Author: Christ's Children Ministries

I wanted to share a letter with you I received recently, from a young man I have not seen since he was a teenager:

“Mr. McNair, I’ve been thinking about you more frequently over the past year. I wanted to thank you for being such a positive male role model in my life. You were a man I looked up to, respected, and trusted (and still do). You always pushed me to be better, think before I made decisions, and kept me out of trouble. I know I was a handful at times, but you never gave up on me. I remember one time at camp, one of the boys was always picking on me, and you made me stand up to him in front of the other boys. Even though I was scared I did it because I knew you were there and you wouldn’t let any harm come to me. That day changed my life. I never took up physical fighting, but I learned how to fight back in life mentally and spiritually. To not accept my circumstances or the bullying that life throws at us. Thank you for giving me a ton of childhood experiences I love to revisit and share with others. Our trips to Chicago, basketball teams, excursions around town, camping trips, bike trips, etc. As a less fortunate inner city kid, you caused me to think outside my circum-stances and helped me discover another world out there to explore.

I wanted you to know I have expanded on those experiences. In 2012, I completed my masters degree in international business and studied abroad in India and Singapore for a semester. I’ve travelled the world, helping orphanages in Africa. One of my biggest accomplishments in life is the fact that I’ve set foot on every continent except Antarctica before the age of 30. You had a big hand in that milestone in my life, because you taught me to believe in myself. Your time, personal sacrifices, love, and direction gave me vision and a self confidence I still draw from today. If you’ve ever doubted your purpose in life, please know you made a huge difference and impact on my life. I’m grateful and appreciative for everything you did for me. As I embark on fatherhood, I smile at the opportunity to give my son what you so freely gave me, a chance to just be a kid and to have fun! It’s simple but I promise you it has molded me into someone I’m proud to be. Not having a father in my life, I made a decision a long time ago that I was lucky because I could choose the best aspects of a father in all the men I encountered over my childhood and adulthood. Please know you were a benchmark and at the foundation of what I considered to be a father, I’m blessed to have known you. Thank you Chris and please don’t stop being that light for other young men and women. We need you more than you know! Take care and give my best to Lisa and your children. “

The time we all spend with our young people matters. Thank you for your gifts and prayers to the end that we may continue to lift up the Light to children and families here.

It was a good summer—it seems like only days ago that Chris and our middle-schoolers were cleaning and painting the walls and floor of our basement as part of scholarship work for our June camp to Kids Across America in Missouri. Those work crews are probably twice or three times the work for Chris compared to doing the job by himself, but the experience of learning to work carefully, follow directions and complete an assignment is a valuable glimpse into the world of work for our kids.
That camp was followed in July by a high school trip to Chicago. Even though some of our boys have family in that area, they still have not seen much of the city so the Willis (Sears) Tower, Millennium Park, the Dusable Museum of African American History and the Museum of Science and Industry along with other points of interest were all new experiences. As our boys see more of the world, we pray that they would gain a vision of possibilities and opportunities.
Summer days were also filled with swimming excursions, service at Feed My Starving Children, an AAU Christ’s Children basketball team and lots of long afternoons of backyard basketball after church on Sundays.
The last camp in August was our Simba Manhood Camp which has the theme of a long ago quote from Tom Skinner,” It takes God to be a Black man!” Given the great tragedy of the death of another unarmed young Black man recently in Ferguson, Missouri I am once again reminded that truer words were never spoken.
Chris spends time at camp teaching about how Jesus lived a life of love and integrity, in spite of being misunderstood, persecuted and falsely accused. As young black men in America, every one of our boys already know by middle school what it is like to be shadowed in a store or singled out for scrutiny where others would be ignored. As soon as our young men pass the age of little boy cuteness, they are treated differently by people who are often not even aware of their own bias. So, at camp they talk about the difficulties of navigating a society that can be unfair and sometimes hostile and they learn about the way of Jesus and the strength that can be found for life, in spite of the wickedness of this world. In all our summer camp experiences, we pray that our young people were able to grow in love and faith so they may be better equipped for a life of following Christ.
The past few weeks have been filled with good-byes as some of our college age friends were off to schools in Virginia, Iowa, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. We also got to say a welcome home to our friend Kyle who recently graduated from De Paul University in Chicago. He is back in town for a student teaching stint before he begins a new job as a teacher at an International Baccalaureate school in Columbia, South America. We met him in fifth grade and recall his years with us as a camper and then a camp counselor, so it brings joy to see this young man finding his way to the vocation God has for him in this world.
Thank you for your gift of

We are grateful for the prayers and support that you offer as we serve Jesus here in the city. Your gifts and prayers this summer enabled us to share the good news and the hope that Jesus offers to some of the least of these who are so very important to God.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for You are with me, Your rod and staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23.4

I want to share a story of one of our kids which is typical of the work we do. His eight year old brother was shot and killed three years ago, victim of a stray bullet from nearby gang violence. A woman in our church was his teacher at school and introduced me to him and his brother. In all the media and community attention they had received, no one was trying to help these boys deal with what they were going through. He was afraid to leave the house. He struggled with guilt over what had happened to his little brother. He would only do something with me if I picked him up at his doorstep and returned him there when we were finished. He began coming to practice and playing basketball with us. This led to camp in the summer and to church.
On Facebook and with his peers he often expresses himself in vulgar and shocking ways. This behavior is so unlike him…in person, his is a friendly and open, albeit hyper, personality. I believe this behavior is a way to cope with the violence which surrounds him. In addition to his little brother, he has had several shootings occur near where he lives, some of them involving acquaintances from school.
Our group has become a safe place for him to be. With us he can play, hang out, even talk about mature issues teenagers face in an affirming environment. He is encouraged to be the positive young man that he is and not try to act tough or “street”. Neither he nor any of the boys are allowed to speak or act disrespectfully towards themselves, others or one another when we’re together. Our hope is that this carries over into their conduct when they are away from us. For a few times a week he has found community, a safe place where he belongs and people care about him. Through his involvement with us he is experiencing Christian community and having fun… being mentored, playing basketball on a team, coming to church and going to camp. His demons have not left him completely. The other day he was at his friend’s house and during an argument among the adults someone pulled out a gun. He disappeared for a while before I was able to find him and bring him back.
Recently at church I had gone around the room and asked each person if Jesus’ death and resurrection was personal to them, if it was real. When I got to him he looked at me blankly and said “I don’t know”. A few days later I was able to follow up with him. We were talking about the incident with the gun and I asked him the same question again, “Is Christ real to you? Do you know He is with you always?” And he replied that yes he did know that. I asked, “So when that gun came out, were you afraid? Where was God then? He told me how he felt that God was with him watching out for Him and when I asked, “How do you know that?” He said, “Because I believe that He died on the cross for my sins and that He lives in me, I learned that at camp.”
Thank you for your gifts and prayers which enable us to provide community for young men like him this summer. If you’d like to see pictures of our summer check out our Facebook page.

“I gotta thank you for keeping me off the streets all them summers… I don’t know where I’d be without ya’ll. Thanks for giving me a childhood. As I get older I realize how much God was with me cause a lot of kids I came up with didn’t get that. I owe you a lot, ya’ll are real people. They tried to put me in the system [jail] and you were there also. I couldn’t stand it but it helped me, too… helped me to know this ain’t for me.”
This was a recent text from a young man who was active in our ministry as a child and teenager. This young man was one of my core kids for a long time. We poured a lot into him in terms of time, opportunity and relationship. But it seemed like he just didn’t get it. I felt about him that his life was so hard that no matter what we did he just couldn’t believe that God cared about him personally, that he was precious and valuable to Him. But we kept trying. Eventually he grew to adulthood and and passed out of our influence. Out of this particular small group of young people that I worked with most of them have spent time in jail, been involved with drugs, gangs, etc… some have been killed. But only two of them at this point in time have lives which are self affirming, and he is one of them. It truly is a work of God. This young man should be dead, or addicted to drugs or in jail for an extended period of time, but he’s not. He is married, raising a family in his own home and working. And has an active faith. Praise God!

“I gotta thank you for keeping me off the streets all them summers…”

Summer is a crucial time for our young people. It can be the season for outdoor fun, barbecues, vacations, a much needed break from school…, but it’s also a season for trepidation and heightened awareness for many of our youth. Because in the summer people are out in the neighborhood at all hours of the day and night, and depending on where you live you have to be vigilant of where you are and who you are with always because violence can erupt when you least expect it. The young man who wrote this text spent a whole summer in jail when he was seventeen; accused of a crime he did not commit. I thought it would ruin him forever. His teacher thought maybe it saved his life, cause he was running with a bad crowd. He’s certainly living a much better life than his peers now. He has a life. The simplicity of this statement belies the gravity of its meaning.

“Thanks for giving me a childhood.”

Summertime for us is the time of camp. For our youth that means escaping harsh realities of inner city life and just being a kid, for a little while. For us it means instilling Christian values of faith, love and hope manifest in a relationship with Jesus Christ who will sustain you no matter what circumstances you may find yourself in. It means life…, it means peace…, it means hope. We offer two camping experiences for up to thirty youth in the summer. It costs us $300 per person. Please consider sending us a one time gift beyond your usual giving to help send our kids to camp this summer, to help give them a childhood. Thanks for your support of this ministry!

Each year during spring break, we try to plan a retreat or trip for some of our kids. Most of our children don’t live in families where vacation travel is part of their experience. Many have rarely been away from home and if they have, it is usually for the purpose of visiting family, rather than taking in any of the sights or experiencing something new. Over the years, we have gone to Chicago, Washington D.C., Florida and of course, to local camps. This year Chris decided to take our middle school guys on a short trip to the Wisconsin Dells. The road trip involved spending a couple of nights at a waterpark resort/hotel, some eating out and a little touristy stuff.

I remember one of our trips some years ago and how the hotel pool and continental breakfast were almost a bigger thrill than any of the interesting and exciting points of interest in the city of Chicago. But then, if you have never been a hotel guest or have never gotten to take a vacation, these are exciting new experiences.

I didn’t go on the trip this year, so I was eager to listen to Chris’ report of the boys and their adventures. When he recounted all that had taken place, he mentioned how, as they piled into the rental van for the drive back home, one of the boys had enthusiastically declared, “This was the best three days of my life!”

Was it the best three days because it was cool to be in a hotel, because they had Bible study, because playing pool basketball was a blast and the waterslides were fast, because the food was good, because it was fun to be with friends, because they laughed a lot, because Chris showed them some interesting things?

I don’ t know exactly. What I do know, is that this young man has seemed tense and stressed a lot over the past couple of months. Life at school and home certainly has challenges he must meet each day. What I do know, is that for a couple of days, the boys on that trip got to just be kids, having fun on vacation. There was a chance to experience rest and renewal. Laughter and fun. A break from hard things. I pray that each boy may have been able to take into his spirit that this gift of rest and fun came from God, the God who loves them and who offers them hope.

When life is hard, we all need hope. And when we are in the middle of struggle, sometimes just remembering what that felt like, that lightness that comes from hope, from remembering that God loves us and that good times and good things are possible for us….it is the beginning of learning trust and faith that will see us through whatever life brings. We are grateful for your gifts that make it possible for us to love kids and keep offering Christ, our Hope and Life.

I received an RFP (request for proposal) in the mail the other day from Hennepin County. They were looking to fund an agency which works with youth at risk of committing violence or are at risk of violence. I thought excitedly, “Well that’s every single one of our kids!” They wanted an agency which works one on one with youth. I thought “Wow, this is looking good for us.” If you know about our ministry you know it is based on relationships with individual youth and their families. I read further… they were looking for agencies which provide holistic support for youth, i.e., academic support, recreational and enrichment opportunities, and counseling. I thought, “This is looking better and better, this is what we do!” We offer academic support through our school mentoring groups for African American boys, tutoring and school visits, we offer sports programs for those same kids nine months out of the year, we do field trips and camping throughout the year, and through our chaplaincy ministry we offer counseling and support for youth and their families through home, jail and hospital visits.

But as I read further I came across some stipulations that would disqualify us. First of all, they wanted each youth worker to have a case load of twenty youth. Well, to be honest there goes your one on one relationship building with at-risk youth. Twenty youth for one person? That may be fine for a social worker or social service agency, or even a youthworker working with relatively stable kids, but genuine relationships with at risk youth require deep commitment over a long period of time, which brings me to my second disqualification… The funding was available for only one year. If there is anything more tragic than seeing a young person deal with the issues facing at-risk African American boys in the inner city, that is coming into their life, being their friend for one year and then abandoning them… no way. And finally, and for us, most importantly, while this program was expected to provide emotional, physical and social support for youth, spiritual support was forbidden. Well that’s a deal breaker for me. I feel like we are able to do all of these other things and do them well. We’ve been specializing in this exact kind of work for more than twenty years. We’ve developed a certain amount of proficiency by God’s grace. But no way can we leave out Christ. Without Christ it just doesn’t hold together.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe that it is legitimate to do good for good’s (God’s) sake. But I’ve been in the trenches. That’s where we live in this ministry. When we have a boy that is so stressed by the violence that surrounds him in family and community that he is literally on the edge of exploding at any moment, we offer him Christ. When we lose a basketball game and the disappointment is the last straw on the back of a child who can’t bear one more disappointment in life and he lashes out at everyone close to him we don’t turn away, we offer Christ. When there is a family and they go through struggles which threaten to break them with stress and grief we don’t try to fix them, we offer Christ.

Offering Christ is at the root of everything we do. It begins with and ends with Jesus, because we are involved in a work not for just a year, or even for this lifetime. What we do has eternal significance. We invite you to participate in this work through your prayers and gifts. And join us in offering Christ…

So that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.  Ephesians 1:18-19

 

     I met one of my college friends for lunch recently.  He told me that day about the ways that his college experience is not what he thought it would be.  Some of the bumps in the road have come from choices he made and others have come from things out of his control, things he only found out after he was in the experience.  It was good to be with him and I was glad he could tell me about the disappointments.

 

     I spend time each week praying for, texting and talking with our friends who are away at college.  While they have had successes and times of triumph, there are also disappointments and struggles as things are not what was expected or hoped for.  Every one of our college friends has had to face difficulties or hardships along the way. 

 

     What I pray for each one of them, every week, is that they do not lose heart or believe that because things are hard, that God is not with them.  I pray that they will always know, that though they may have made a mistake or a decision they wish they could do over, there is nothing that cannot be redeemed in God’s great love and nothing that cannot be used by God to bring them forward into the life of grace and fullness that God has for them.

 

     Our world loves success stories and even in the church, we often hear those stories as celebrations of God’s presence and power.  However, I think we may do our kids a disservice by emphasizing the successful all the time if it gives the impression that God is most present when things are going well.  It’s almost like we forget that Joseph was an ex-con or Moses, a murderer, or King David, an adulterer.  God was right there when each of those men were at their low-point and his power and presence brought them through that to fulfill the plans God had for their lives.

 

     So, even as our dear ones cope with the hard things they may be discovering about the world and themselves, I pray that they will not lose hope in the God who is able to do more than they could ever ask or imagine.  Please join me in prayers for all our young people in college, that they would continue to follow hard after Jesus and turn to God for help and guidance and the strength that they need to face the challenges and work that they confront each day.  And that every day, whether it’s a happy-go-lucky day or a challenging one, they would be strengthened through the Holy Spirit to trust and believe in the One who is their hope and their light.

 

     We have been doing our house church for over 17 years now and after all this time our family has a rhythm on Sunday mornings. I wake up and pray and then head into the kitchen to start cooking and baking for our church lunch.  We never know exactly what each week will bring for numbers.  Some weeks we have a small group of eight or nine and other weeks we have twenty or more, but I have come to trust that we will always have enough for everyone and we always do.  Chris wakes up and begins to pray and put the finishing touches on his teaching for the day and then he heads out to drive around the city, picking up the kids who have asked to come to church that day.  Javan and Ezra sleep in a little, but then get up to clean the bathroom, shovel the walks and set up the chairs for our gathering.

     As we all do our various chores to prepare for church, I am also praying for those who will come and what the day will bring.  The thing about house church is that no one remains anonymous for long.  So, as the hour approaches I think about the hearts and souls that will be arriving and I know the burdens they carry…health issues, strained family relationships, struggles to make ends meet, deep grief over family members who were murdered, struggles with school or friends, abandonment, loneliness…When I think of the needs and hurts of those who come, I know I am inadequate to help. But I pray each week, that God would help me to provide what I am able to provide—a welcoming presence that says,” we are glad to see you, you belong here, we love you.”  I pray also that each and every one would meet God here in our little church as we sing and pray and read God’s word.  As we listen and learn and talk and laugh.  As we eat and tell stories from our week and play games and sit around together.  I know that Chris and I are inadequate to meet the needs of those who come, but I trust and believe that God is able to meet their needs and is able to be everything that they need.  Every week I pray that God would help our people to grow in grace and knowledge of God and in the power to love God and each other.

      Some days, I am tired and wish I didn’t have to get up and cook.  Some days, I am discouraged and feel like I don’t have any love or grace to spare and it’s easy to let somebody’s behavior or attitude lead me toward annoyance before love.  But, day after day, week after week, year after year, church goes on and God’s grace carries me and all the rest of our church family as well.  And lots of days, I actually know that I am among the most blessed of persons because I get to be part of it all.  Isn’t that really what all of us wish for: to be part of God’s community and work in the world, loving God and our fellows?

     I hope that all of you are also enjoying your part in God’s community and the love you are part of there.  We are ever grateful for the support and encouragement of the body of Christ who keeps us able to love and serve here in south Minneapolis.

We were out of town for Thanksgiving visiting Chris’s family in Texas, so last week when our little church came together, we were a little sorry to discover that one of our families had not had a special meal on Thanksgiving because they had decided they could only afford to cook one holiday meal and it would be for Christmas.  They were pretty matter-of-fact about it, as, obviously, they make choices like that all the time.

Later that day, I was pondering that and remembering an exchange I had with someone days before who inquired about our ministry.  I had mentioned that it can be a hard season, when people are often reminded they can’t keep up with the material pace of our holidays.  That person quickly reminded me of food shelves and holiday gift resources we might wish to direct people to…

As I thought more about it, I realized that the holidays aren’t any harder for many of my friends, than any other time of the year. They are still struggling to make ends meet, pay for gas to get to work or come to church, buy food and clothes for their kids, pay rent, etc.  And they, and their kids, are pretty accustomed to not having extra or putting off  celebrations or presents.  It is the rest of us who don’t like to think of that at the holidays because it reminds us of the inequity and unfairness in the world and why some children have far so many advantages and some begin deep in the hole before they are even born.  It is a little harder to enjoy Christmas with all our celebrations and packages if we are actually remembering those who are left out.

But I am so grateful that I get to be uncomfortable so much of the time, because I think it reminds me of real Christmas—that awesome splendor became a human baby in everyday blankets laid in a feeding trough.  And for what purpose?

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19

We have a Savior who came for justice and healing and freedom.  Not a band-aid for the holidays, but for always.  And I see, too, that the poor surely includes me.  I need freedom and the eyes to see and favor so that I can live for righteousness and freedom and justice and wholeness.

These are the gifts of Jesus and they come with a cost: they ask for a willingness to surrender security and careful plans and all my own schemes to make it.  And to instead, go ahead and pick up my cross, trusting God for the grace to carry it and follow.

We pray that God will bless you in this holiday season with a deeper and richer knowledge and experience of God’s own self.

She gave birth to a son, her firstborn.  She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel. (Luke 2:6b-7 The Message)

All this energy issues from Christ:  God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever.  He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. (Ephesians 1:20-21 The Message)

Do you ever just sit in a chair for an hour pondering the immensity of how these two verses describe the same One?  Today instead of working through the list of things I am supposed to do, that is what I am doing.  It feels more necessary than breathing.

I am at this stage of life when I can be assailed by the greatest doubts—about my life, about the choices I have made, wondering if I will have what I need when I need it for the people I love, wondering if I have not listened well and maybe really squandered the gifts that were mine to give. Worrying.  Or wondering. Will I have enough?  Will my life be enough? Have I messed it all up?

I curl up in my chair and contemplate these verses.  The One who is in charge of it all, who has the final word on everything is the same One who was wrapped in a plain old blanket and laid in a feeding trough.

That feeding trough could not possibly have been an accident.  I hold that as I think of recent events that reminded me how some children come home to deluxe car seats and rolls-royce, 4-wheel drive strollers and beautiful wardrobes of fashion-matchy outfits, while others ride crowded in the backseats of broken down cars driven across town before the sun rises to drop a father off at work. 

The God of galaxies and governments and POWER is so much easier to want to follow than the One of poverty.  Low birth. Descendency. Emptying.

When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took the status of a slave, became human!  Having become human, he stayed human.  It was an incredibly humbling process. (Philippians 2:6 The Message)

The throne came by way of everyday blankets and feeding troughs.  So maybe being stuck with my humanity, my poverty, my mistakes and messes isn’t such a bad deal.  Because the real gift of Christmas, is that because Jesus is enough and because emptiness was enough, then I am enough.

Jesus is enough.

In that, I marvel and rejoice.  And claim for all who are poor like me.