple: we spend the intentional time listening to their weekly and daily struggles of life in school and outside of it before talking AT or TO them. That’s relationships. That’s what Jesus did and that is what we will do, regardless of what our teens believe.  
One of my snapshots during a Tuesday night
gathering at FBC Leavenworth.

We ask you all to join us in prayer as we launch a new partnership we never imagined before - a basketball ministry outreach with the Leavenworth Salvation Army slated for the start of June. We're hoping to open the gym and reach teens all over the area who want to come hoop and enjoy a place that is inviting and safe for them to compete but also be known. Continue to pray for us as we build relationships all over the county to earn permissions to work alongside military teens and their friends and that God provides opportunities for new partners to come on board in partnering with our local affiliate in providing finances to do even more.

Humbled to get to know their story, hoping to share God's greater story one day,
~Phil & Amy


**To join our team in any way you feel led in prayer, financial partnership, spreading the word and anything in between you can reach us at pparsons@yfcmail.org or contribute online at https://yfc.givingfuel.com/30631**