The faces of the student showed a mixture of excitement and anticipation along with fear and trepidation. Parents also demonstrated their concerns and wonder. Here Sinead and I placed ourselves to be supportive and encouraging as parents and teens dealt with new school jitters. 

Alex, Jessie, Joe, Shannon, Josiah; to name a few, came by our table and listened to our greetings as well as our invite to Campus Life! 

“What is Campus Life?”  was the most common response.  Sinead and I then had the opportunity to explain in a speedy response that Campus Life is a “great after-school program where you get to play these great games, talk about what’s important to you and have food!  You just have to come and experience it for yourself!” 

“Cool”, “is it free?” “How do I sign up?”  were the responses.  This is contacting, placing ourselves in opportunities to meet students, get to know their names and let them know about us!  I will be looking for these students and more when I help out at the first day of school on September 2nd.  I get to stand in the entrance and help lost students find their class, welcome back returning students and just be a friendly face.  We do this so to serve the school and begin the process of building relationship with students, faculty and parents.  It is out service and relationship that ministry begins!

When she was released, she quickly entered her old life, which exists just on the other side of her bedroom door. She lives in a trailer with 6 meth-addicted adults, three other teens that are in and out of detention, and 3 children. I spent hours praying and interceding for Ashley’s life, knowing that God could restore every part of her life, and every part of her heart. Ashley was back in Remann Hall last week, and I was so happy to see her! She gave me a hug, and on my shoulder, cried, and apologized over and over again. Walls came down as I got to tell her that I had missed her, and was happy to see her, not angry or disappointed, and still full of faith and hope for her life. She was released a few days later and has been in steady contact, both with her probation officer and me.

We had a great conversation as I drove her home from treatment last week. Someone had told her about the end of the world, and that God was angry with people, and it was only going to get worse. I was honored to tell her that God does not punish us out of anger, but strategically gets our attention and wins our hearts. I can’t wait for Jesus to come back! Maleah, with a quizzical look, asked why. “I just love him!” Maleah’s reply? “Yeah, I don’t think I’m there yet, but I want to be soon.”

Robyn Buchanan- JJM Intern

As the lawn began to fill in over the following three months I expected to see a lush, Safeco Field type front yard. One the neighbors would stop and “ooh” and “ahh” over.  But what I saw was the beginning of a lawn interspersed with dreaded weeds, and quite a few of them.  Immediately I began to ask myself, “Where did I go wrong? How could this happen?” After talking with several “experts” (yep, I’m the guy who called all you garden nurseries for advice) I came to realize that this was a natural occurrence. Whether the weeds were dormant in the soil or were carried in the air, it was “ok” for weeds to exist in a new, growing lawn.

The experts advice was “be patient, pick weeds as you can, but don’t apply a strong weed killer until it’s a healthy lawn…give it a few months”.  If you know me well, you realize patience isn’t a strong point. But I’m learning a lesson and waiting til September rolls around before I “release the hounds” of weed & feed on my new lawn.

So, why do I share my lawn creation ordeal? As I sat on our front porch last night and looked at my a) glass half full–growing lawn or b) glass half empty–weed riddled lawn, I thought about the young people we work with through the ministries of Tacoma Area Youth for Christ.  Many kids this summer (through ongoing relationships with staff, or at summer camp/outdoor adventures) made a decision to follow Jesus and became “new creations” in Christ. As the apostle Paul says in Corinthians–”the old has gone and the new has come”–the slate is wiped clean with Jesus’ forgiveness.

But too often we can look at these kids (and in my own life) and wonder why they (and we) aren’t growing, why they haven’t “arrived” without mistake or flaw.  But a simple look at my lawn reminds me that we’re all works in progress.  The goal is to have a net gain–if it’s three steps forward, let’s work for only two steps back.  I think of kids from really difficult, broken homes who don’t have a Mom and Dad to encourage them in following Jesus.  Our role as Christians and mentors is to walk with them and as we see the “weeds” (trials, mistakes, steps back from God) pop up, that we correct them with grace, all the while applying the “fertilizer” (encouragement, prayer, time in God’s Word) to help them continue to grow.

I’m glad the Lord brought this to my mind, especially as I was looking at my lawn as a “failed project”. When Jesus looks at me in my disappointments He doesn’t see a “failure” but rather a work in progress. There’s hope for me…and for thousands of kids across Pierce County who have yet to meet Jesus.

It was a great night – Three youth led a charades game, another three sang a hip-hop praise song they’d written about freedom in Jesus(!), and one of the singers shared her testimony of being faithful to God throughout a really difficult 2009 and now already seeing the inner fruit of knowing God in those hard times.  She spoke about the hope of 2010 because of how well she’s getting to know God and how she can now trust him more because she’s seen him provide for her and give her strength!  I sat with Jasmine most of the night, and couldn’t hide my joy when Jasmine told me what she was experiencing as she observed and participated in the night.  At the end, Pastor Myron gave an invitation for anyone who wanted to know God to come and talk to any youth or adult leader.  As I was talking with Jasmine she told me she was waiting for TT to come and pray with her.  I asked TT if she wanted me to join and together we prayed and talked with Jasmine, explained what being saved was about and Jasmine readily accepted the invitation…and surrendered her life to God!!!  Jasmine remarked that she’d been so disappointed with how 2010 had started for her, and that she didn’t want it to continue down the path her life was taking her…she wanted 2010 to be a year of change and hope and friendship with God!

The next afternoon I picked Jasmine up after school and took her to shop for a Bible.  We’ve begun to hang out regularly, and it’s such a joy to watch her eyes light up with the joy of the Lord as she begins to understand and receive God’s love…the past few weeks have been difficult because she’s living in a home without electricity, she’s moved to a new school after being expelled from the last, and so of course there are many more opportunities for God to move in mighty ways!  But it has been my joy to be a friend and mentor to this amazing young woman, to love her and enjoy being with her, and to share with her the hope we have for 2010! 

Michelle Renich – JJM Volunteer

This morning our President, Dan Wolgemuth, shared from Luke 24: 13-35, where Jesus appears to two of his disciples as they travel on the road to Emmaus. President Dan’s message was that Jesus is with us in the “lag time”–in this passage it represents the time when the disciples are still trying to figure out what happened after the resurrection and what to tell others.  As they walk along (with downcast eyes), Jesus shows up and asks (my paraphrase), “What’s up?”  Their response was (again, my paraphrase)–”Have you been living under a rock?!” and go on to tell Jesus (although they don’t recognize him) all that happened over the past few days–the crucifixion, resurrection and empty tomb.

After listening, Jesus then goes on to tell them the entire story of what he (still unknown to them) understands from Scripture.  They invite this stranger to stay with them for dinner and once Jesus breaks bread, their eyes are opened to Jesus and he disappears. They ask each other, “weren’t our hearts burning when He walked with us?”

The lesson to me this morning at The Cove–Jesus is with me in the “lag time”…those moments, hours, even days when I wonder if He is walking with me in the difficult times. When the sky is the darkest, when there doesn’t seem to be a solution, when I feel lost in my way…Jesus is still walking with me. Just like these men on the road to Emmaus–He is there, He never leaves, He’s always faithful.  An encouraging message to start my day.

She went on to tell me about a group of young ladies she has been mentoring for the past year. These girls are all from the Hilltop and Eastside of Tacoma and many  have had some difficult troubles in their recent past.  Cheryl asked them, “What will keep you from getting back into trouble, from ending up back in Remann Hall (Pierce County’s juvenile detention center)?”  One of the common responses was the powerful impact of SOZO, Tacoma YFC’s City Life outreach that takes place every Tuesday at the People’s Center.  ”Bobby, these girls couldn’t say enough good about your staff–their love, persistence, creativity and the many ways they go out of their way to mentor and guide these young ladies.  They love SOZO!”

Now, I’ll be the first to say that my “gifting” is not as a general contractor and that’s exactly what a good part of my time has been filled with over the past few weeks: working with an architect, getting permits, coordinating framers, electricians, sheet rock work, etc. But my discomfort with tackling these duties was quickly washed away when Cheryl shared this story of the power of getting into the “messy” lives of young people who are out of control and the incredible potential found in the hearts of kids like those in her small group.

Our hope is to move into that 1500 sq ft of remodeled office the first week of June.  I can’t wait for more partnership opportunities with organizations like Allen Renaissance–we’re so blessed to be a part of God’s work across Pierce County.  Psalm 13:6 comes to mind–”I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.”

It has only been 2 months since we began Campus Life at Narrows View and already we are experiencing the fruit of this ministry site.  It is always a challenge to develop trust between the staff and students and to create an environment where students not only feel comfortable with the Campus Life team, but find our message of following Jesus credible.

When the students themselves become the “cheerleaders” for Campus Life, that shows me that trust is being developed and that we are creating the environment where kids not only enjoy being together but see Campus Life as a positive and enjoyable part of their school experience.

There are only a few weeks left in this school year.  We are already making plans for next year, how we can enlarge the involvement of the student body, and have a greater impact upon the families and the school community.  Yet, in the minds of kids, it is the “fun” factor that opens the door and enables us the opportunity to begin the conversation about being Jesus followers.

For the past several years our City Life ministry team has been doing some fantastic collaborative outreach work with Allen Renaissance, Incorporated (ARI)– a non profit borne out of Allen A.M.E. church– and ARI has become a key ministry partner.  As the Lord continues to open new doors, especially broadening our reach through our foster care ministry it became apparent that there wasn’t “enough room at the inn” at our current offices.  In fact, Jeff Clare (foster care director) and I have been talking about this opportunity to expand our offices but often that talk would end with the phrase, “where in the world do we go?”

It’s amazing how the Lord provides!  During our dreaming phase with the rest of our TYFC Leadership Team our wish list included the following: 4-6 offices, plenty of cubicle space, a conference room, kitchen and–if possible–a multi purpose room for large group meetings.  Oh, and we hoped/prayed to get such an office space for below market rate.  Just over a month ago as Darrin Miller was scouting out temporary space for his team  Cheryl Jones, ARI Executive Director, approached him and told about 1500 sq ft of office space in the facility they just moved into at 1321 MLK.  The entire facility is over 17,000 sq ft and they were beginning to look for partners to move in and lease space.  Guess what this facility has…yep, a conference room, kitchen, huge meeting space and nearly 1500 sq ft of office space that we can remodel to include 6 new offices! Plus, they gave us a fantastic rate…what a blessing.

So, one and a half weeks ago Tacoma YFC signed a 3 year lease to expand into these offices at 1321 MLK, the Allen Renaissance Building. We’re waiting on our remodel permits from the city and are enlisting framing contractors, painters, sheet rockers and carpet people to help in the remodel process. Once the remodel is finished (our goal is by the end of May) the City Life, Campus Life, and Juvenile Justice ministry teams AND myself will be moving to these new offices.

All of this will allow Foster Care to continue to grow and utilize the existing office space on Center St as well as open more partnership opportunities on Tacoma’s Hilltop with ARI.  So grateful for the Lord’s guidance and providing exactly what we need.

Maybe it’s not surprising because I’m a mother of two young children, but more and more my greatest joys in life come from being a “Mama.” But this mama has kids ranging from 16 months to 21 years (even though I am only 29). The range of circumstances I’ve encountered differ from giving pregnancy tests to informal nutrition talks about the importance of vegetables and what a healthy portion of cheese looks like to conversations about race, poverty and what it means to want to “better yourself but not lose your culture.” I really love all of it.

This weekend, Doug and I experienced a full but fairly normal 48 hours of sharing life in the Hilltop with our community of mainly kids and young adults, and I felt inspired to share it.

         Friday, 6:30pm
My kids (Tobey and Lucy) and I arrived at the People’s Community Center to help with Sozo Kids, a grade-school late night outreach program that is a partnership between Metro Parks, Tacoma Youth for Christ, and City Central Church. Over 50 5-11 year-olds came to run around a gym, jump rope, play video games, and hear a message from John 2 about Jesus turning the water into wine. Doug and I helped start Sozo Kids 3 years ago and it’s wonderful to still see kids excited to bring their friends. Rarely does a night at Sozo Kids go by without at least 5 new kids coming. After Sozo Kids, Doug and I were up late talking with our friend De’Marko (who lives with us and also works at Sozo Kids) and his 14-year-old brother, Armond, who usually stays with us on the weekends.

Saturday, 8:45am
Doug and Lucy were already driving over to Tacoma’s Eastside to pick up Nathaniel to take him to the making of a film that some friends of ours are submitting to the Tacoma Film Festival. Nathaniel’s goal after high school is to pursue acting and attend a community college that offers classes towards that goal. In less than 6 weeks, Nathaniel will graduate from high school at the age of 19. Two months into this school year, Doug made a deal with Nathaniel that he could come over for dinner every week that he had perfect attendance. As such, Nathaniel usually shares at least one meal a week with our family, and we are so proud of him for persevering in school!

Saturday, 10am
Doug woke up De’Marko for a meeting at our house with our Sozo Kids adult leaders and 3 youth leaders. We have an amazing team at Sozo Kids, but De’Marko has definitely become one of our most responsible leaders as well as one who really engages the kids each week.

Saturday, 4pm                                                    
We were awakened from a family nap to Nathaniel knocking on our door. He was done with the filming and ready for his weekly dinner. While I’m cooking, it is common for Nathaniel to stand by me in the kitchen and ask various questions about health and nutrition, relationships, and what the Bible says about different topics. Doug and I are regularly amazed at how hungry Nathaniel is to learn and how much he loves family life. He loves it when Tobey comes to him with a book for him to read or Lucy sings “A Whole New World” for him. 

Saturday, 7:30pm       
While Doug was taking Nathaniel home and helping 3 of our youth—De’Marko, Justin, and Corasia (who are now paid staff with Metro Parks)—I was putting our kids to bed when I saw 6 elementary school kids from Sozo Kids playing in the alley by our house. I decided that was a worthy cause to delay Lucy’s bedtime and we ran outside to play relay races, tag, and do cheers with those 6 kids and two neighbor kids. In that 30 minutes of play, one of the girls thanked me several times for how much fun she had. Isn’t that so telling about the innocence of childhood and the importance of spontaneous life-on-life interactions?

Sunday, 11am-7pm
Our family spent most of the day worshiping at a local Hilltop church. Then the rest of the afternoon we had family time with De’Marko, Armond, and Allie (De’Marko’s girlfriend). De’Marko watched popcorn kernels pop for the first time from an actual popcorn popper.

As I look back on the weekend, I cooked meals for 15 people in addition to our family, used 20 eggs, and vacuumed three times. And this is a fairly typical weekend off for us! But I really can’t imagine changing any of it. Last night I couldn’t fall asleep because I kept thinking of the precious kids I had played tag with, and how grateful I am for moments like that with 5th grade girls who will be attending junior high next year. There are definitely moments when it feels difficult to choose to give my time away, but more often I am so grateful that God has made me to feel most alive when I am surrounded by opportunities like this. Thank you, Jesus, for making me as a Mama and giving me so many to love in addition to my own children!

So last week when Jeff and Anna invited me to speak again I was humbled to stand in front of 60 of these parents who are on the frontlines of some difficult, heart wrenching and often overwhelmingly rewarding ministry.  As several foster parents have asked for the audio or type written version of that message here’s a “Readers Digest-blog ready” version:

Being a father of three daughters and husband of one wife, commandeering the TV to watch sports is a rather rare occasion.  But at this time of year my family understands that Daddy may lapse into a March Madness coma with the beginning of the NCAA mens basketball tournament. I love the tradition, the team spirit and the competition. When I think of March Madness one name always comes to mind–John Wooden–one of my personal heroes.  John Wooden coached the UCLA Bruins in the 60s and 70s and was a man a bit out of his element coming from the MidWest.  With his Jimmy Stewart morals and sensible shoes Coach Wooden would often begin the first day of practice with a lesson on how to properly tie one’s shoes or put on one’s socks so as to avoid getting blisters. He even had rules that seemed antiquated: no behind the back passes, no retiring of jerseys and no facial hair. One day a player confronted Coach Wooden, “Coach, I have my rights and I’m growing out this beard. You can’t make me shave it off!” Coach Wooden looked up at this young man and said, “I respect someone who stands up for what they believe. And we’re going to miss you on this team.”  This young man stormed off only to reappear at the end of practice–shaved face and all. That young player, Bill Walton, rarely questioned Coach Wooden’s rules again.

Although we can look in the record books and see the “legacy” that Coach Wooden left behind (10 NCAA championships, a team that won 88 straight games, players such as Walt Hazzard, Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar just a few among others having gone onto Hall of Fame careers), his desire was to build young men who would become great dads, husbands and contributors to society.  To this day, he still knows the whereabouts of nearly every one of his former players because many call him to get the same pearls of wisdom he shared on the courts at UCLA.

Tonight I want to challenge you as foster parents to consider what your “legacy” is to these children you dare to take into your home.  When I think of a “legacy” in Scripture I’m drawn to the account in Mark, chapter 14, verses 1-9 where Jesus is anointed at Bethany. This takes place during the final week of Jesus’ life and here we see a woman (referred to in the gospel of John as Mary) who breaks open a jar of pure nard and pours it over Jesus’ head.  She is immediately rebuked for having wasted something that could be valued at one years wages and frivolously throwing it away. Her critics argument? “This could’ve been used for the poor.”

What grabs my attention is the response from Jesus himself: (verse 6) “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them anytime you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare my body for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will be told, in memory of her.”

Have you ever felt like people around you, your family, acquaintances at the grocery store, and others are looking at you and saying, “Are you nuts to bring these ‘broken’ kids into your family? Can’t you just sent money to an organization or something?” Have you ever felt rejected or scorned because you’ve chosen the sometimes lonely and often difficult ministry of foster care?  I can remember clearly the time in my life when I felt most rejected. It happened over the dinner table at Christmas time during my junior year at the University of Washington.  As my sweet grandmother innocently asked me, “So, how is preparation for physical therapy school going?” little did she realize the Pandora’s box she was about to open.  So I jumped in with both feet and dropped the bombshell (it seemed tactful at the time), “I’m not going to physical therapy school–I really feel God is calling me to youth ministry.”  Time stopped and I still remember my mom and dad staring at me like I had grown three extra arms.

The next day my dad called me into the garage. In my family perhaps you drove your car into the garage or decided to get a tool from the garage…but it was never a good sign to be “invited” into the garage by my father. Little (or nothing) good could come from that. He immediately began to tell me that I was a failure, an embarassment to the family and was about to amount to nothing. Only by God’s strength and the power of the Holy Spirit was I able to keep it together.  Trust me, I know what it feels like to be rejected.

Yet, I’m struck by the “rightness” (yes, I just made that word up) of what this woman in Mark 14 did.  Those around her were screaming, “Are you crazy?” and yet the Lord was smiling and giving his approval.  Approval to the point that “wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

As foster parents you make the “crazy” decision every day to open your house, to “expose” your own flesh and blood to the “dangers” of out of control foster children.  Many of these kids come from horrific backgrounds and difficult birth parents but it simply doesn’t matter to you–you KNOW God has called you this ministry.  When it seems the most painful, when you’re at the end of your rope–remember that the God of the Universe is overjoyed with your sacrifice and extravagant love.  The way you care for these children, the way you graft them into your family, the effort you make to show love to these birth parents is “pouring perfume” on our Lord.

Living in a house with four women is one thing. It’s a whole new game when the perfume starts flying.  I’m preparing myself for the day when a cloud of sweet smelling aroma is wafting through the Arkills house.  In Mark 14, in the final week of Jesus’ life, this woman “left a legacy” for Jesus in anointing his body for burial. To her it was a sacrifice (one years wages!) but this sacrifice also left an “aroma” that carried with Jesus for days to come…through his final week on earth. I’ve heard it taught that this perfume in Mark 14, “nard”, was not only very expensive but was often reserved for anointing royalty.  That’s exactly what this woman was doing.

In loving these foster children, you are doing the same. You are sharing the “aroma of Christ” (2 Cor. 2:15) for the world to see, hear and believe.  Three truths stand out to me when I think of the legacy you (and I) leave on our children and those we take into our homes:

1) Extravagant love is encouraged–this woman’s act of “frivolity” was looked upon with joy and gratefulness by Jesus. Your crazy love–over the top, against the grain of society, unlike any other these hurting foster children have experienced–is encouraged and rewarded.

2) Our love and sacrifice for our children is a mere glimpse of the Father’s love for us. When I began in youth ministry with YFC back in 1991 I thought I knew it all. I wish I had a video of my giving “tips” to parents of teenagers!  Now that I have three little girls I realize how little I truly know. But I also realize daily how much I love them…and I’m coming to realize more and more how much the Father is crazy about me.

3) Every day, you and I have the opportunity to leave a legacy of the “aroma” of Christ. Every word, every action, every thought we pour into those we love and interact with is a chance to share the love of Jesus to a hurting world.

Thank you for serving the Lord through Foster Care. Just like that night 8 years ago, I stand here humbled and honored to call you sisters and brothers in Christ.  You are my heroes.