Author: Christ's Children Ministries

“Statistics say that only one out of four of you will make it to manhood! Statistically one out of every four of you will be in jail, one will be addicted to drugs or otherwise incapacitated, and one will be dead before you reach the age of twenty-five. Only a few out of this group you will make it! Who’s it gonna be? Who wants to have a fulfilling life? Who wants to make it to manhood?”

This is a talk I give in one form or another to all the boys I work with. The statistics I refer to are those for black boys growing up in the inner city. All of the boys raised their hands after my address. No one plans to grow up and go to jail, or be on drugs, or be dead… but without positive intervention that’s how many black youth end up. Generally the statistics bore themselves out. Of this cohort, some are incarcerated, some have been killed or injured through gang violence, some haven’t been able to escape the life of the streets yet, but a few are doing well.

Kyle was in this group. A wonderful and challenging group of boys; but the odds were stacked against them. Most of them went to camp with me, played basketball, and participated in our mentoring program, but they all struggled growing up. It is no easy task to avoid the pitfalls facing young black men here. They all struggled to stay focused and avoid distractions to learning in school. They struggled with family dysfunction, being poor, crime, gangs and rampant violence. Kyle struggled with these things just like all the other boys. But somehow he made it.

Instead of joining a gang or running the streets he found positive pursuits to be involved in. He often had help, but mostly he took the initiative to stay positively engaged. The opportunities were there, but like every other young person here, you have to go looking for it, and find something that fits you. For some it’s sports, for some it’s work; for Kyle it was church, choir, and the drama club at school. He worked hard at school, surrounded himself with positive people, and prepared for college. At this point some of the other boys in this group had already given up on life and had dropped out of school, running the streets, getting high and engaging in other self destructive behavior. But not Kyle. He found a group of friends who were into what he was into, being positive and staying in school. He stayed involved in church and helped me many times as a counselor at camp.

He graduated from high school and set his sights on college. He got accepted but had a difficult first year. Kyle was not immune to the effects of financial and emotional stress all his life. But he refused to quit. He regrouped and went back to college, and four years later he graduated with an education degree. This past fall he got a job as a teacher in an elementary school just blocks away from the house he grew up in, and fulfills a crucial role as a black man in this community. Lisa and I are so very proud of him. Not only has he succeeded in growing up, but he has left a blueprint for others to follow. He is a role model… he is a success story… he is a man.

I grew up in a small town in Minnesota where everyone looked like me and the major difference among friends and neighbors was mostly being Catholic or Lutheran. I went to a small college where the percentage of students of color was tiny. Somehow, by God’s grace, I have ended up in a life where my family, my friends and my neighborhood are woven from the diversity of the world. So, for many years I have lived a life where I stand with my feet planted in two worlds—remembering both who I was and where I came from and honoring the wider world that has become part of me as well. It is a place of privilege and I know it.

Over the years, I have born witness to many of the difficulties and hardships related to law enforcement that happen to my family members and friends because they are black. I still remember the confusion of my youngest son, the first time a security guard followed him around the Target toy aisles. I have lost track of the number of times family members and friends have had traffic stops for things which I myself have never been pulled over for even once. I will never forget the two nights my beloved godson spent in jail because the police officer would not listen to him or examine his registration and vin number and believe that someone had replaced his license plate with that of a stolen vehicle. I am utterly convinced if it had been me, in my minvan, instead of him in his minvan, an explanation and some research would have averted being booked and held in jail. My first world taught a belief that stuff happens to people because they do something to attract censure or disapproval—the belief that bad things happen to those who deserve it. But God’s grace and some maturity have shown me that the world really doesn’t operate that way—even though it can comfort us to believe that it does.

I have born witness to the injustices and suffering that have been happening across our country that sprout from seeds of bias and racism and I have grieved for the pain that it brings not only to the families and friends of those directly involved, but to those I love as it presses against their pain from countless small and larger indignities and injustice they have born across their lives. For me, a very real piece of the sadness is that it has also caused a questioning of faith and wavering of trust in a God who knows and loves them, for some of God’s precious children.

If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6

I am praying that the church will not be silent, nor those who love God ignorant of the pain of our brothers and sisters.   One Sunday Chris taught “Why Black Lives Matter.” Our church becomes a place to dialogue and question and share and work out these hard things together. I have brought these concerns to every meeting of believers I have been part of lately—

I know the privilege I have with feet planted in worlds that don’t always meet and I seek God’s grace to use it every opportunity that presents itself. I pray that all God’s people will take up Jesus’ call to mercy and justice in unique and personal ways so that the kingdom of heaven can come where it is needed.

I spent the month of December reflecting on Immanuel, “God with us.” In spite of the many hardships and sufferings in this world, we are blessed to have One who knows firsthand how hard this world can be and has shown a way to live that overcomes the world.

How grateful we are to be bearers of Christ here in the city of Minneapolis! Whether we are encouraging young boys to read, driving kids to basketball practice, cooking food for community meals, leading a Bible study or listening in prayer through spiritual direction, we pray always that God’s love and grace might, by the power of the Holy Spirit, be imparted to those we meet.

Chris is continuing his mentoring work in the Minneapolis public schools, encouraging young boys to grow into men of integrity. As he volunteers time in the school, he is always asked to do more, as the leaders see the way he connects with young people. The practices for two basketball teams take up several evenings a week and Saturdays are filled with all the necessary driving and logistics for two teams. It is a bonus for Chris that our son is helping coach one team this season. It is also a blessing to have a core group of high school guys that includes our youngest son, Ezra, who meet regularly for Bible study and fun activities. We have two high school seniors this year, our son Javan and Alize,, the daughter of one of our oldest “children in the Lord.” We are spending time helping them prepare and plan for their next steps as they finish this last year of high school and whatever God has for them next.

We had a wonderful holiday season with many holy moments. Our annual Christmas party was lots of fun and we were so blessed to have some of our college students back for their break. We are so proud of how they are working hard and succeeding in spite of obstacles and difficulties. What a joy to see them come into the house, with a friend or two in tow. The holiday season also brought about the marriage engagement of one of our children in the Lord. How we rejoice that God has been working to bring the growth and healing that has made that possible.

Last week was one of those crazy weeks at house church where people just keep coming in and we are squeezing extra chairs into the circle. A young man whose family moved away some years ago found his way to church last week. We stay in the same place and they can always find us—and we pray that as they look for us again that they are also looking to draw closer to the One who has never moved away from them.

So we continue our labor of love, always grateful for your prayers and support, which are used by God to sustain us in this ministry.

“Come and give Him praise! Come let us magnify His name… Immanuel!

The Son of God, Holy One! Hallowed be, Thy kingdom come! Elohim!”

Merry Christmas ya’ll!

This is part of the lyrics to O Come All Ye Faithful by Tramaine Hawkins. I play Christmas worship songs in my car this time of year when I’m picking up boys for basketball practice, games and various outings. This particular chorus brings me to a state of worship quite easily. I always wonder what the boys think of my music… Sometimes I spend close to two hours in the car with them dropping off and picking up. There are usually conversations going on, but I like to think that the message of the music I play is seeping into their consciousness somehow. At any rate, they’re not complaining about it….which is what they do when I play my Christian rock and roll. Perhaps they’re paying more attention than it appears…

I pray that they are, and that they can access the peace of Christ in spite of the turmoil that springs up often in their daily lives. This one has had a recent spate of violence near his house, another is having problems at school… This one is worried because there is no food in the house and his parent is unemployed, another doesn’t know where his family will live after they are evicted this month… Although there are many important issues on the national consciousness right now, for me it always comes back to what is happening in the lives of these little ones right here at home.

I pray that the uproar over needless and unfortunate deaths of black men at the hands of police officers leads to a deeper national dialogue about institutional racism and real substantive change in our society. Our assertion in this ministry has always been that Black lives matter and that the lives of the unchurched poor matter.   But before our lives matter to anyone else, our lives have to matter to ourselves. And for many we’re getting the point across, as evidenced by the young woman who grew up in this ministry and this neighborhood going to college and doing well, …the young man graduating college and taking a good job influencing children in the neighborhood he grew up in, …another young man learning a trade and providing for his family. Black lives matter.

They matter to God and his Son sacrificed His life to demonstrate that fact. The birth of Christ on Christmas morning is a celebration of this truth. Black lives do matter. All of our lives matter, because God became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. And because my life matters, so does yours. Immanuel, “God with us”… how I love that name! It says it all.

Thank you for your support of this ministry. The Lord bless you and your family!

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…