Recreation is a HUGE need that the young people of East St. Louis have. Giving recreation to an urban teen is just as important as giving food to a homeless person. Recreation is something they need in order to flourish.
Jesus said, in Matthew 25:35-36 "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." Recently God put this phrase in my heart,"I was bored and you played with me." The young people of this community are desperate for positive attention from adults. Many of their problems stem from a lack of positive attention and affection from the adults in their lives. These young people are fatherless and orphans. My dream is that we are able to provide them with quality time that they aren't receiving from the adults in their lives. We are doing this through recreation.
Recreation is a doorway into their hearts. Providing recreation for them will naturally lead to a relationship with them. By moving the focus of the program to recreation, we have seen the kids laugh, smile and begin to open up to us. When they walk in the door, they have their fronts up and the tough exterior they wear as their protection every day. But 30 minutes into the evening, we see these walls come down. They laugh with us, smile and play like kids.
A quote that keeps me stirred up about what we are doing is this, "Today we see a numbness in youth because of pain. This causes a 'whatever' and 'I don't care' attitude. It's more of a 'pain based' behavior instead of an 'anti-social' behavior. They are numb because of pain. But, we come and ENLIVEN their lives as salt and light in the image of JESUS." -Dean Borgman
When God first prompted me to move the focus of Teen Ministry to recreation, I was in shock because we had been spending at least an hour in worship and Bible study. All the religious parts of me didn't know how to respond to this. I thought, "WHAT!?! You want us to just spend time with them and not have a Bible study? How are they going to know JESUS?" God began to show me that they need to SEE JESUS. Jesus is inside of us. When we spend time with these kids, giving them love, attention and affection, they are not only spending time with us, but they are spending time with JESUS as well.
This is how we will see it naturally flow;
Recreation will bring relationship...
Relationship will bring restoration...
Restoration will bring them closer to us and then closer to JESUS.
Being able to bring restoration to their lives will naturally flow from relationship with them. As we build a relationship with them, when they have problems, they will be more open to come to us. At this point we will be able to pray for them, lead them to Jesus and share truth from the Word of God.
At times, I ache to just sit them down and share God's Word with them, but I know it's not time yet. I know that over time and through being in relationship with them, a hunger for God will begin to stir in their hearts.
God has put me in relationship with many kids over the past 13 years and I have seen the effect of how a relationship with a caring adult can impact a kid's life FOREVER. The kids we reach really don't know God. They are surrounded by religion in this city, with a church on every corner. But they don't know God. My prayer is that through providing for their DESPERATE need of recreation and relationship, they will begin to see and know God.
"Lasting change and genuine HOPE come from relationships."
~Unknown
