June 2017 Newsletter

Behind every good ministry, is a great team of amazing volunteers. We recently had the opportunity to launch our first official ministry site as the YFC Leavenworth County Affiliate. Our partnership with the Salvation Army to open their gym and provide a place and a space for teens to simply come hang out and shoot some hoops kicked off on Thursday, June 1,

The ribbon cutting on our 4:13 basketball ministry

partnership at the Salvation Army.

2017. A few dignitaries from the Salvation Army Division Headquarters joined us as well as the mayors of both Lansing and Leavenworth for a brief dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting. It’s great to finally see some fruit from many months’ worth of building relationships in the community come together through this new ministry site. Back in February, when we first started casting a vision for this partnership and a weekly program that would utilize the Salvation Army’s vacant gymnasium, we also started praying about people that would come alongside us to serve at this ministry site.

Al providing us a devotional before our
second week of basketball ministry.

Through our prayers, God orchestrated the pieces that would bring just the right team into our lives. We were introduced to Al and April Prescott. This is a dynamic couple that loves Jesus, and loves to play basketball! We got to know them and a bit about their story and found out that they wanted to get plugged into some type of sports-related ministry. We shared the vision with them, and they were immediately ready to serve. When we met them, they were engaged and would soon be married. The wedding date was set for Thursday, June 1^st—the very night we were set to launch the ministry site and kick things off. Even

Al and April Prescott during the kickoff

as they play basketball with the teens.

though we had been preparing for the launch, we didn’t expect them to be present on the night of kick off since they were going to be saying their “I dos” earlier that day. Wow, were we surprised when they told us that didn’t want to miss it and would certainly be there! Now, that’s dedication! The second week of ministry was Al’s birthday, do you think he took a pass to celebrate his big day with his new wife? Of course not! They were both present and ready to serve the group of teens that came out to play ball. We did manage to sing him Happy Birthday though. We’re so blessed to have this great couple on our team. It’s awesome to see how the students grow through the relationships we build with them, but it’s also amazing to see how our volunteer team grows as well in their relationships with students, their own personal relationships with Christ and their unwavering commitment to serve as a part of this ministry. With all the hoopla of the kick off celebration the first night, we didn’t include any faith component. That allowed us to simply build a bridge to get to know a bit of the student’s stories. On the night of Al’s birthday, he shared a devotional with the teens that came out. We feel God is definitely on the move, even in the infancy of this new ministry.

Floyd (white t-shirt) at center court playing basketball during the

ministry kickoff event with the teens.

If Al and April’s story isn’t enough, we have also been blessed to grow our relationship with Floyd Green. Floyd first crossed Phil’s path when they both served on a jury several years ago. Through getting to know one another, and sharing stories, they learned that they both attended Westside Family Church. Phil was sharing how he was going into full-time ministry with YFC and Floyd wanted to learn how he could come alongside him and help. Floyd has been a long-time ministry partner of ours and has a heart to serve lost and underprivileged teens in the community. He has served as a coach of various sports teams and has 3 sons

that have all been involved in sports. His first passion is playing tennis, but basketball is a close second. He works full-time in the field of Information Technology for a police department and makes a 45-minute commute each way to work every day. If his long work day and commute weren’t enough to make him want to go home, kick his feet up, and just relax, that would seem pretty normal. Instead, on Thursday nights, he drives straight from the office to serve on our team. He changes his clothes, laces up his sneakers, and gets at it on the court, even with his “old arthritic knees”, he says. He loves being able to be a part of something that reaches a group of kids that sometimes feels unreachable. It’s crazy how something as simple as a game of basketball provides an opportunity to build Christ-sharing relationships with kids. As simple as it seems, we couldn’t provide the quality ministry that we’re providing week after week without people like Al, April, Floyd, and the rest of our great volunteer team.

Ministry isn’t just made up of great people that serve on our team, but good ministry also includes good food. It’s amazing the conversation you can have over some tasty cookies and lemonade. Refreshments were provided the night we kicked things off by the team at the Salvation Army. Amy saw that some boys had sat down to enjoy their tasty treats and she grabbed a cookie and sat and joined them. She met Keshawn and Antoine. A

Keshawn (right) with Antoine (left) playing ball on
the night of our 4:13 ministry kickoff.

conversation quickly ignited as her inquisitive spirit began asking questions. She learned that Keshawn will soon be a senior this fall, and helps care for his mother that struggles with chronic health issues. He has hopes to attend college once he graduates, but plans to delay his timeline a bit in order to take care of his mom. He invited his buddy Antoine out to shoot hoops, instead of sitting at home bored. Antoine will be in 10^th grade in the fall and after he’s done with high school, he hopes to join the likes of Lecrae, NF, J’Son and other gospel rappers, by making a living providing good music for people to listen to. Who would have thought that a simple cookie and a listening ear could have provided such an opportunity to learn about these two boys’ stories? We hope to continue building these relationships and many others like them as long as God allows the doors to remain open for this ministry. Our hope is that we will be able to grow and expand from simple sport-related programs to a broader reach, perhaps in the local school districts. We continue to grow and build those relationships with the administration and serve where we can accordingly.

The group together with local dignitaries. (From left, Allison Adragna, April & Al Prescott, Lansing Mayor Mike Smith, Leavenworth Salvation Army's Lt. James Beardsley, Phil, Amy,
Leavenworth Mayor Nancy Bauder, KC Salvation Army Major David Harvey, Floyd Green)

We thank you all for being on mission with us. A heads-up to you all that this will be our final month providing a paper letter. Please email us to continue receiving updates as they will go on the blog here for now on so we are good stewards with what God has provided for us in the ministry.

Continuing praying:

--continued health for Amy and baby boy, Parker Landry, as we’re now on the last half of the pregnancy.

--for the new ministry site with the Salvation Army to continue to grow and thrive, as well as other opportunities to create additional ministry sites in and around Leavenworth County.

--additional ministry partners—specifically, we have been invited to two churches to speak and share the mission and vision of YFC this week, pray as God prepares our hearts and the hearts of people that will be in attendance.

With humble hearts,
~Phil, Amy, soon to be Parker :)