First Baptist Church of Leavenworth: their story
Jerry (in grey t-shirt) working with the group one
Tuesday evening during basketball. |
Carey (in black sleeveless tee) with a group of students.
|
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.
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.
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**
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**