August 2017 Newsletter

The groundwork continues...

Back in February this year, we shared how it will be pivotal to build opportunities in putting our hands to work alongside folks already doing great Kingdom work and spending intentional time with adults who want to see teens impacted all over our county-wide area. It has become evident that patience and perseverance throughout how God has called us to work to reach teens in this area will be key to our long-term success. We aren't just planning for a one or three-year plan, but for decades to exist in making impacts upon teens in Leavenworth County.  

It can be easy to think you’ve accomplished all of your groundwork as eagerness builds to begin laying the foundation. However, as we kicked off ministry at the Salvation Army, we quickly saw the need to slow down and keep tilling the soil. In building relationships with these teens that are regularly attending on Thursday nights, we’ve learned that many of them are lacking their most basic needs like shelter, food, and clothing. Back to school

Dakota and I hanging out
on the sidelines one
Thursday night during bball.

season just passed and most students are now back in classes. Many students look forward to the start of a new school year and all the preparing that goes into purchasing supplies, and back to school clothes. These students we’re working with though, didn’t get those shopping sprees or new wardrobes. Through learning their stories as we spend time with them, we’re finding that many of them live in extreme poverty with one-income households earning minimum wages, or may have a parent on full-time disability. One student in particular, we learned is couch surfing with his family at another student’s home because they don’t currently have a place to live.

These stories are heartbreaking and gut-wrenching and we’d love to be able to help each student we reach and provide for their most basic needs. We may not have the resources to be able to help each student we encounter, but we can still help them. By building these important relationships, these students are learning that we care about them. In working with this demographic of students, the groundwork phase is longer than we anticipated. We’re finding that students don’t want to learn about Jesus when they don’t even have their most basic needs met. Many of them question how could a loving God even exist when they don’t have food or shelter. You may be wondering what our hopes are for introducing these students to a relationship with Jesus. Eventually, that is our hope to plant seeds that will be cultivated and lead to them developing a personal relationship with Christ, but we are beginning to understand that with this group of students, that may be a long process. 

We continue to be consistent with our team and show up every Thursday evening and love

KeShawn with Al and April
after winning the 3 on 3
tournament one week. 

on these teens, because right now, that’s what they need. They simply need to know that someone cares. Many of these students are regular drug users and participate in high-risk behaviors. Although, we don’t condone what they’re doing, we understand why they may resort to such activities. If we can provide an alternative to where they feel safe and loved, our hope is that those high-risk behaviors decrease and more positive behaviors increase. 

In addition to our large group gathering on the basketball courts on Thursday nights, we try

to create as many opportunities as possible throughout the week in order to gain momentum to continue building relationships with these students. Since it’s not uncommon for these students to go without meals, we work to connect with them throughout the week and see if they’re available to grab a meal at the local Taco Bell or Wendy’s. They get the opportunity to fill their belly, and we get some solid one on one time to listen to the things that they feel they might not be able to share with others, as well as speak some truth into their lives. Following a recent trip to Taco Bell, Phil was hanging out with a student he has been

building a relationship with and as they wrapped up their meal and conversation, he said, “thanks for letting me get some things off my chest”. That might not seem like a huge deal, but it appears that the foundation is being poured in that young man’s life. 

Another of our leaders, Al, is also busy trying to connect with students outside of Thursday nights in hopes to continue the groundwork, to eventually build on at some point. Specifically, he recently chose to take a couple of the guys from Thursday nights to the Kansas City Chiefs training camp with his own son as well. They enjoyed the time together plus played some basketball on post and then finished with some food. His continued energy to try to reach our teens in a way that relates to them is an incredible blessing. Recently, he has chosen to take it upon himself to invest in a 4-week study Tim Tebow has put together and work it into a way the teens might show some interest. Another blessing

These are the materials which Al purchased for an
        upcoming study with our teens. 

has been the involvement of his wife, April, into the mix as well, being that she also hopes to connect to the female students and create those places to invest into the teens in a way during the regular tempo of life. April recently commented with Al about inviting the students they are getting to know regularly to their home for meals and just to ‘hang out.’ This IS how relational Kingdom work is done.

Additional groundwork for building opportunities has begun in reaching teens in the southern part of the county, specifically through a school mentorship program. Specifically, our dear friend Howie Lucas of First Baptist Church of Basehor told me about the program where the school allows adults to come into Basehor-Linwood middle or high school and mentor students who might need help in a certain subject where they need that extra ‘boost.’ He said that the program director is always open to new adults coming to help out. It didn’t take too long to receive the email from the director, Tammy Potts. Tammy is literally a living and breathing testament of what we embody in everything we do with our teens on a regular basis in building relationships and pouring into their lives when we receive permission. Allison and I got the chance to tour the high school, hear about the history of the mentor program and hear the needs they currently have and how we can be part of their amazing movement. This opportunity is something we never imagined happening for us especially we had been praying for connectivity to our teens in the southern region of the county. God’s timing and plans are SO perfect!

The logo and banner for the mentor program at the Basehor-Linwood school district. 

Finally, if all of that isn’t enough, God has put it on our hearts to start plowing the fields locally to invite folks to an upcoming event where we will share what God has us doing locally and also hear about our mission, vision and strategic plan on reaching the over 19,000 teens in our county in 6 school districts. Specifically it will be called “See the Story.” The adults we will invite will get the chance to come in on a Thursday evening when we are working with our teens with the basketball ministry at the Salvation Army and watch how it unfolds for a little while and also get a tour of the facility where we’ve garnered a partnership and amazing relationship of servitude. The other part of the one hour event will include how folks can prayerfully consider being part of the movement God has us doing in our area to reach these great military teens and their friends. Should you find yourself in our area sometime in the end of each month, we’d love to have you join us for this amazing opportunity to see the ministry in action.

The event we attended and assisted with our dear Young Life friends
in the southern part of the county.

So, there you have it – God is really moving BIG. We are so thankful for each of you who pray for us as we are moving diligently but obediently where God leads us to build relationships for the long haul and that we seek His glory and not our own.

We thank you and pray for each of you who have been alongside us in this journey.

~Phil, Amy & (Soon to be Parker)

July 2017 Newsletter

"It's not about me." These famous penned words were taken from the book, Purpose Driven Life, which was written by Rick Warren. Although it's been a long while since I've read this book, the quote has resonated with me as of late in what God is providing for us.

In working in my previous job position at the bank in Leavenworth and Lansing, it specifically was my job to 'know others and be known' for the purpose of selling our products. Sadly it was all about building a relationship as a means to an end to sell something to someone, rather than just care about them. A lot of this mentality overflowed into the ministry we were providing and I had to learn and readjust my reasoning for getting to know people and so forth. Thankfully, God provided me Amy to help me in and through those adjustments because habits are tough to change. 

That brings us to the past weeks' of ministry here in Leavenworth County. It's been phenomenal to say the least. God has opened opportunities we have had with other Kingdom-building folks and our hands have been put to work regularly. One thing all of us who serve with our Leavenworth YFC Affiliate have noticed is that we do not need to bring our own 'brand, name, recognition or notification' whenever we show up to serve. All we need to do is be present, love others and put our hands to the plow to build Kingdom opportunities wherever the chance arises. 

We've joined our good friends in the southern part of the county at their church to help out whenever the chance arises and the relationship is amazing. Our friends Howie and Ruth

Howie and Ruth Lucas from FBC Basehor

are responsible for the youth ministry of First Baptist Church of Basehor and they do an incredible job of reaching the lost and their friends by creating spaces and places where all teens feel welcome. Regularly on Sunday evenings, Phil will attend their youth ministry night where they'll gather and just have fun together and enjoy some food and he'll jump in and help out with whatever is needed each evening. Recently, they opened their home for a monthly cookout and hangout time at their home for students to come and go as they please and play yard games of many sorts, ranging from volleyball to ladder toss and even some corn hole. Just as stated before, we don't look to do self-promotion of any type, but just to show up and be part of what God is providing anywhere He allows us to build relationships with our friends all over the county. 

The best part about being able to help out Howie and Ruth comes in the form of a true relationship and friendship with this great couple. We get to know them personally and also how we can be praying for them and their own lives in what they need as they shepherd the teens in their backyards. It goes much deeper than serving together, but truly building a foundation together in grace, love and faith. Beyond that, we get to share some of our deeper struggles with one another and know that we have a couple who are in the trenches with us as we are doing like-minded Kingdom work and need that from others who are doing what we are called. 

Another wonderful Kingdom partner includes someone we've mentioned in the past about our collaborative efforts, and again we got the chance to serve alongside our brother

Jermaine and his ministry named Unity in the Community Movement. Late in the month of June, I reached to him to find out if he had any upcoming events where we can put our hands to work and he shared his vision to have the annual "Bridging the gap basketball game with the Leavenworth Police Department." The event is held to bring unity between the Leavenworth people and the local police and they hold a basketball game where the officers play against teens for about an hour. They also provide a softball game where adults play against teens to build camaraderie and goodwill in the area. If that isn't enough, they provide enough food for up to 200+ people to enjoy throughout the event with hot dogs, burgers and chicken to anyone who shows up.

The adults and a few students mixed into the final huddle of the softball game.

The group of teens with the Leavenworth Police Department.

A panoramic view of the event's early unfolding and set-up for the day's events. 

Being that Jermaine was looking for people to help come early and set up and arrange things ahead of the event unfolding, Allison and I decided to come and get the whole strategic layout together mentally and on paper so we knew what we were working with and what they envisioned. This allowed us to come the day of the event and set all things in motion early enough to have it unfold successfully. God brought tons of people alongside the event to see it go so well and all we chose to do was show up and love on the people and serve the movement. It was an honor to be asked to help referee the basketball game along with play in the softball game against the teens. But then again, it wasn't about us, YFC or anything else but serving people who matter for the Kingdom's cause. 

If that weren't enough, Amy and I got the chance to yet again come alongside our friends who do youth ministry to military teens and their friends right in town. Caleb was having a parking lot party and needed a grill person and we kindly accepted the invite and also chose to bring out our corn hole set for the students to use during the evening. It was all about making ourselves available to our great folks who are already doing Kingdom work, placing our own initiatives aside for God's greater initiative. Allison also got to join into the fun of things as we shared the need of adult help and she put her hands to work in being part of the evening's activities. We also got to help transport a group of teens when the youth ministry was having an opportunity to go play at the local video arcade and event center. All we did was provide information that we had vehicles to transport teens and Caleb's point person reached us and soon enough, our van was filled with teens ready to go. 

And wrapping up the ways we've been helping out didn't just end with us doing the leg work, but a group of teens helped me set up the church's final family fun fest after the final day of VBS. Four teenaged boys piled into my van and said they'd be willing to help set up some air blown jump houses along with setting up tables and chairs for folks enjoying the event and eating outdoors.

The whole spread of the fun fest where the boys helped set up the left side of the parking lot which included two inflatable jump houses and all the tables and chairs. 

Keshawn having fun after setting up.

Caleb heading up the obstacle course.

AJ heading down the slide after helping set up the items for the finale.

Goodness, God has been on the move lately, and we feel it's because we're checking our priority of sharing what 'we do' and just coming alongside those who are already doing it locally. Building relationships with adults and teens has become pivotal as we are seeing so much opportunity to love our military teens and their friends all over the county.

We ask you all to pray for us as we continue to foundationally build the initial stages of serving our local area in such a great way. 

Humbled to be on mission, 

~Phil, Amy, & Soon to be Parker 

**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**

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 :)

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**

April 2017 Newsletter

Relationships matter. Even to adults. 

As we move into the beauty of some great spring weather, some phenomenal opportunities with local Kingdom partners in the area are springing up as well! Dating all the way to the start of the year, I have had the chance to go and spend time with the folks of a local church basketball outreach which happens each week on Tuesday nights. I have had the pleasure to get to know Pastor Jerry and his son, Carey, who are leading the charge to reach students who want a place to play basketball each week at their upstairs gym in their church. Through getting to know where they are coming from and their motivations of 'how and why' they are doing this outreach each week have helped us both understand our skill sets and where each of us has been called by God. Most recent, Pastor Jerry called me to ask if I would help lead the Tuesday night event due to the fact he and his son would be out of pocket, yet again another bridge built by God and His plans of how we can serve our local community in reaching some great teens.

The First Baptist Church gymnasium on a Tuesday night

Glancing back to some of our previous training, it is pivotal and a large crutch to the success of the affiliate to build relationships and collaborate with Kingdom building adults and like minded partners. It is one of the key 5 essentials to the ministry success of Youth For Christ. Although another piece of the essentials is loving relationships with teens, I feel it's been pivotal to build relationships with phenomenal adults who would like to lovingly pour into the teens in our area as well, hence knowing more of their own stories and how God is shaping them into being His vessels locally to work alongside us. This then shapes another one of our essentials which is SO incredibly powerful, having adults who empower teens from every people group to live out their faith as they come to know about Jesus and follow Him.

The YAC logo

That then puts us in a crossroads of something of great proportion of late. Amy and I have had the opportunity to get to know key collaborators in the community who love to build relationships and 'go where teens are' in our area to create a place and space that is safe for them. We have met an incredible guy named Jermaine, aka Too Short, who leads the Unity in the Community movement. This guy is all about grassroots ministry and going to the people and creating ministry opportunities throughout Leavenworth. Next, add in Joe Buis, the director at the Leavenworth Youth Achievement Center (YAC), which is where Phil served on their board for a number of years and allowed us to reconnect with them and see where they needed some hands on deck. Fast forward to today, we are helping the YAC with a video game night on Mondays throughout the semester to reach more teens who just want to come, hang out and play some games after school.

Jermaine and his wife Jessica,
who lead the Unity in the
Community movement

Now, it's late-April and we are seeing a full-on collaborative effort to host a 3 on 3 middle school and high school basketball tournament at First Baptist Church, co-hosted by YFC Leavenworth County, Unity in the Community and Leavenworth YAC. We are literally paving the way to reach our teens in an effort where they feel loved and have a place to be encouraged and play competitively in a healthy environment with their friends.

All of the adults together with a few teams who participated in the 3 on 3 basketball collaborative tournament.
(Jermaine from Unity in the Community in red t-shirt, Jerry & Carey from FBC Leavenworth on far right back row)

But wait.......if that isn't enough of what God's been doing for our partnerships locally, there's still more! One day, Phil went into the local Salvation Army offices to see how we can serve them and see what kind of needs they might have. Unbeknownst to us, they had an
incredibly underutilized gymnasium that has come upon recent scrutiny from the past city leadership. Lieutenant James Beardsley shared that he didn't have enough adult help to run programs in the gym - therefore that's where YFC Leavenworth County steps into the fray. As we write this letter, we will be co-partnering with a launch of the "4:13 Ministry" with the Leavenworth Salvation Army. This ministry partnership will incorporate using their gym to reach students in the summer with basketball and potentially dodge ball events. The lieutenant has been so excited that they're already talking about promotion with t-shirts, ribbon cutting and praying over the launch of this effort together in the community. The Kansas City leadership of the Salvation Army is also ramping up in excitement. God is SO good!

A panoramic view of the Salvation Army gymnasium

A pivotal piece of this puzzle includes intentionally spending time with adults when God opens doors for me to take them to lunch, coffee or just hanging out with them on the basketball court after a Tuesday night outreach event. It's counter-intuitive to hold on any student ministry typically, but God has been blessing this effort since we have been spending more time with adults in the past months. Specifically, we are now using Thursday evenings to do exactly what we do with our teens, but with our adults who are interested in launching the Salvation Army/YFC summer basketball opportunity. We're sharing our own personal stories, getting all folks background checked, spending real time with one another and even playing some basketball so we truly know the folks we're surrounded with as we kick off ministry together. Another area of this includes humbly serving the Lansing Middle School staff in their 'keeping the Challenge Day Alive" efforts. I have had the pleasure of offering my additional time in their upcoming finale in May and rallying other ministry leaders to help with the efforts with their time or donations so the school doesn't have to ask their parents as they normally do each year. It's been quite an opportunity to serve but also hear the voices of our local middle school and what the community needs beyond what's inside the school each day.

We continue to ask you all to pray for us as we are seeing new groundwork come together in places we never imagined. It's been tough at times to go slower than anticipated, but we believe to see something for the long-term that it will take longer and more intentional relationship building than the quick start and fizzle out processes which can happen. Please pray for adults to join us in this effort, wherever their hearts are led toward to serve. We also ask for you to pray for our newest addition to the team, Allison Adragna, who arrived mid-April and will be navigating and discerning where God is leading her to cultivate opportunities in our area to reach our lost military teens and their friends. Please do pray for her initial needs of transportation and a place to live as well so she can get her roots planted wherever God desires her to be in our county.

The big announcement put together by
our dog, Neicy, that we are expecting
a baby in October 2017!

Finally, pray as we are expecting an expansion to the Parsons family in late-October. Pray for Amy and the baby’s health as we are excitedly awaiting the day to welcome this bundle of joy to our world. God is SO good!

Onward for His mission, loving the lost and destitute teens in Leavenworth County,

~Phil, Amy & baby Parsons

March 2017 Newsletter

Wait Time Is Not Wasted Time

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the story of Nehemiah and how he went from a cupbearer to the king, to organizing an effort and completing the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. In this current season, in Leavenworth County, as we strive to build up an affiliate to reach military teens throughout the county, we often feel as though we’re playing the waiting game. Although Nehemiah only had to wait about 4 months before he started putting his vision into action, he was busy during that waiting period praying and seeking God’s will for how things would come to fruition, while God was busy at work aligning things behind the scenes. The burden on Nehemiah’s heart was to see Jerusalem restored and rebuilt. We can often times get caught up in the how the vision will get accomplished, so much so, that we lose focus on the what. The burden that remains on our heart here in Leavenworth County, Kansas is to reach the over 14,000 teens, ages 11-19, the majority of which are military teens. Nehemiah wasn’t exactly sure how he would go about ensuring that the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, he left that up to God. In a similar fashion, we’re not sure exactly what the future of military youth ministry will look like exactly here in Leavenworth County, but we do know for sure that the burden remains strong on our hearts and we’re trusting God to continue aligning the pieces as we continue to do what we can on our end here on the ground and believe that God is at work bigtime behind the scenes.

What we’re doing at the ground level

My childhood friend, Chris and I at the YFC
Omaha banquet together.

Like any good construction project, you need the right tools and It’s important that they are in good working order; after all, who ever made a precise cut with a dull saw? Just like Proverbs 27:17 states that just as iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another. Amy and I are currently busy getting sharpened. As we have mentioned in previous newsletters, we have had the opportunity to learn a lot from our YFC Omaha counterparts and later this month we will be attending a week-long training in Denver, CO that will help us better
prepare for our new position as we build and direct this affiliate program here in Leavenworth County. Before we can empower and equip others to come alongside us and serve to reach these military teens, we must first be empowered and equipped. We hope that this training we will be attending in a couple weeks, will help bring clarity and sharpen others as we ourselves get sharpened. We have already met with countless youth pastors throughout the county that have a shared vision to reach lost teens. We have met with other community organizations that also have a heart to bring about Kingdom-impact change throughout our county. We meet regularly with them to discuss issues plaguing our community and brainstorm solutions on how we can work together to bring about lasting change. Just like God orchestrated some connections for Nehemiah so he could rebuild Jerusalem, God is busy orchestrating things for us here at the ground level in Leavenworth County through these training opportunities, and collaborating with other like-minded partners.

Amy and I together on the
red carpet at the YFC
Omaha banquet.

            As part of the affiliate, we have an advisory board. They serve to help keep us accountable to the mission and vision, act as a sounding board when it comes to decision making, assist with budget decisions, as well as a host of other duties. We are still working to build our advisory board, comprised of people throughout the community that want to support the work God is doing here. We currently have 4 people serving on our board and we are hoping to add a few more soon. We held our first meeting a couple of weeks ago.

            As we also mentioned before, we’re shifting focus. Sadly, many millennials are either leaving the church in droves, or have never been invited to hear about Jesus and the gift of salvation. Prior to now, the approach we took was to be a ministry that operated out of the on-post chapels of military installations. This approach was limiting in that in only reached teens that were connected to the on-post chapels. It was a, “a come to us” focus. In this new shift of focus, we feel we can have a much greater Kingdom impact, as well as God’s glory magnified as we cast a wider net with a “go to where kids are” focus. Where are the majority of young people, ages 11-19?….in school. We are currently building relationships with school administrators, parent and teacher organizations, extra-curricular activity leadership, and school counselors and simply asking how we can serve them. Whether that means helping out with events, or mopping the floor after an activity, we want them to know that we’re not here to push our agenda, we simply want to serve them with the most basic needs they may have. Our hope is that by building these relationships, one day we will be granted the permissions to provide Campus Life programs in these schools to build relationships with students and share Jesus with them on a weekly basis, either before or after school. Through this approach, we would be able to reach far more military teens. Our reach wouldn’t be limited to only military teens, though, through this approach, we would have the opportunity to reach all students within the school, both military teens and their friends.

Vision Casting

Imagine with me for a moment, what the landscape could look like one day…Currently, our young people are plagued with bullying, struggling with identity, self-esteem, body image, and countless other problems. Military teens struggle with those same issues, compounded by moving all the time, and worrying about their deployed parents. They often have to pick up the slack at home and miss out on simply being a teen due to additional responsibilities. All teens simply want to feel that they belong, are known, and be understood. Could you imagine the change we could see in the canvas of Leavenworth County if we were able to cast this wider net into the school systems, eventually reaching every middle and high school of all 5 school districts within Leavenworth County? We could see problems like bullying decrease, we could see attendance and performance rates increase. We could see homes and families transformed. We could see community involvement increase. Drug and alcohol use, abuse, crime rates, incarceration rates, and so many other negative impacts could decrease as a result of a faith-based presence in the public school system in Leavenworth County. As these teams come together to build relationships through fun and games, food, and fellowship with these students, they will earn the right to speak God’s truth into their lives. Over time, this could lead to church growth throughout the county as we plug families into grow in their newfound or recommitted relationships with Christ. WOW! I don’t know about you, but that gets us fired up and excited for the possibilities God could bring to the landscape of Leavenworth County.

Be praying with us that God will continue to align and orchestrate connections, partnerships, and opportunities, as we seek to fulfill our role in what we believe is His vision for the future of military youth ministry in Leavenworth County. It truly takes an Army to make this happen, no different than Nehemiah recruited lots of people to help him rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. We need partners to come alongside us that have that fire and passion to see change come to our area. Please consider joining our team, either through prayer, financial support, or volunteering to serve alongside us.

Amy, Allison and I together during Allison's recent visit to Kansas, enjoying BBQ together!

Celebrate with us as we will be having a second YFC staff join our team here in Kansas. Within the next few weeks, Allison should be here on the ground helping us with the YFC Affiliate serving Leavenworth County. She will be moving from Moreno Valley, California. She has a heart for lost young people and a passion to build relationships with them and share Christ with them by simply living life on life together.

Honored to be on this mission in His vision as we call us to serve in Leavenworth County,

~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**

February 2017 Newsletter

The excavation and land prep continues…

The Omaha YFC offices.

As Amy and I left off from the January letter, God provided opportunities for us to be able to see the ‘how and what’ of where we are headed in leading a YFC Affiliate which will serve Leavenworth County reaching military teens and their friends. In late-January, Amy and I had the pleasure of visiting our fellow friends in Omaha, Nebraska, who are leading a successful YFC Chapter which is seeing an incredible amount of God movement in the past 10+ years. A key point which was included in that development was the addition of a colleague, Brian Hershey, who is in the infancy of developing the military reach within the city of Omaha as part of their strategy. We had heard many things about this chapter, so we reached Brian to see if we could spend some time with the folks in the Omaha YFC and learn some stuff by shadowing them and seeing some ministry in the process.

Inside the Omaha YFC office.

Sadly, before visiting the Omaha location, Amy and I really were struggling on the specifics of what our local Affiliate would be doing throughout Leavenworth County. We did know we were in the infancy stages of preparation and evaluation, but that was about it. Even when we would visit with folks, we weren’t certain how to articulate exactly how God has been calling us to do things to reach these teens and their friends.

Now enter our visit to Omaha YFC. It was one of the most beneficial things we’ve experienced since being in the new position of directing the local Affiliate for the past 7+ months. We observed 3 ministry sites to include a location just east of Omaha on the Iowa side that literally gathered multiple church youth groups that already were coming together and wanted to relationally love on teens for the Kingdom’s sake, thus reaching more of their kids in the community for God’s purpose. This ministry site also worked with both middle and high school on the same night at the local high school with granted permissions which blew our minds of the local community buy-in of the mission and vision of reaching lost teens in their schools.

The Glenwood Campus Life location in the school.

Amy and I showing off the
swag with the Offutt AFB
military teens at Winter Jam.

The next part of our trip included sharing in a collaboration of military teen reach with Brian and his friends at Offutt Air Force Base, in the southeast part of Omaha called Bellevue. They were going to the concert in Iowa called Winter Jam and we were allowed to be part of the event and hang out and spend time with some Omaha military teens. It was really cool to get to meet the director of the youth ministry on Offutt and see his interaction with Brian as a partnership and permission to work alongside military teens. This opened our eyes to some key stakeholders locally in our community whom we could spend time building integrity and putting our hands to work to help them out just like Brian was offering to the on base youth ministry in Omaha.

Amy and I at the West O
Campus Life early.

Slowly moving the following day from our late night at the concert, we got to see one of the star-studded locations out in West Omaha which has been seeing an amazing fruit from obedience and perseverance over the past 6+ years by their staff person in that location. We were told that they have a ‘sixers’ Club which works with anywhere up to 120+ sixth grade students before school! The group we got to observe and see was the other campus life at the middle school which worked with 7^th and 8^th grade students and they had been averaging about 140+ teens before school. The incredible part was that they would meet with these teens at 6:45am at their middle school and hang out until 8:10am! Never say teens won’t show up early because this proved they will – of course for some donuts each week! Although the number of students was incredible, perhaps the biggest takeaway from our visit was how many adults were sold out to show up and pour into these students regularly. There was easily a dozen or more adults assisting the staff in games, sign-in, food, small groups and anything else needed. The community literally was ALL IN.

The incredible West Omaha Campus Life of so many 7th & 8th grade students before school.

Therefore, all this being said…so what? We now have vision. We now see exactly what God has called us to do and how to go about it for reaching military teens and their friends in Leavenworth County. A lot of our current handiwork was being confirmed and affirmed by what was spoken to us by the staff and leadership of the Omaha YFC folks. What will it look like to reach military teens and their friends? “School-based reach, right where they are – Campus Life.” Therefore, we ask you all to pray for us as we continue ahead in paving new paths throughout our area of Leavenworth County, loving on people and spending time with pastors, youth pastors, school folks, military teens and their friends to one day be invited and asked to bring Campus Life to the local middle schools in our area. It will be a long process, but with God, nothing is impossible!

We thank each of you for praying, partnering and believing in the calling to love military teens across Leavenworth County, Kansas!

~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**