Author: Christ's Children Ministries

How come everything you talk about comes around to God?

Why do you always have to bring God into everything?

Why is everything always about God?

These are some comments I hear from the boys whenever we are together. They wonder why, no matter what we are doing, no matter where we are, we end up talking about God, or Jesus. We occasionally meet for church at my house, but as I tell the boys: Whenever I come get you and we are together, we’re having church. Jesus said “Whenever two or more of you are gathered in my name, I am among you.” (Matt. 18.20) So when I come to get you… to play basketball, to go bowling, go out to eat, or on a trip… it’s to share Christ. And if Christ is with us, we are having church.

So, in this ministry we don’t often go to church, or have bible studies, or do formal discipleship training… these things are ongoing aspects of our time together. You really couldn’t point to where one begins and one ends. I call it “hip pocket discipleship”, to borrow a phrase from my brothers.

They were telling me once about training soldiers (both of them are military vets… thank y’all for your service!).  One of them told me about taking advantage of some idle time waiting in line to do some “hip pocket training”. What is that? I asked. He explained that in the army soldiers being idle was considered a waste of their time. So their leaders would develop ways of training and teaching them various skills in small moments of opportunity… hip pocket training.

That describes perfectly the discipleship method I employ. My young guys will rarely respond to invitations to go to church or have a bible study. Instead, I bring church and bible study to them… constantly.  They are immersed in it and they don’t even know it. I take advantage of idle time: time riding in the van, time between games at a tournament, time spent at the gym or bowling alley or arcade, time at McDonald’s.  The boys call it God time.  God time transforms any moment or place into a Sanctuary. Guys who won’t sit still for a sermon or bible study are transfixed by God time. Sometimes I talk but mostly I do, and model.  It’s amazing the volumes I can preach just by being me… in Christ.

My guys couldn’t quote you chapter and verse on various biblical subjects but they can tell you who God is, who Jesus is and what he’s done for them. They can tell you what a Christian ooks like and how one should behave. I endeavor, by God’s grace, to model and teach Christ constantly, relentlessly. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not a pillar of virtue by any means. But it’s being around me, seeing my weaknesses as well as my strengths, seeing my flaws and my dependence on God… that’s what preaches! This is the way we circumvent short attention spans, emotional crises and even dysfunctional behavior. God is in everything and about everything. I don’t do 3-point sermons. I endeavor to get one point across… God loves you and cares about you, Jesus is with you and can change your life… usually over the course of days, weeks or even months. Sometimes a lifetime.

My version of hip pocket discipleship is to let them see who I am. In every situation and circumstance. And Lord willing, they’ll see Christ.

“Chris, why you gotta bring Jesus into everything?”  “Cause Jesus is my life, bro.”

Forget the “summer of love”; for our kids, it has been the “summer of violence”. Violence has been the backdrop of our summer. While our kids have an earnest desire for peace, they are surrounded by violence. There have been multiple shootings in our community just this month. Funerals have become a summer mainstay.  We schedule our activities to accommodate kids with friends or family members who have gotten killed. One boy’s cousin this summer was shot and killed right before we went to camp.  To make matters worse (if that is possible), fear and distrust of authority and police became more entrenched after another needless killing of a black man at a traffic stop weeks ago. It never ends. There is no place to go to escape the reality of life here.

The writer of Ecclesiastes, upon making an exhaustive study on the meaning of life, came to this conclusion: “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live… To eat and drink and find satisfaction in life. This is the gift of God.” Eccl 3.12-13.  The admonition to be happy and do good falls on deaf ears when every day is filled with strife and struggle. This seemingly simple precept eludes most of human society. We all strive for peace and satisfaction, but it is hard to gain in life.  It is particularly difficult for our boys here to have a moment of peace, free from anxiety.  The circumstances of their reality restrict their access to the gift of God.

This summer we’ve been able to engage our boys with regular, positive pursuits… running track, going swimming, playing basketball, going fishing, going to camp, etc. We’ve been particularly busy this summer making sure we have regular contact with our kids and that they have opportunities to “be happy, and do good”.  It has made a significant impact. Young men have bonded with one another, crafting relationships and connections like family. Lives have changed. Boys who seemed to live for the thrill of criminal or self-destructive behavior have become more grounded, more stable, more thoughtful of their actions and choices. More than one mother has commented to me that their sons have come back from camp with subtly different attitudes, asking that whatever I’m doing with their children to keep it up. It’s been a fruitful summer.

But they always have to go home. Back to the neighborhood. Back to reality. Back to stress and strife. Back to survival strategies and situational ethics. Back where you have to be hard, tough and intractable to survive. But they go back with changes, sometimes incremental, in their outlook. Maybe this doesn’t have to be their reality, maybe there is Someone who cares and is always there with them, who can make a difference. Maybe they don’t have to coast along an inexhorable current of dysfunction that empties into a sea of despair. Maybe my life can be different. These small changes add up over time to result in changed lives.

One teenage boy who is in the streets came to me this summer and said excitedly, “Chris, I know you’ve been telling me this for a long time but I finally know God is real!” I’ve known him since he was a young boy and have spent a lot of time with him. In his adolescence he has become caught up in street life and self-destructive pursuits, but our relationship remains strong. I wondered what great event had happened to spark this spiritual awakening.  “Ok, what happened?” I reply. He tells me of a situation where he potentially could’ve been in a lot of trouble, and he prayed and asked God for help and the situation was averted. He was convinced God had interceded on his behalf. “God showed me He is real!” I can’t deny it. I’ve seen a marked change in his attitude and behavior, along with repentance, ever since. He has been an example to the other kids in our group. You just never know how God is going to touch somebody.

The gift of God may be elusive, but it is there for the asking. Thank you for enabling us to give our boys a summer where they can have a moment of peace, to ask.

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary;

Pure and holy, tried and true.

With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living

Sanctuary for you.

This chorus is a staple at our camps and retreats, a song to invite kids to make a sanctuary in their hearts, a place to meet Jesus.

Our kids need sanctuary.  A place, a moment… a retreat from the pressures and stress of their daily existence.  It is just so crazy out here.  Kids report to me constantly of friends or loved ones, or close encounters themselves, with gangs or police, often with fatal results. I used to follow the urban ministry adage that “whoever spends the most time wins”. But it is impossible to compete that way with the myriad negative daily influences on our kids in the city, in the neighborhood, school and sometimes at home. It is the quality of Christ that will counter the quantity of dysfunction.

When I start engaging boys at nine or ten years old, they are just about having fun. They are excited to play on a basketball team, go to camp, do fun stuff together… they talk about kid stuff.  But at some point, they change.  All of a sudden, conversations in the van take on a weightier aspect. Life becomes more serious, and dangerous. Dialogue shifts towards girls, often objectifying them and celebrating promiscuous activity; or they talk about the gangs and crime and drug abuse which form the backdrop of their lives.  This is all they talk about; it informs every aspect of daily life. Whether they are active participants in such behavior or not, they are surrounded and influenced by it. Many are compelled to participate in it, so they can fit in. This is being a black boy in the inner city.  They are in desperate need of sanctuary, a place of refuge and safety… a place they can be who God created them to be.

Our boys endure a “full court press” of dysfunction which saturates their growing up. Many of them are brainwashed into glorifying a lifestyle which has devastated their own families. They have siblings or loved ones who have suffered through long term jail sentences, chronic drug abuse or even loss of life; yet they drift towards the same patterns of self-destruction. They themselves suffer the effects of unplanned pregnancy and teenage parenthood yet they tempt fate with promiscuous activity. This is their world… until they come with us.  With us, there is sanctuary. With us, they can be children. If you want to have fun, go places, do stuff, or play basketball you are welcome; but if you want to be in the street, leave it outside. As one of our young adult men who grew up in our ministry put it: “Yeah, you had to act tough and be street in the ‘hood, but when we came with you, we could experience our childhood.”

This is what they want. I know it’s what they need, but, they actually want structure, a moral compass, someone to guide them and tell them this is ok and that isn’t, and why. Some of the toughest kids in the neighborhood get in my van and soon the whole group will be reveling in street behavior; but when I turn my head and say “Hey! We don’t do that here!”, the whole group responds with downcast eyes or apologetic murmurs.  Some respond to my message about Christ and an uplifted life, others not so much; but they all hear the gospel, and they experience sanctuary. 

So, we provide an island of respite in a sea of dysfunction and despair. Some leave the island and are overcome by the waves of self-destruction and the attraction of chaos. But many leave having strapped on a life jacket of Hope, and ride the waves of inner-city turmoil, becoming an island unto themselves, to which others can cling and hope.  God makes this happen.

This summer we will be providing sanctuary for many kids in the community. We will go camping, play sports, go fishing, go on trips, have barbecues… all in the presence of Christ, providing Sanctuary for any who seek it. If you can support this work going beyond your usual giving with a contribution towards our summer activities, we’d appreciate it.  Thank you for participating in the work with us through your prayers and gifts.

Chris sent this letter out to our church family after his birthday party at the bowling alley in February. He said part of this in the noisy bowling alley and saved some of it for the letter.

A letter to my people:

If you know me (and y’all know me better than anyone, except my immediate family), you know that I’m not big on celebrating my own birthday, or anything with the focus on me.  Yet here we are, celebrating my birthday in a showy fashion. It’s just an excuse to get y’all, my family, together.  It’s an opportunity to remind you that I love you, and I’m on your side.  And when I say that what I really mean is that God loves you and God is on your side.  The love and help Lisa and I have shown you all these years is an extension of God’s love for you.  If you know me, you know that Jesus loves you and God is with you. 

My prayer for ya’ll, from the first time I met you to your lives as adults and elders is that you can get out of the ghetto. I’m not talking about the North side or the South side, I’m talking about the ghettos of your hearts. I’m talking about hopelessness… that feeling that you cannot change your life or circumstances, no matter what you do. I’m talking about the despair that comes when bad things happen around you or, Lord forbid, when bad things happen to you or your family.  I’m talking about the feeling of powerlessness, being trapped in your circumstances. I’m talking about the feeling of being isolated and alone and separated from anything good in this life. I’m talking about feeling like you’re not good enough or that you don’t deserve good things in this life, or feeling like somebody else Is better than you.  God doesn’t love anybody more than He loves you.

Jesus is our deliverance from the ghetto of the spirit.  We live lives where we learned not to trust anyone, that we can’t count on anything… But I’m here to tell you that you can count on God.  The day I learned I couldn’t count on anybody, even my family (cause nobody is perfect), was the day I learned to completely trust God. Jesus says, trust me.  I got you. I’ll get you to a place where you can have joy and peace and love in this world… not just when you die, but right now.  Give me your life… Trust me.

When I look at y’all I see many of you who have escaped or are escaping the mindset of the ‘hood. I see y’all young adults working good jobs or going to college, building lives for yourselves. I see young men and women starting families. The strongest impact a black man can have in this world is to be a good husband and father, and raise a strong family. I see old heads who’ve overcome the ghetto attitude to live meaningful lives and influence others in positive ways. None of us here are rich or famous… but there are some here whose wealth goes beyond what you can see or touch. That’s who you want to be like.  And no matter what age you are, if you don’t have the life you want Christ is there for you. Ready for you to try it His way and experience the life He has for you.

So happy birthday to me… keep on keepin’ on! Remember God loves you, and Jesus is with you.

I’d like to make a special appeal for some of our high school boys.

I’ve planned a spring break trip to Orlando which will include a day at Disneyworld, a day at the beach, Florida sightseeing and a visit to Bethune Cookman (an HBCU in Daytona).

This is a group of four boys who have been with us since the fifth grade, some younger. This year they will be completing their sophomore and junior years in high school.  We typically do a high school spring break trip every few years as a reward for consistent attendance in our activities and to stoke interest in post high school opportunities such as college, trade school or some other job training.

This group is different. Our teenagers who have come to high school since Covid have had a particularly difficult path. The effect of distance learning on our youth has been devastating. Our young people have often been left on their own to continue their education at home, with no direct adult supervision. The best case scenario is that they’ve fallen behind, the worst case scenario is that they’ve given up. In every case there have been significant gaps in their education. The motivation to work hard at school in many cases has evaporated.

Another hardship is the communities in which they live.  Since George Floyd things have been more perilous for our youth outside on the streets than they have been for many years.  There are simply no boundaries, or respect for age when it comes to crime, gangs and violence now. Hopelessness and boredom abound. Our young people are tempted each and every day by the lure of gang involvement and criminal behavior that results in frequent street shootings and car theft.

This group of boys live right in the middle of all this, yet have resisted the temptation to give themselves fully over to despair. For that reason, I am planning a trip unlike our usual spring trips. I want to make a special memory for them, and allow them to have an experience of childhood which eludes many children here. Will you help?

I’m asking for a contribution beyond your usual giving. This trip will be more expensive than usual, including transportation, lodging, food and attraction fees. Any amount you can contribute would be appreciated. Thank you for your partnership with us in loving Christ’s children!

Emmanuel, God with us.

This isn’t a Christmas letter.  It’s a Christ letter.

It’s been a month of ups and downs…  “God with us” is a reality in which I try to move daily.

God with us… I had a mother call me on the phone, crying.  Her teenage son who is on my basketball team has been on a downward spiral of self-destructive behavior for months.  He hadn’t come home for two nights. She was about to call the police and report him missing… could I help?

God with us… We brought back our Christmas party this year and 76 of our parishioners came. Way too many to have in our house. Thank you, Park Avenue Church, for letting us do it there. When Lisa mentioned that with the difficulties of logistics and organizing (and us getting old) the possibility that we may not continue it in the future, a number of our adult young men approached her offering to help keep it going. 

God with us…  One of our teenage young men was released from custody on probation after being in jail for a year.  We are now helping him work at building a life with hope and prospects. A big answer to prayer! 

God with us… His older brother, also a teen, was recently implicated in a horrendous crime and is facing serious jail time.

God with us…  I was particularly blessed by the great grandma of one of our kids who we wanted to help out for Christmas. She has taken in three of her great grandkids who couldn’t be taken care of by their parents. When I asked her what we could do for her and her family for Christmas, she paused and asked me to use the money for someone else, she had enough to meet their needs. When I asked if there was anything else we could do for her, she asked for mentorship of her two young male children, who were being plagued by the vicissitudes of life as black boys in the inner city. 

God with us…  One of our young fathers recently acquired a steady job. He and his girlfriend and baby have been struggling with unemployment and homelessness this year. They have an opportunity to move into their own apartment.

God with us…  Another mother calls me crying, because her teenage son is getting involved with a bad crowd and has no adult male influence at home to guide him in a positive direction. Would I talk to him?

God with us… The basketball team breaks into an impromptu happy dance when we go into a shoe store at the mall and they learn they can pick out a brand-new pair of basketball shoes, a Christmas present from some friends of ours.  Instant self-esteem boost!

When I reflect on the last month, and the last year of ministry, serving God through being with people… I don’t qualify the various circumstances of ministry in terms of success or failure, victories or losses. Instead, I am overcome with a feeling of thankfulness. Thank you, Lord, that You see us through our trials and tribulations. Thank you, Lord, that we don’t have to go through this thing called life alone. Thank you, Lord, that You are with us.

I was talking to one of our kids about life after high school.  William is very bright. He made good grades at an academically challenging school. He grew up in the heart of north Minneapolis. He had many opportunities for academic scholarships to college, but no matter how I encouraged him he wasn’t interested in any of them. He wanted to play football.

This had been William’s dream since I first met him back in sixth grade.  He played basketball on my teams and participated in church and trips and we’ve had a lot of fun together.  He’s grown into an exceptional young man. He played football on park and school teams, but was only an average player.  He did not draw any D1 offers to play ball but did have an invitation to play at a junior college. I supported him in pursuing his dream, but it’s been a couple of years now and his plans to play football haven’t panned out.

While having lunch one day he was telling me how he didn’t want to have just a “regular” life, he wanted to do something special: to stand out from his peers coming out of the hood, to make his family proud. I realized, with chagrin, that the only exceptional path he saw for himself was a sports career. Our neighborhood celebrities are the kids who are able to leave the hood on athletic scholarships, and the most adored among these are the ones who make it to the professional level.   These are the ones we celebrate and this is the recognition William was seeking. 

Many of our young people are like William. They are handicapped in their ability to see themselves having success in life. You don’t hear about kids from the neighborhood who went on to do significant things outside of the realms of sports or entertainment. Those who get a D1 offer to play sports, regardless of whether they are able to make good on it, are regarded as success stories.  Celebrity status is restricted to sports figures, music artists or someone who got rich.  Young people in our neighborhood can be famous (sports or rapper), or infamous (drugs and gangs).

We don’t often hear about the kids who go on to have professional careers in medicine, science or business. We don’t celebrate those who have careers in the trades, or who become teachers.  But, we should, because the odds they’ve had to overcome to get where they are, are just as improbable as the chances a high school athlete has of making it to the pros. Young black men from here have to overcome neighborhood violence, crime, gangs and drugs just to get through high school… much less make it to college!

“William,” I said. “Don’t you realize you are already exceptional? There aren’t that many young black men who come out of the background you have that are able to go to college and have the opportunities you have.  You could be a doctor, skilled tradesman, businessman or a teacher and you would be a success story. And you should be celebrated just like the rare kid who becomes a professional athlete.”

I think I got through to him. He still wants to play football… wants to “take his shot “.  But at the same time, he is taking courses which would start him on the path to a career in the medical sciences.  Who knows, maybe he will get his chance to make it as a football player.  Maybe he will become a doctor one day. Maybe he will make a living with a good job, and raise a family, and be a leader in his community with his life as an example to others. I tell my guys that as a Black man, that’s the most heroic thing you can do.

So, I want to give a shout out to all the young men we’ve come to know over the years, out there doing their thing… working jobs, taking care of their families, raising children… Y’all are heroes!

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me- put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”  Philippians 4.9

This is my earnest prayer for the boys and young men in our ministry. 

Last week I met with some of the men who have come through our ministry.  They all wanted to know, “What’s the occasion?” But I told them there was no special occasion, I just wanted to see them all together.  This group came up together with me in 5^th grade. They are grown men now with families and jobs and their own affairs to take care of, but it was nice of them to take time out to sit down with me. They are a reminder of the fruit borne of our labor of love here. 

September is always a reflective time for me… coming on the heels of an active summer doing camps and activities; a break before things get busy with school and the fall schedule. I think a lot about how our kids are doing and the effectiveness of our ministry.  Our kids live under the constant threat of gun violence, and the pervasive presence of crime, drugs and gangs; with little support for school or extracurricular pursuits. How do we help them navigate all that?  Their lives are full of stress, with no peace or contentment. 

Does going to camp help? Going with Chris two or three times a week, does that help? Playing on a basketball team, doing activities, going to church… does any of that help?  The boys and young men we work with are at the highest risk for issues which will impact their lives negatively.  It is documented that constructive pursuits and positive relationships have an impact on at-risk youth, but does God make a difference?  I know He does!

All the young men who have come through our ministry, no matter where they are at now, point to their involvement with us as having been a high point, if not a pivotal point of their lives. Many are now gainfully employed as skilled laborers, teachers, businessmen (and women), and many are still trying to figure things out; but everyone who has come through this ministry comes away touched by it.  They have encountered the Lord in a personal way. 

And it doesn’t happen always at church, bible study or even camp… it’s in the van, in the neighborhood, at practice, or just when hanging out with Chris.

We can’t say that everyone comes to Christ, but we can say that everyone hears the gospel.  We can’t say that everyone’s life is changed, but we can say that everyone is offered support to change their life. We can’t say that everyone has an easier life, but we can say that everyone has a chance to build relationships to make life easier.

My confidence is not in myself or this ministry, or that we do things the “right” way.  My trust is not in our programs or activities, not even in our relationships.  My confidence is in Christ, that he is in me. And if he is in me, and young people are with me, then it follows that they are with Him. If I am following Christ then somehow, some way, they are exposed to Christ. I am confident of this because I know that my life is in Christ. And so, my hope for them is in Christ.  

Sometimes my life is confusing to them.  They don’t understand how I could resist sexual temptation. They don’t understand why I don’t spend my life trying to get rich. They don’t understand why I don’t lie and cheat to get what I want. They don’t understand why I don’t act violently when angry or put upon. They don’t understand the Christian morality I teach and model and expect from them… until I explain that it is because of Christ in me. Then it makes sense. So then, I can invite them to be like me.  I may not be rich but they see that God provides for me and my family. I may not be powerful but they see I have lots of influence in the community.  I may not have a lot of possessions but they see I am content and live a fulfilled life.  They see that I have all of this because of Christ… and they can have it too.

“If you don’t stop fighting, you’re going to die!”

Last week I had to have a “facts of life” talk with one of our boys. He’s 13 years old and in the 7^th grade.  He’s a great kid, but he is struggling. His single mom is having difficulties raising him, although she worked two jobs so they could leave the shelter they were living in. He’s big for his age, man-size, which makes him a target.  He’s a target for gangbangers in the street because they want him in their gang. And he’s a target at his school because all the wannabe gangbangers want to get a rep by fighting him… and there’s the problem.  He has to fight all the time.  Every time he does, he gets suspended from school, whether he starts the fight or not. He doesn’t seem to get the support he needs at school to protect him from situations where other boys threaten and attack him.  He always wins, which makes him more of a target, which invites more fights… it’s a vicious circle and he’s trapped in it.

He’s become conditioned now to fight when challenged or taken advantage of. He needs to get out of that environment. If he continues on this path, at some point somebody will introduce a gun to the situation and somebody will get seriously hurt, likely killed.  Either that or he will be expelled from school, become a dropout and join a gang… which will likely lead to long term imprisonment. He’s only 13 years old.

I have seen this happen before; and it ends in death or imprisonment.  A few weeks ago, during a basketball game, he got shoved to the ground by somebody on the other team and he jumped up and hit the boy. This was a first after two seasons on the team. His consequence was having to leave the team.  We are still in relationship and I still do things with him, and he still does things with the group. But I told him if he fights again, anywhere, I’m done with him. I’m not gonna watch him go down a path of self-destruction. He is learning about guilt, conviction, consequences and repentance. His mom is at her wits end, and his father is not at home, but I think I am the first person he is listening to. I am helping him see a way out of this inevitable cycle of violence. We (the basketball team, church) are his extended family, his community.  This is the kingdom of God.

I read a book recently where the author was describing what the kingdom of God looked like in the first century, in the midst of Roman oppression and religious persecution. The kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed was not an idyllic existence for first century Christians, nor is it for any of us who follow Christ today.  What the author pointed out was that the kingdom of God was manifest in the ability of believers to live abundant lives in the midst of social and spiritual turmoil.  Lives characterized not by wealth, living comfortably or the absence of oppression or problems; but by shared community, love and inner peace.  The kingdom of God was connection to others who loved God yet were living through shared experiences dealing with pain and suffering. The supernatural quality of the kingdom of God among believers was that they could maintain and experience Christian community in the midst of the worst of persecution and oppression, even as such acts were occurring every day, to everyone.

I had an epiphany… that’s what we do here.  We create Christian community among people who have no experience of Christian community, or God’s presence. This allows them to experience and participate in that community in the midst of the struggles and horrors they may experience every day. It doesn’t go away, but it’s not about the absence of struggle. It’s about the presence of Christ in your life in the midst of going through the struggle. This is what I want this young man to experience. This is what will change his life. This is the great difference maker. This is what we offer to all of our young children, teenagers, young adults, parents and families… the opportunity to come out of the world, and be part of the kingdom of God. 

So, I’m visiting with some of my high school guys… we’re going out to get pizza. There were four of us all together, 14 and 15 year-olds.  It was nice… I hadn’t been able to get this particular group together for a while. “So, how’re you guys doing?” I ask.  “Anything happening with you?”  We talk about school and their families, sports and girls, and then it starts…

First kid: “Man it’s gangsta at my high school…  at the football game last night, everyone was strapped!” [had a gun]

Me: How do you know they all had guns?

“Chris, I live over north… you can tell.”

Me: My gosh, what did you do?

“What can you do? Nobody was starting anything so I just watched the game.” 

Me: So, if everyone had guns, I hope that doesn’t include you guys!

“Chris, you know us… you know we’re not about that life.”

Me: What did you do after the game?

“I called my mom to come get my little brother.  He wanted to stay and hang out but it wasn’t a good place for him to be.”

Me: And what did you do?

“Oh, I went with some guys to my friend’s house.”

I’m thinking this over and how I should respond when…

Second kid: “Did you hear about the shooting over by my house?” [It’d been all over the news, a twelve-year-old boy was shot and killed] “I know the whole story…  these two girls were fighting and then their little brothers got involved.  Then the one boy started beating up the other boy, so his older brother left and came back with a gun and shot him six times! Can you believe that? That was wrong! If it was my little brother, I would’ve pulled the guy off or hit him a couple of times but why’d he shoot him?  And then he ran…”

I’m digesting all of this tragic information when we drive by a barbershop near their houses with the windows shot out…

Third kid: “Hey, that’s where I get my hair cut.  Did you hear what happened? Somebody came with a switch (gun illegally modified to automatic fire) and shot up the barbershop! Nobody got killed though, just a couple of people got shot.”  Another kid: “Oh yes they did, somebody did get killed in there! I went to the memorial yesterday.”

Conversations like this occur regularly in my van… sometimes the Lord gives me a word of counsel, sometimes I console and comfort, sometimes I teach… always sharing Christ. Sometimes I have to just listen to what their lives are like and absorb the reality of their daily existence.  All of this is hard for me to digest.  How must it be for children and teens who are living inside of this violence day in and day out? They share these stories with me in the most nonchalant manner, just another day on the north side… but I have a front row seat to witness the loss of childhood and innocence.  To borrow a phrase from my son, their numbness does not imply resilience. 

To that end we provide opportunities to play sports, do activities, go camping…. anything to have a calm and peaceful time in a safe place, and build relationships with people who are safe.  

Next month we will begin our summer of ministry. We offer two camping experiences, sports teams, and lots of fun trips and activities. The cost to us comes to $400 a child. Can you help support our efforts to engage and occupy our youth in positive and uplifting pursuits this summer?  To give them an experience and lasting memory of joy and fun and peace? Any contribution helps.