BGU Journal - 1/15/09

This morning I led a devotional time for the whole group with two new African American friends, Richard and Ronnie.  We sang the old hymn Blessed Assurance, and it led to a good time of reflection.  After the devotion, Randy White divided us into three groups for a "visual" debriefing of what we learned on the previous day.  I was in the "artistic" group, and we drew a bunch of symbols (no words were allowed in our group) that represented the collision of cities with the kingdom of God.  

After this brief exercise we all piled into a bus to head to our first destination called New Horizons.  This is a faith-based youth facility that provides services to over 1500 street children each year.  Our tour guide was Ron Ruthruff, who Ray Bakke introduced as "the most gifted youth leader in the country."  We toured the facility, examining everything from the intake process, to the meeting of basic needs (food, laundry, bathrooms and showers), and most importantly, fellowship (as in every ministry model... relationships are key).  This holistic ministry model to street kids involves outreach (workers spend much of their time out in the streets with kids), relationships, a place to belong, food (meals lead to fellowship), life discovery, and a mentoring program that they call Adoptive Life Skills Mentorships.  This was a career-based mentoring program where the adolescent kids met with a mentor for eight to ten hours per week for a minimum of one year.  So, depending on the interests of the kids, they could "work" with or shadow a maintenance person, food worker, small business owner, social worker, or many other career options to choose from based on the current volunteer base.  Over six thousand children run away from home in King County (Seattle) each year, in a country where over two million children run away each year.  Areas like Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco have a large amount of street children because of the climate and culture.  Out of those 6,000 runaways, about 3,000 return to their family within a week.  But, between 800 and 1,000 children slip through the cracks of society and end up on the streets of Seattle.  These are the kids this ministry seeks to serve.  Ron said that 80% of the street kids have suffered from some type of physical or sexual abuse from their families.  In order to connect more effectively with these kids, New Horizons diversified their staff that now includes about 50% black or hispanic population.  Although alcohol and drugs are prominent in street children, the biggest problem for street kids is prostitution.  Over 50% of the children are involved in prostitution.  It's the number one way they can survive on the streets (often they are unable to sell drugs because there is so much competition).  New Horizons also utilizes an effective volunteer management system, and they have very high standards for volunteer outreach workers.  This kind of volunteer work is very demanding, so it is not for everyone.  One of the problems they experienced in their mentoring program was... how do you create mentoring relationships when the kids know more than their mentors (especially in terms of technology)?

We left New Horizons and went to the Church on the Hill, pastored by a young man named Jason Hubbard.  He planted this church that now meets in an old building that is used as an underground theater.  They moved to this site about 1 and 1/2 years ago after the bar where they were meeting for five years shut down.  This experience was all about learning how to "do church" to people on the margins.  All of the people who go to this church are people who would not normally have attended a traditional church or megachurch.  They are a very diverse group of people, although I would probably describe Jason as a conservative type who is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute.  For over an hour we examined the passage of the first chapter of Daniel, which describes how Daniel was an adolescent growing up in Babylonian captivity.  We examined this chapter of the Bible with context, a summary, theological application, and anthropology.  He said that many churches today rush to the anthropology of scripture, but there is much to be learned and applied by examining scripture through the other areas.  The simple purpose of Church on the Hill is to connect life with Jesus.  They are not concerned about growing in numbers.  They are just concerned with building relationships with the people that God is bringing into their lives.  Jason also partners with the other pastors in this area to build relationships.

After lunch at a pizza joint we rode the bus back to BGU for an exercise that lasted all afternoon.  Each of us had about 5 to 10 minutes to share our testimonies, and it was an amazing experience hearing the life stories of people from all over the world.  I shared about the move Julie and I made to California, then to Ohio, and on to Pittsburgh.  There were many amazing positive and painful situations along that journey!

I was really impacted by the presentation at New Horizons.  I've been really thinking about studying urban youth as my specialization at BGU because of my work with LAMP, but this was almost a confirmation of that.  I love thinking about "outside the box" ways to reach young people.  I was interested in how they had thought out specific details of their ministry over time, including such things as the intake process (kids shouldn't have to wait in line forever in public for services because it's humiliating).  In Ron I saw a picture of a person who is living out God's calling on their life.  I hope that I can develop such an understanding of the needs of troubled youth in America as him.  I love to meet people who are living out their calling in ministry (whether professionally or on a volunteer basis).  I also picked up a great deal of insight into New Horizon's mentoring program.  They also have high standards for their mentors, which is one of the things that I feel is a strength for LAMP.  Over the years Ron had progressed to the point that he didn't let anyone work directly with the kids unless they signed on the bottom line to make a commitment for at least once a week over the course of at least one year.  This is very similar to LAMP!  Relationships do matter to children, and we as leaders don't need to introduce any additional harmful or short term adult relationships into their already tumultuous lives.

The Church on the Hill was a new experience for me.  I've heard of these "types" of churches in Pittsburgh, but until now I haven't taken the time to visit any of these places to try to learn how God is moving in these congregations.  I was fortunate to see a great picture of a church that is reaching people on the margins, the type of people that most people in the body of Christ today try to avoid.  It's much easier to send a missions group to a jungle in a foreign country than it is to send people into a troubled neighborhood in proximity to their own city!

I think that I learned a lot about urban youth ministry today.  Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by LAMP in Pittsburgh because of the nature of the children that we serve.  After experiencing this organization in Seattle, I don't feel so overwhelmed to continue the good work that God is doing in the city of Pittsburgh.  I only hope that I will be able to demonstrate the kind of leadership that is necessary to sustain a mentoring partnership like this over time (like that part of the New Horizons mission).  I did sense the affirmation for continuing to hold to high standards for the mentors who want to get involved in LAMP.  It's much better to have them commit for a year than it is to push an uncommitted volunteer through the system just because we need more mentors.

I also understood the role of a leader today.  I need to be vigilant in equipping and connecting with the volunteers who participate in LAMP (and other urban ministries that North Way is partnered with).  These relationships are key to the overall survival of LAMP's mission, and when you break it all down, it boils down to the importance of healthy adult relationships for the kids being served.