June 2024

I was watching my boys at practice the other day. I’m amazed at how long I’ve kept this group together. They have never been easy. They have difficult attitudes, deep seated emotional issues, and lots of ongoing trauma. It was hard for anybody to be around them. You could take them out of the hood but you couldn’t take the hood out of them. I’m in my twilight years of doing ministry and I didn’t think I’d have the patience to spend years in their development. But, I kept them together… or rather, the Lord did. They stayed with me. They put up with my preaching, my lectures, my admonitions… my “God talk” devos, our church services and house gatherings. They slowly changed… but change they have. Basketball attracted them, but belonging made them stay. They are not perfect, but they have grown.

One young man, for example… every time he jumps in the car when I pick him up for basketball practice I breathe a sigh of relief.  Whenever I drop him off it’s with a prayer that the Lord be with him and watch over him. I’ve known him since he was ten years old (he’s fifteen now) and it’s always been like that. He’s a decent kid, but he’s always been attracted to the streets and been a magnet for negative attention from the streets.

He’s really a walking testimony to God using this ministry. He’s had to deal with so many social struggles that he should be a statistic.  I came along in his life right at the point when his family, the school system and the courts were all ready to give up on him. 

Basketball is what does it for him. With his size and strength, he could easily have been a good athlete in school, but a lack of structure and support in his life negated that possibility. Sports with us is different: I pick you up (no matter where you are) and I take you home. Plus, you get the added youth activities, camps and trips. Being a part of our team means being a part of community, relationships and support in every part of your life. No matter how disjointed his life, no matter how far out in the streets he gets, he comes for basketball.

He’s constantly at risk… recruited by gangs, tempted by criminal activity, involved in ill-advised sexual activity, neighborhood violence… he’s surrounded by it all.  All of our kids live in this environment but he regularly relates tales of close encounters with gangs, police, shootings, etc.  He’s got the marks and scars on his body to bear witness and the emotional ones too.

But he’s alive (many of his peers are not). He’s not in jail. He’s in school and he’s become a more stable person. He knows the Lord, he has friends and community, and he’s abandoned a lot of self-destructive behavior. We want more for him. We want a secure future through education and training for gainful employment. We want him to be able to experience everything God has for him in this life. We want this for all of our youth. 

This summer we will be offering various activities and experiences designed to help them grow as individuals and grow in community with each other and the Lord. We are planning a basketball camp, a trip to Chicago and various fun activities and gatherings. Can you make a special gift beyond your usual giving to help us keep them constructively engaged this summer?  

The Lord bless you, and thanks!