Last week as we made plans for Thursday club, plans kept changing right up to the last minute. The first message came on Tuesday: one volunteer wouldn’t make it this week. A simple adjustment to make a couple days ahead of time – no problem. Then on Thursday came a voicemail, a text, and a phone call: 4 more volunteers would be absent or late. (By no fault of their own, just unexpected schedule changes beyond their control.) Suddenly some last minute preparations for games and content fell on only two of us, as we braced for the onslaught of 20 + middle-schoolers.

But the Lord worked in special ways on this day – the first work took place inside of me. A year ago, a similar thing happened, and a lot of stress and nervousness built up within me until the last student walked out and I breathed a sigh of relief. This time, however, I saw how my faith had grown as I prayed, “Lord, I trust that you are changing our plans for a reason, that you are still in control, and you intend to bring fruit from what happens today.” The peace and trust inside of me, in contrast to a year before, evidenced growing faith.

And as I grew in my faith, 20 + students were called to take a step towards Christ and put their faith in him. As the two of us shared with the group the stories of how Jesus has changed our lives, they listened intently. They heard how Christ was able to help one person overcome self-mutilation, and another learn to replace bitterness with forgiveness and love. At the end, I offered a copy of the gospel of John to those who wanted to know more about Jesus and how he changes lives. The response was greater than I expected – I ran out of books, and several students walked out reminding me to bring a copy for them the next week. Would this club have looked different if our original plans had worked out? Yes. What was special about the way things went instead? Just that the Spirit was in control, growing my faith and calling students to faith. And he’s got a plan for this next week – it may not match up with mine, but I’ll hang on for the ride.

Nate Duriga – Woodbrook Campus Life

The importance of this technology reminded me of a conversation I had with one of our ministry partners/donors. I’ve tried to connect with Mark for quite a while but his work schedule rarely allowed time to sneak away for lunch. One day he was flying to California and the next to Chicago..always on the road. Add to that raising three kids (two teenagers!) and he was barely keeping it all together.

In my role as Executive Director here at Tacoma YFC I see my greatest ministry to our ministry partners/donors. Which is why I consistently pray for and encourage those who help make this work happen. So, last week I dropped a quick email to Mark with the oft repeated question (to the point that it’s a bit of an inside joke between the two of us), “Hey, if you’re free let’s grab lunch sometime in the next few weeks.” I was surprised to get an email within the hour from Mark.  He went on to quickly share that it was a difficult time as one of his best friends, only 47 years of age, had just suddenly passed away and he was preparing to travel internationally to this man’s service . I offered to pray for Mark and said the invitation still stood for when life returned to (semi) normal.

Just an hour after that email conversation Mark wrote, “Hey, let’s grab lunch this week, maybe Friday?” We set it up and met today for a great meal together and catchup conversation that covered the last two years.  He shared the difficulty of hearing that his friend had passed away but that this tragedy alerted him to the importance of reconnecting with key people. Thus, the email to me to actually put lunch on the calendar.  We had a great time today and now I know more specifically how to pray for Mark.

Lunch today and the pain of Mark’s friend’s death helped to remind me of a something I read from Steven Covey to “keep first things first”.  As a father of 3 young children, husband of one wife, leader of TYFC and child of God I need to continually remind myself what is really important.  It’s all about relationships and the richness I give and get from each one–my relationship with my Savior is first, with my wife 2nd, my children a close 3rd then those good friends who are my accountability, sounding boards and confidantes.

It’s not about accomplishment or checking items off a list. Those will all pass away…but relationships will bring the depth, wisdom and love I need to keep going daily.  Just another good reminder to “keep first things, first”.

I recently finished reading an amazing book on adoption called “Adopted for Life” by Russell Moore. The book describes Moore’s experience with adopting two boys from Russia and the emotions and hardships that came along with the adoption process. While international adoption is very different from foster care adoption, the information in the book is very applicable to those who are interested in adoption through the foster care system. One of my favorite parts of Moore’s book is a section where he talks about life after adoption as well as how all believers have experienced adoption because Christians are adopted by God through Christ! Let me share with you what Moore says:

“Some unique challenges go along with adoption-challenges related to finding a sense of belonging, to discipline and discipleship, to answering questions about origins. Count these as all joy. They point all of us- not just kids who are adopted- to the gospel. The gospel welcomes us and receives us as loved children…the gospel shows us that we were born into death and then shows us, by free grace, that we’re adopted for life.”

This book is worth reading if you have thought about adopting a child or know someone who has adopted!
-Ciara Spacone

Every day I get a “devotional” from Airfeira texted to my phone (usually around midnight). Air is one of our youth that has undergone probably the most radical transformation. She now works with me at the REACH Youth Services building, where she was given an AmeriCorp position to do youth outreach (even the secular world recognizes her evangelistic DNA). I love her text devos, and wanted to share snippets with you…
-Doug Jonson, City Life-Sozo

FEBRUARY 2010

At times you may not feel complete. But I got the answer. All you need is Jesus Christ. No weapon formed against you will prosper. He loves you!

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Everyone wants to be loved and find themselves searching for love in all the wrong things. In the end you’re still so lost and confused wanting that same someone that would never stand you. “Why?” is what you ask yourself. Jesus said that His love is unconditional. Jesus said He loved us when we didn’t love ourselves. He will never hurt us nor leave our side even if we hate Him. He died for our sins. That’s real love.

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It’s hard to forgive someone who betrayed you–especially someone you called a friend. It’s hard to forgive a parent that’s not doing its job. It’s hard to trust someone when you’ve been hurt all your life. Jesus said, “Forgive and He shall forgive you. The world says, “Don’t trust no one and you will not get hurt.” I’ve come to realize that by not forgiving you’re only hurting yourself. You’re letting the next get the best of you. Who do you gotta forgive?

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Faith is sure of what we hope for and certain of what we don’t see. Life gets hard, but take your eyes off the moment and put them on the future.

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05 J.C. Saved Me 1

 I would like to highlight one of my families who have really devoted their past 8 months to helping two of these kids.  This family capitalizes on the strength of their foster kids and let them shine in the areas where they are strong.   They have special movie nights, play dates, and cooking times.  Every night, these girls will dance in the living room with their foster dad, as it is their favorite activity.    They love being “princesses” and have a chest full of play clothes.  One special evening, their foster mom bought the girls and the foster dad tickets to a “Father-Daughter Dance.”  These girls were able to dress like princesses, dance all night, and be accompanied by their “dad.”  There is a scripture that says, “The lonely will be healed in families.”  I believe this is true.

 Katie Bass

Here in Pierce County alone there are over 70,000 11-18 year olds, YFC’s primary target audience.  If we run the numbers of those kids that Tacoma YFC is reaching each year (4,000) plus add in in fellow youth ministries such as Young Life, FCA and the thousands of kids already reached by local churches and youth groups, our best estimation is that there are still 50,000 kids who aren’t being reached– 50,000!  When we did that math last month at some of our strategic planning meetings I was stunned and humbled.

How do we impact those kids? It’s obvious to us at TYFC that we can’t do it alone but rather we need to be “catalysts” for Kingdom work across Pierce County. We need Young Life and FCA and local churches to join us on high school and middle school campuses, we need their expertise and partnership in neighborhoods and communities alike.  The Great Commission won’t happen on it’s own…and it won’t be accomplished by one organization but rather through Christians uniting together to reach lost kids with the life changing message of Jesus.

This “burden” to reach the every was brought home as our Truman Campus Life director, Ken Schmidtke, shared a story about one of the kids he’s working with, Ethan.  As Ken was visiting Truman MS at lunch a couple of weeks ago he caught sight of Ethan out of the corner of his eye.  With long straggly hair and eyes focused on the floor directly below, Ethan was clearly communicating one simple message–”I want to be anonymous”.  Ken walked over and began a conversation with Ethan that day and for the next several days said hi until finally Ethan began to open up.

Ethan can’t stand large groups but finds his “identity” in online chat rooms. “I can be myself there…no one knows me by name and I like it that way.”  Ethan will probably never come to Campus Life nor show up on his own to a youth group but he would be reached through some sort of online interaction. Although it may not be relational in approach, we need to think of creative ways to connect with other “Ethans” across Pierce County.  Ken walked away and his mind was racing, “How do we meet him on his level? Who do I find that knows that better than I do?”

Reaching the “every”…50,000…one at a time. Daunting, overwhelming…yes…but “do-able” through the power and unity of God’s power. Just some thoughts.

In 2008 Twitter had 6 million members and in 2009 that number jumped 200% to 18 million. I figured it was about time for Tacoma YFC to jump on board (yes, the cutting edge technology practician that I am…only behind a couple of years).

I’m hoping that more of our TYFC staff will sign up and use this great tool of Twitter as well as Facebook to connect with people across Pierce County and share what God is doing in the lives of young people through the ministries of Tacoma YFC. Oh, and if you would like to follow me on Twitter you can find me @bobbyarkills !

The evening was filled with stories of kids whose lives have been changed by Jesus Christ, through the persistence of YFC staff.  I was so impressed to hear the stories of young people who have been impacted through Campus Life club, the juvenile justice outreach but my heart was especially gripped by EOYFC “Loaves and Fishes” ministry.

“Loaves and Fishes” is an outreach to homeless/extremely disadvantaged kids who count on free or reduced lunch/breakfast during the week but are left without the right food on the weekends.  In partnership with the school district, EOYFC Executive Director Kevin Rainey mobilizes people to donate food that is put in bags and delivered to kids at the alternative school, middle school and high school. I helped with the “drop off” of these bags Friday morning to the schools.  The statistics in LaGrande show that there are 63 kids in the 11-18 age range, currently being served through “Loaves and Fishes” with another 40 who would qualify, but for some reason don’t take advantage of it.

Perhaps it’s a feeling of shame or embarrassment at asking for help but, whatever the reason, there are still a large number of kids who still need help.  As Kevin and I talked during the Friday delivery I was struck by how the EOYFC staff and Board are taking seriously Jesus’ admonition to take care of the “least of these”.  These kids may not come to Christ directly because of the food distribution, but they are seeing Jesus’ love in action because someone cares enough to provide a basic need.

My role Thursday night was to “inspire and challenge”–inspire the audience with stories of the ministry of YFC and to challenge them to get involved with their time, talents and treasure.  The great news is that people responded because 1) they were able to see the fruit (changed lives) of God at work in EOYFC and 2) God moved in their hearts to be generous.  Our goal was to raise $15,000…and Praise God, over $16,000 was raised!

Reaching the “least of these”–YFC making a difference around the Pacific Northwest and across the country.

Our first semester at Baker has been amazing, exciting, and challenging.  It has definitely been a road full of hope and promise.  We have received support from several local churches; we continually lift our team and Campus Life ministry up in prayer.  Not only is club attendance consistent, but relationships are being built between our leaders and students—as that is key as we share the love of Christ with these young people.  The Word of God is being shared and declared to a student body that desperately needs it. 

One example of that desperation is the conversation I had with several eighth graders on my first visit to Baker.  They expressed fears of going to high school, struggling with gangs, and being pressured by peers to do drugs or quit school – even at their young ages.  Since October we have been talking about God’s answer to those fears, eternal life, amazing grace and love, and peace that surpasses understanding.  Words cannot begin to describe the great contrast offered by the Gospel.

Baker Campus Life, just like our fellow CL clubs across Pierce County, is also an exciting and fun place to be.  There are always a ton of laughs, even if sometimes it is at a leader’s expense. It is all in good fun.  Just last week we had a great time competing against one another in the “Oscar the Grouch”.  Who knew trying to pull a friend into a large empty trash could be so fun?  We even played that great ole’ favorite, “Red Light, Green Light”.  Every week is something new, and every week God is moving through Baker Campus Life. 

I am excited for the semester ahead as Campus Life continues to become a fixture at Baker and the Holy Spirit continues to work through our team to reach this generation of young people.  I am confident in God’s ability to change and transform lives.  He definitely did it for me, and I believe He can and will do it at Baker Middle School.   Awesome times are ahead for Baker and the South Tacoma/South End community!

While most of us are with our families, enjoying party after party, gift exchanges, exorbitant amounts of food and singing songs like “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”, Christmas in foster care can be starkly different.  While our foster parents do an excellent job of making their foster children a part of their family, and loving them like their own, for our birth parents, it can be a very painful time.  For some, it is the first Christmas without their children. To some, it’s just another day. No presents are exchanged, and no special meal is cooked.                                                                                                                                       Over the past couple years, we’ve started giving some sort of Christmas gift to our birth parents, who are actively involved in their children’s lives through visitation at our agency. We decided to do something a little bit different this year for our parents. I’ve recently taken an interest in photography and purchased had just purchased my first DSLR camera this year, so we decided back in November to start taking really nice pictures of these precious kids and doing 8 x 10 prints for these parents. With the help of our awesome church partner, Chapel Hill and some community members in  Gig Harbor, who had contacted us asking how they could help, we were provided with 35 nice frames for these prints. I wish I could share with you these pictures, however,  we have to keep from posting any pictures of specific foster kids on the web.  Just know that they turned out so incredibly well. Giving these gifts to our parents went over beautifully. Many parents shed tears of gratefulness as they unwrapped these pictures, and told us where they would hang them in their home, or who they couldn’t wait to show. I, myself, was convicted heavily as to what I take for granted during this time of year. Even something like photographs, which are an abundant commodity to most Americans in our age of digital photography, email and facebook, can be the most treasured  and appreciated gift, in their simplest form.  - Sarah