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I don’t think there’s anyone that doesn’t think that reaching parents is important in order to have an impact upon kids. Sometimes in youth ministry, it can be really discouraging to see kids give their lives to Christ and begin to have breakthrough, only to return home where they are torn down. I can’t even tell you how many times we have had the conversation: “If only the parents were being reached in some way…”
For the past 3 years, I’ve been working with kids in Hilltop of all ages: teens through Sozo and Late Night, and elementary kids through Sozo Kids. With many of the teens that I’ve invested hundreds of hours in, my interaction with the parents has been minimal. In fact, for some reason, we generally have very little interaction with the parents of our teens.
Sozo Kids has been our unexpected gateway into the lives of the parents and families. It’s remarkable how many parents, grandmas, and aunties that we know through Sozo Kids. Through Sozo Kids we’ve met the parent or guardian of more than 90% of the families, and have begun developing relationships with many of them. As we’ve been ministering to many of these kids for 3 years now…that also means we’ve been talking with their parents every week for 3 years. What started as simple “Hellos” has developed into Kari and Dequan sharing about their unemployment, Nicky sharing about her chronic sickness, and Jaci asking for help and prayer for her son’s rage at home and at school. I think of Jose, Virginia’s dad, who is also the step-dad of Kevin. Kevin was one of our original kids at Sozo who was already deep in the gangs and is now locked away in prison for many years. Because of Sozo Kids, we have developed trust and a great relationship with Virginia and Kevin’s parents, and Jose regularly shares his struggles and knows that this is a safe place for both he and his daughter.
Last week an organization called Families Unlimited Network invited 9 of our families to attend a special Christmas Celebration/Giveaway. Because of our relationships with the kids and families, we were able to know which families needed this opportunity the most. One of the single moms of 7 kids (who has chronic sickness) was crying on the phone because she was so thankful –not because of the gifts, but because we were thinking of her and her children and loved them. Multiple families called me this week to thank me and tell me how much they were blessed. And through this opportunity, our trust and relationship with the families has only grown.
Consistency in relationships has created so many opportunities to see the real people behind the hard exterior that many of the parents portray. After 1 hour at a Sozo Kids Family BBQ last summer (and a game of Pop Culture Trivia), our relationship with Esther, the grandmother guardian of two girls, forever changed. She used to seem so hard and intimidating, but the Family BBQ completely tore down all the walls and all of the leaders have been astonished how friendly and open she is now. Tonight she told us that she never lets her grandkids do things like our Zoo Lights field trips, but she now completely trusts us.
At Sozo we used to always say two things, “I wish we could reach the family” and “I wish we could reach them younger.” And then God gave us Sozo Kids.
Last year Jeff Clare received a call from Olympian Gold Medalist Stephanie Cox. She called asking Jeff if it would be possible for her to bless some of our teenagers. Jeff said it took ten minutes for Stephanie to actually say that she was an Olympian. She explained to him that she her parents were foster parents while she was growing up and she was raised with many different foster siblings. She told Jeff that she was sponsored by Nike and wanted to give some our kids the opportunity to have a shopping spree at Nike Town. Last year I was able to pick 5 teenage girls to go and they had a blast shopping at Nike Town.
This year I was given the same opportunity to pick 6 new teenagers to go with us. We took three boys and three girls and they were given $150 to spend at Nike Town. As we walked through the streets of Seattle they got really quiet but you could see they were excited and nervous at the same time. We met Stephanie Cox in the lobby of Nike Town and she explained to them who she was and that her whole purpose of this was to bless them! Then we let the kids go wild, they girls were eager to spend their money and the boys browsed for a while. But finally each kid easily spent $150 on shoes, boots, sweatshirts and shorts.
As I was watching all of the kids shop, one of the sales men asked me what we were doing there. One of my foster girls said “we are foster kids and Stephanie is blessing us”. He got all choked up and was a little teary eyed, he said that is really amazing, what a great Christmas present for these kids!!!
The best part of the night for me was watching the kids look at and hold Stephanie’s Olympic Gold Medal. I was so surprised by their reverence to the medal and the awe that they showed. The kids slowly passed the medal around and each had a chance to hold it.
In the car ride home the kids were very quiet and tired from a long day of shopping but it was great watching them show their foster parents everything they got.
by Anna.
Last week I had the privilege of being among 90 YFC leaders from across the nation to gather in Denver for our three day YFC/USA Leadership Summit. There were representatives from each Core Ministry of YFC: City Life, Friend to Friend, Campus Life, Juvenile Justice and Teen Parents along with teams from YFCamp, Project Serve, and Executive Directors (the group I joined). For 3 days we discussed continue
We do things a little different out here in Graham, Washington. Not only is cow tipping a regular part of Campus Life, but we also have the privilege and freedom to boldly and openly discuss walking with Jesus with the students we minister to out here in Frontier Jr. High! I guess all of the farm smells and lack of some good ol’ city polluted oxygen has gone to my head, I’m sorry. There is no cow tipping; at least not related to Campus Life. But there is plenty of Jesus! The curriculum given to us by Youth For Christ is meant to reach a very broad audience, one that is primarily non-Christian and that is in a setting typically non-conducive and in fact very much against in some cases, the teaching of the gospel. But we however, representing YFC in Graham, have the opportunity to teach just that on campus! Due to this exciting chance we all have been blessed with, we have decided to take a more direct approach toward teaching the gospel on a week by week basis through using curriculum available at IAmSecond.com. This website uses video formatted testimonies of Christian celebrities and every-day people to spark discussion on different aspects of who God is and who Jesus can be to us in an applicable and meaningful way geared towards non-Christians. On a typical week we will play games with the students, watch a video, have discussion about the video after breaking up into groups (each one with a Campus Life leader), and if time allows: more games. This format has allowed us to have deeper discussion with these non-Christians about Jesus than we have had with students in some youth group settings at church! A great example was November the 23rd when we showed the video of John Meador and his struggle with being 75% deaf through life and now as a pastor and how God has been first in that struggle. In my group of students I was able to relate to them my struggle with arthrogryposis as a Christian and how I’ve had to be ok with God telling me He won’t heal me; how hard it’s been to make God number one in my life at times but how detrimental it has been to my walk through life and why it has been such. We read Exodus 20:2-5 and the first thing the students noticed was that God seems to be selfish. This was so awesome! They were asking questions and being honest about their perceptions of who God is to them! Another kid kept mentioning heresies he had taken as fact from his uncle about God such as the perception that we are living in hell right now. We were all able to work through these questions and perceptions in a very calm and controlled manor. The Christian kids were even being bold and defending Jesus in a calm and collected way to their friends they had never had the boldness to approach with the gospel. By the time we were done all of the students were very encouraged and excited about the discussion we’d had. Truly an amazing experience this YFC ride has been and plenty more to come from Frontier Jr. High in Graham, Washington!
Nick Fultz
