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.

Coming to Tacoma was difficult for JD, he soon found himself running with some shady characters that encouraged him to do drugs and commit crime.  One night, JD and some of his friends decided to rob a house of people they knew.  The attempted robbery went bad quickly and JD ran out of the house before he had a chance to grab anything.  The police were already on the scene and JD was caught after he jumped a fence.  As a result of the circumstances of the crime, JD found himself with serious charges and was promptly booked into Remann hall for an undetermined amount of time.  

The first time I saw him was in a Wednesday night chapel service, I was immediately drawn to his genuine smile when I greeted him at the door to the room.  Throughout the entire teaching time he was engaged and attentive.  At the end he boldly made a decision to give up his old life and live for Jesus!  Without hesitation JD took the truth of the gospel and ran with it.  He immediately started reading the bible and began to grasp spiritual truths very quickly.  

One day I walked into JD’s pod and saw him writing to his parole officer looking quite discouraged.   He shared with me his struggle to be heard and his frustration with how his case was going.  He told me had been pouring all through his bible looking for something that would bring him encouragement!  I was struck by his hunger for the word of God to comfort him and I talked to him about the importance of faith in the face of trails and suffering.  After I left, I had no idea if anything I said stuck, but since that time, I have seen the Spirit of God do nothing short of a miracle in this young man’s life! 

JD takes advantage of every opportunity to go to church and is even memorizing scripture.  Every week that we see JD he declares that he wants to encounter Jesus more and more!  I recently felt prompted to give him one of my favorite books “The pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer.  Although he struggled to understand some of the words used in the book, he read it twice, and has even been memorizing the prayers at the end of the chapters.  I would have never understood this book at 15 years of age!  God has gifted JD with an incredible mind and a dynamic hunger for Jesus.  JD radiates the joy of God whenever I see him and he continues to grow in wisdom and in the knowledge of the Word.  He even desires to worship the Lord and has begun to write lyrics of praise!  I am so excited to see what God has next for JD as He raises him up as a leader in this next generation.

John Dorsey – JJM Volunteer

Four of the girls wanted to pray with someone, to acknowledge before the Lord their need of him, their desire to live for him in a new way. I got to pray with Alisha, an amazing young women who will lead many more to the cross in her lifetime. She wanted to be right with God but, in her words, she’s just a piece of S**T. She didn’t feel good enough, she knew she didn’t have enough strength to live freely and stand firm in the face of temptation, so she didn’t want to start something she knew she couldn’t finish. I got to share with her the Good News! No one deserves to be made right with God, none deserve anything from our Father, but it’s the desire of his heart to bless us anyway. He doesn’t expect us live perfectly, but rejoices when we take a step forward rather than become angry when we take a step back, and he loves to strengthen us. He only requires that we ask! Alicia decided to accept these truths about God and pray her first prayer! In the days following, she was in the scripture, full of hope and a growing understanding of her new Dad and who she is as His very own daughter. The power of the Lord to transform a person was on display that evening, and it was a glorious spectacle! Praise the Lord!

Robyn Buchanan, JJM Intern

Dwayne Parker – Bishop Freeze

When we started Sozo three years ago, we always had the vision that these kids in the Hilltop and from Remann Hall would gives their lives to Christ, and would one day be the leaders that replaced us. I’m not going to lie…it seemed like a very lofty goal at best. The minority of the youth who had already given their lives to Christ were still struggling with gangs, drugs and sex and were nowhere near leading their peers in positive lifestyles.

Fast-forward to three years later…

We are seeing the beginning stages of the things that God had promised! Not only has he saved and redeemed kids from Satan’s grasp, but he is developing these youth into leaders that are impacting kids in their community. He’s raising up indigenous leaders—leaders that come from the community to whom they are ministering. I could talk about a lot of our “indigenous leaders”—Justin, Airfeaira, Mister, Patrick, Devan, Miranda, Lecario—but I’m just going to focus on someone who is near and dear to my heart: De’Marko.

De’Marko’s Story:

Three years ago, De’Marko didn’t know Christ. He hated church, and didn’t want to have anything to do with God. He only came to Sozo because of the food and basketball, but the Holy Spirit got hold of him right away and He gave his life to Christ the second month of Sozo. One of our leaders started discipling him right away, and laid a solid foundation of Biblical truth and practical disciplines.

De’Marko’s dad never wanted anything to do with him, and he has no relationship with him. He was raised by his grandparents, but never learned a lot of the practical disciplines like getting up for school and finishing homework. As a result, by the time he was 19 years old, he barely had sophomore credits for high school, and it was looking like he would never be able to finish school.

God gave him hope and support system through Sozo, and he started attending night classes at Bates Technical College. After one year of night classes, De’Marko not only attained his high school diploma from Bates, but he also received a certificate in carpentry and found work doing construction.

That was last January. But God has done so much more in De’Marko’s life since then. I hired De’Marko to work (through Metro Parks, one of our community partners) as a leader at Sozo Kids, our elementary-aged late night. The first week, De’Marko was terrified to work with young kids. By the third week, De’Marko was literally a kid magnet. Everywhere he goes, there are about 15 kids completely drawn to him. He has become an unbelievable leader who loves kids, is easily the kids’ favorite leader, and is often responsible for cleaning and locking up. I also hired him to help me run Sozo and Teen Late Night. De’Marko’s attended Warm Beach Camp with us the last two summers as a camper. But this year, De’Marko was an Assistant Counselor in my cabin.

DeMarko and Sozo

A month ago, we found an internship opportunity with one of our community partners for out-of-school youth. To make a long story short: De’Marko is now paid to mentor middle school students through Tacoma Youth for Christ at Jason Lee Middle School. He is such a role model for the middle school students who are growing up in his community, and at 6’5” he walks with a lot of authority. The Vice Principal is thrilled with De’Marko, the students are being impacted by him, and De’Marko is so thankful for the opportunity to not only be paid, but be used by God. He said he’s learned so much already, and since he’s started leading and giving his life away, he views everything differently.

It’s amazing to see how much life transformation has already occurred among so many of our youth in the last 3 years, and it’s incredible to see how much they’re already beginning to serve and give their lives away. This is only the beginning….I don’t think anything brings me more joy than knowing that in 30 years our youth will be pastors, missionaries, community leaders, and amazing parents who will be breaking generational patterns of poverty.

Mostly our blogs are about kid stories and reaching the youth of Tacoma and Pierce County, but this time I wanted to share my heart a bit, kind of like a real blog – just share. I started on staff almost 5 years ago with a mission to reach young people who were incarcerated in Tacoma. I didn’t know what i was getting into, I just know God had called me to youth and to YFC. Little did I know that God was about to massively interrupt my idea of ministry – as I met many broken youth from Tacoma, my heart was radically touched and I was overwhelmed with the need for Christ to pour out mercy. The journey had begun – I was alone in my initial mission (except for the Lord) but by God’s grace and his love he began to do miraculous works in the lives of many of these youth and he began to draw volunteers and team mates across my path. God has continued to draw his people together and has birthed City Life, SOZO, Late Night, SOZO kids, Wilson, Jason Lee and Foss and many kids have been reached with the Gospel and love of Christ.

Recently, one of our early volunteers who later became a staff member, Chrisy Wachtler – was promoted to be the Juvenile Justice Ministry Director. I am so proud to have worked with such an amazing woman of God for the past four years and am so encouraged to see her receive her leadership mantle here. She is a gifted leader and the fruit from her life as evidenced in the lives of countless youth in Tacoma has been off the charts. I am so blessed to have been able to work with, lead and empower such a Godly leader.

So let this blog be about how excited I am to see Chrisy become the director and leader that I have always know she is – thank you for your support of this ministry and for the lives of youht and Leaders who have been affected through your support. God bless

A couple weeks ago I attended something that was surprisingly emotional… I got to take part in an official adoption process at Remann Hall Juvenile Court. One of our original youth from Sozo and Late Night, Michael Toycen, was adopted at 16 years of age.

After his mom died at age 8, Michael had been in-and-out of over 16 foster homes. In addition to the heart-wrenching pain of losing your mother, Michael had lived his entire life in pain from feeling unwanted and unloved.

 Today I had a deeper understanding of the scriptures that talk about God’s ultimate love for us: adoption. Before Christ, I was just like Michael—Fatherless and without hope. But God, in His infinite love and mercy, chose me to be His son. God the Father, the creator of the universe, chose me to be a member of His family and share in all His blessings.

 Michael no longer wonders if he’s loved; when he was adopted he became their son—a permanent member of the family. When Jesus died on the cross, we were given the invitation to be adopted as God’s son…and permanently join His family and share in His inheritance. And like Michael, we never have to wonder ever again if we’re loved. God demonstrated His love for us while we were still sinners and then He adopted us.

Doug Jonson, City Life

 Appendix A: Michael moved to Puyallup 1 ½ years ago and is now a junior at Rogers High School. He is very involved with JROTC, and is enlisting in the Coast Guard upon graduation. He is a lifeguard at the YMCA and saved his first life last week. His mentor from Sozo, Chris Roberts, has faithfully loved him and mentored him ever since Michael started attending Sozo Discipleship.

 Appendix B: Sarah Snodgrass and Karen Groves, part of the YFC Foster Care team, were at the Courthouse when I arrived to participate in the adoption between one of their families and their foster child. What an amazing ministry they have! They truly exemplify God’s heart on a daily basis (James 1:27).

            Likeisha is now sixteen. Her mom is and has been a meth addict for many years. As long as she can remember there were drugs made in the home and used in the home. Her house has always had many people coming and going. Likeisha’s childhood was filled with abuse and neglect. Her dad left when she was four, her mom abandoned her fully a year ago and she is living with a family member. She’s helped raise her younger brother her entire life. Despite her rough circumstances and the odds being against her, she managed to get a job, a driver’s license and is doing well in school. 

            I asked her what she wants to do with her life. She shared in the most compassionate yet fierce voice, “I want to ADVOCATE for children…I want to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.” I prayed for her, we talked of her purpose and God’s love for her, and she expressed her desire to live her life for God and all He had for her. In the midst of her brokenness and hurt she began to call upon God to help her, to save her and to comfort her. She is a beautiful young lady filled with great potential. Likeisha and young ladies like her have fought through hell just to be alive. It is a GOOD NEWS indeed to share with them of GOD’s amazing LOVE and purpose for them. Most of the time that kind of love is the last thing they have been told in their life.  It is an awesome privelege to get to meet these girls, talk and listen to them and hear their stories. What a blessing to get to speak words of truth and to pray. It is so fun to see their lives change before our very eyes as God imparts FAITH for them to TRUST and FOLLOW HIM. Thank you for sharing in the lives of kids like Likeisha. Chrisy Wachtler, JJM