September 2017 Newsletter

Shepherding in new seasons...

For the month of September, we all saw our summer come to a close on the calendar, thus bringing in the new season of Fall - or at least what the calendar said regardless to what temperatures we may have seen locally. This past month has been nothing short of seeing God show up in so many ways where we have worked alongside some incredible students all over Leavenworth County.

Last year, we shared how we were developing relationships via the movement in the Lansing Middle School named 'Challenge Day.' This year the school again invested into this opportunity and brought it to the 8th grade class and I got the chance to participate and be a leader during all 3 days' events, which reached every 8th grader in the school. Being my 7th year assisting in these events, knowing all how the day would unfold does help quite a bit, but God had some other plans in store for what I would encounter in those 3 days. Never before in my life had I experienced a group that was more willing to jump into the days' events and be mentally, physically and emotionally all-in.

The 'iceberg method' explained to the kids on the
far right side.

Each day unfolded the same as the one ahead of it; playing plenty of ice breaker games and bringing up the energy level to a point where our kids felt safe together as a group and then putting students and adults together in smaller 'family groups' to share with one another during the day's events and then later in the day - moments to get truly real and 'drop the water line' with one another. The premise of the day is to open up opportunities for these teens to really understand what is going on underneath what they see day-to-day in the hallways with their peers. They use the 'iceberg method' of explaining that people only see about 10% of a persons' life and who they are and 90% and even more could be hidden underneath, like an iceberg in the ocean. Then, after trust is established in their program, they build energy and opportunity to have the whole audience participate in the most effective way of sharing a personal 'story' I have ever seen; it is called Cross the Line. All of the people in the room are encouraged to participate in complete silence and allow one another the opportunity to physically walk across a line if the statement which is being read out loud applies to their own personal life or what they have experienced. This also allows students to see their closest friends and peers in what they have had to deal with and also the chance for the students to see adults which work with them or are community leaders in what they personally have gone through. Their campaign and efforts to the students and the staff utterly opens their eyes to what they're dealing with beyond the usual 'head nod, handshake, side-hug or the like' while in school.

Allison, myself and Howie Lucas (from Basehor FBC) after

serving together at Challenge Day.

I have had the wonderful opportunity to share the impact, trust and integrity we have built by serving in this manner for this school when they provide Challenge Day to many ministry leaders in Leavenworth County. Although there isn't any mention of Christ or faith from an in-depth standpoint, to be able to walk alongside these students and those who work alongside them at school and see their personal stories unfold like this is unprecedented and an absolute honor from our standpoint. It is truly one of the biggest pieces of our vision of coming alongside moments like this that are already in motion in our schools and putting our hands on the wheel to impact teens 'right where they are.' I can personally say that relationships continue throughout the year even from the event happening once in the 8th graders' life. I might be on a visit to the school for something and I will see a student which remembered seeing me at Challenge Day and there soon will be a short dialogue and catching up with one another. Last year, I helped in the lunch room and many students remembered me directly from my participation in Challenge Day at the school.

One other momentum shift we have had in our mission of reaching teens in our county includes the permission granted in the Basehor-Linwood Public Schools' mentoring program. I have started working at the high school in mentoring and doing homework assistance for two guys who need help in their subjects and already I can tell this is directly what God has planned for us in working with great partners in our area. The director loves our hearts to serve and is excited to connect myself and our other staff person, Allison, with students who have need for help in areas we have done well with in school ourselves. One young man, who is a freshman, I have been partnered with has been struggling with sciences, Spanish and Algebra. I noticed quickly I wasn't going to be the best help for Algebra, but still can help with the areas he's struggling. The other student which I have been paired up with is a senior and he is struggling in business, which is a key strong point of my own knowledge and understanding. Even though the mentor relationships are relatively new, the young man who is a senior asked if I would be willing to spend the whole class time with him which I was very encouraged by his energy by the request.

As most of you all know, we've been providing an ongoing basketball outreach ministry

Part of our record crew playing ball.

partnered with the Salvation Army since the start of June. It has blown our minds seeing how much God has provided opportunities for us to work with these teens on a regular basis each week and outside of Thursday nights, sharing life and hanging out with them. Little did we know that from the 1st week of having 6 teens show up, we reached a new record of 40 teens in late-September in our gymnasium! Kids are continually sharing with their friends and bringing them each week and just loving the place and space we're providing them to play basketball but even more than that with our 'huddle' and building relationships on the sidelines as they patiently wait to play.

Due to the fact that we offered an event named "See the Story" for folks who want to know more about what we were 'up to locally' in our area in late-August, God blessed this as well. After sharing about our calling, vision, mission and local strategic plan was for reaching our 19,000+ teens throughout the county, two ladies shared how they felt led to help provide food for our teens on Thursday regularly. Ever since this moment, our crowd continued to grow and the attitudes of our teens has drastically shifted. Even greater than this, the Salvation Army has come alongside this movement of feeding the teens weekly by providing the ladies a surplus of paper goods and food so that we don't have to come out of pocket each week, but only on a limited basis. GOD IS SO GOOD!

All the lasagna lined up on the counter

ready for the teens to enjoy, cooked 

by our awesome ladies and provided

generously via the Salvation Army.

Therefore, join us in praying: 
A. More hands for the harvest, as the workers are few and we hope to reach many more in our area. 
B. We steward all what God has given us well and beyond what we can even fathom imaginable. 
C. We are awaiting our son's arrival in October, around the 21st! 
D. Pray for our leaders to continue to deepen relationships with our students who show up wherever we do ministry and life together. 
E. We are still financially short each month by about $1,100 per month in partner support. If you know anyone looking to partner with folks who are reaching the lost/disenfranchised military teens and their friends, would you consider sharing our information with them? The giving link is here: https://yfc.givingfuel.com/30631

We are deeply humbled and honored to be SENT on His mission to glorify Jesus to our teens in this area by each of you. 

~Phil, Amy & (soon to be Parker) Parsons