Someone asked me recently, “So who’s gonna continue the work of Christ’s Children when you are done?”
I have no concerns about this particular work continuing. All the hundreds of boys who have come through this ministry have heard the gospel of Christ in a personal way, a relational way, and in a way that fit their life context… a way that they would hear and understand. And I see evidence of this all around me.
I Chronicles 11 and 12 describes a group of men which were foundational to bringing about God’s kingdom through David. David’s mighty men. These were men that were devoted to David… his mission, his cause, his God. They were distinguished by their mighty works of valor. Anything from epic feats in battle to relentless devotion to their king. They were men marked by courage, conviction and faith.
I have always told my boys that they had the potential to be God’s mighty men. That the greatest thing a black man could do in this life was to be a good husband, a good father, and to raise a strong family. I don’t worry about what comes after me because I look around and see these mighty men in the community doing their thing.
I see so much that the Lord has done over the years. Our overriding goal has always been to bring people to Christ… but what that looks like in our ministry is to elevate people’s quality of life through recognizing their own self-worth in being a child of God. Our work has impacted lives and stimulated generational change in families here.
There are some like the man who started his own family and raised a child and has become a leader in his community and a stalwart example and role model for young men in our ministry.
Some are like the one who was a mainstay in our mentoring program as a boy, who now has his own family and carries out principles he learned from us in his role as a middle school dean.
There’s the man who had a successful boxing career and is now teaching young people in his community the discipline of boxing as a metaphor for discipline in one’s life.
Then there’s the one who was always underfoot as a boy soaking up whatever good stuff we had to offer, and is now offering the “good stuff” to other children as a teacher.
One man went to college, decided it wasn’t for him and found another path as a coach, influencing many youth in the community. He started a family, became a teacher, went back to school to earn a degree and now runs a school as a principal.
There’s one who grew up surrounded by violence, losing many friends along the way and very nearly his own life. Today heheads a non-profit dedicated to giving at-risk youth an avenue out of a violent lifestyle.
Another one as a teenager scorned civil service, education and above all books… but today has his master’s degree, and works in the juvenile justice system helping youth and families avoid spiraling paths of self-destruction.
And there’s one who, when his dream of becoming a professional athlete didn’t pan out, did not quit on life but earned a college degree. He passed on opportunities for a lucrative career and instead chose to pursue a time-honored profession in the Black community, becoming a barber. He provides a respite, a place men and children go for an instant burst of self-esteem and a much needed dose of positive Black male community.
Another of our young men travels the country consulting with institutions and agencies to promote violence free communities.
There’s our friend who has become a great influencer of children and families in the community working in the Park and Recreation system and working his way to becoming a Park Director.
And the one who turned to gangs at a young age as a solace to family loss and pain, but made a break from that doomed path, almost costing him his life, to become a husband, father and entrepreneur.
There are even those who made terrible mistakes as young people, and committed terrible crimes. They went to prison and paid their debt to society through the surrender of many years of freedom, but emerged with a sense of purpose and determination to rejoin their families and communities. Having as their goals to live fulfilling lives, influencing their children and others so as not to make the same mistakes they did.
And there are those no longer with us, who we have lost to violence, accidents and suicide; but who remain in our hearts. They have each left behind loved ones who cherish their memories and who carry on in their names.
After thirty years there are too many to mention here individually, and many whose whereabouts are unknown to us. We rarely see fruit immediately, but we do see fruit… after 5, 10, 20 years or more sometimes. Mighty men all.
These are all men who used to follow me around the neighborhood as boys, who we’ve poured into with the express goal of becoming a tool for Christ to influence their neighborhoods and families as men: husbands, fathers and leaders. They came to see themselves not as the refuse of a society that fears and denigrates them as urban black men, but to value themselves as children of God and to be empowered by that self-knowledge to live and thrive and influence others. They are truly mighty men, they and hundreds of others carrying on the legacy of affirming self-worth and value in Christ… working jobs, starting families, raising kids. They are breaking generational cycles and changing the world around them. The neighborhood…, no, the world is a better place because of them.
Who could do this except God? All glory to the Lord!
Christ's Children Ministries 