Thursday, December 4, 2008

pleasant Thanksgiving surprise

This past Monday, following Thanksgiving break, I was presented with a pleasing update. It has to do with one of the men that frequently comes to Cross and Crown throughout the week. Let's call him Manny. Manny lives on the streets, openly admits he has schizophrenia, and may come off somewhat rough or "scary". Overtime we have developed a very unexpected relationship with Manny. Initially Manny was very pushy, rude, cursed at us on a regular basis, and threatened both staff members and individuals coming to receive assistance at Cross and Crown. I may be wrong, but I believe Manny has been the only person we have ever had to call the police on because he wouldn't leave the premises and was harassing people exiting the building.

Without going into every facet to explain the exponential growth we have made with Manny, believe me when I say, we've come a long way in our relationship with Manny. Daily visits and often bi-daily conversations with Manny have allowed us to learn much more about Manny than we ever could have imagined. Here's a few quick facts about Manny: All-State Football 1975, MVP at Taft Stadium OKC Preview 1975, played college football at Arkansas Pine Bluff, his father was in the Air Force, and he writes down his conversational thoughts on note cards and hands them to you when he wants to speak with you. The reason I give these facts is because these are the one's, I believe, he considers most significant based on the fact that once or twice a month he writes them down and hands them to me. He has requested that we laminate them for him.

So here's the news. Never once in the years we have known Manny has he every said anything about his family other than his dad was in the Air Force and anytime I would ask about brothers or sisters, he wouldn't say much. Monday, while Ron and I were turning on the heaters in front of Cross and Crown, Manny approached me and requested to sign the food/clothing list for the day, like he usually does every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I handed him the list and began some small talk. He had something else in mind.

"I sure did have a great Thanksgiving Holiday" - Manny
"Oh yeah? Where did you go eat on Thanksgiving? Did you head up to City Rescue or 10th and Penn?" -Myself
"Nah, I went to Golden Corral." - Manny
"...Reeeally? You decided to splurge, huh. How was it?" - Myself
"Nah, my brother and sister came and picked me up and took me Wednesday to Golden Corral. Then on Thursday we ate up at my other sister's house in Jones." - Manny

Come to find out, Manny has seven sisters! He also has one brother. He told me a while back he had a sister because he asked me to call her once, but seven? I told Manny I was unaware that he kept in contact with his brother and sisters and he informed me that he didn't. They tracked him down from another agency and then just went looking for him in an area that he is generally hanging out near. I thought that was pretty cool. After eating at Golden Corral on Wednesday and his sisters house on Thursday they also took him to do a little shopping. He was happy to inform me of some new additions to his wardrobe, as well as, some new index cards. Overall Manny was pretty happy with how his Holiday went, and I was happy to hear that he enjoyed some time with his siblings and pleasantly surprised that they would put in the time and effort to track him down. I'm glad they did.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

not your typical Bible study

Over the last four weeks at Rock Island we have been doing a "Bible study" every Wednesday. Originally Ron and I had planned to do them on Sunday nights following the meal and worship at Cross and Crown. But, because there is so much activity and so many people we decided to move them to Wednesday afternoons and see what kind of turnout we could get. Also, another reason we changed the day of the Bible study was because one particular young person involved at Rock Island requested that because of her work schedule and class schedule we do the studies on Wednesdays so that she could attend. It's tough to argue against that.

Wednesday has become my favorite day during the week because of the Bible study. Over the years, after lots of trial and error, we have come up with a relatively successful "Bible study" format that fits our attendees at Rock Island. If you have been to Rock Island and have spent a substantial amount of time with the kids that come you would agree that, for the most part, there is not much Biblical knowledge or alot of spiritual foundation. Again, for the most part. Because of this our Bible studies may seem a little atypical.

Because most of our junior high students don't get out of school until 3:50 a large majority of the kids at Bible study are of high school age. During our studies we try not to overwhelm the kids with an enormous amount of scripture or pound them with the Bible by giving them "do's" and "dont's". A large amount of these kids aren't even completely sold on the whole God and Jesus thing, so why would they care what the Bible has to say anyway? I can understand that. But, on the flip side of that Ron and I do believe what it says in Hebrews 4:12 (For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart) and that the power is in the Word itself and that just by reading scripture in the presence of them their minds and hearts can be transformed. So, that's what we do. We pick two or three scriptures, read them, break them down a little bit and then just see what they think about it. Sure, there are always times of silence or little feedback, but just when we begin to think that nothing is clicking one of the guys or girls will say something that triggers a conversation, which triggers a another comment, which then makes another kid think about a question about who Jesus is or how Jesus can He can be born of a virgin, which makes this kids ask this or that. Next thing you know, we have a room full of inner-city "tough guys" (and girls) talking about Jesus, God and everything else in between.

It may or may not sound like much, but that's pretty revolutionary for these kids and these streets. When everything around them at school, home and in this neighborhood is telling them to turn to drugs, gangs, girls, boyfriends, sex, money and everything else, they are in a group trying to piece together how Jesus can be both God and Jesus, figuring out and reading in scripture how all people came from Adam and Eve, researching on Google what Cain's wife name was and where she came from and so on.

Wednesday Bible studies have motivated me and pushed me to read more too. It gives me extra motivation to know that I'm not just reading for my own growth anymore, to some extent I read so that I can expand and encourage these kids on their spiritual journey.

I am excited and anxious to see what develops over the next several Wednesdays.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

who needs quarters?

A couple weeks ago we we, Mackenzie (my wife), Ron and I, ventured out on another point trip exploration. After last months experience of pushing a broke down car a few hundred feet into the Quail Springs Mall parking lot we decided if we were to have another car failure we would do it a little closer to home, Bricktown. This particular trip we decided to take the group to Earls BBQ and then head to Harkins Theatre for a movie.

We left Rock Island around 4:30 and headed to Earls. By the time we finished eating it was only 6:00 and our movie didn't start til 6:45. After a five minute walk from Earls to the theatre the youth quickly searched out the video game arcade. Generally while in the video game arcade you...play video games. I can recollect countless times when my family would go to movies together and have to waste 15-20 minutes in the lobby or arcade. My brother and I would relentlessly question our parents for quarters, quarters and more quarters and, generally, we always got enough quarters to keep us occupied until it was about time to head to our theatre. So, because of my history with the arcade room, I was expecting the kids to be rocking our world for money to help them pass the next 30-45 minutes. Nothing. Not once did any of the kids ask for money. As far as I could tell, two of the boys played a racing game and one of them spotted the other so they could race. On the other side of the arcade 3 or 4 of them were having a dance off on the DDR (dance dance revolution) dancing pad. The only time any of them really got upset or frustrated was when the preview for the game would go off or change. They even packed themselves into the little cutsie photo booth picture thing. You know, the ones that all the couples take pictures in and it takes like 8 different pictures of them doing different poses? Except, we used camera phones. Again, free.

My point is, these kids may be without alot of things...extra clothes, extra video game money, extra food at their houses, proper parenting (two parents for that matter) or alot of other excessive things that many people/kids consider normal, but at least these kids aren't brats. Big time point, huh? Nothing against kids that get quarters whenever they want from their parents, but because these kids don't get whatever they want, whenever they want it (and sometimes don't get what they need) they don't expect to be constantly entertained or always get what they want. They are a breath of fresh air for me and constantly remind me of how big of a brat I still am in my adult life.

After our video game arcade wait, our movie finally started and it was awesome. For some reason after being in the theatre for five minutes an older couple in front of us relocated towards the front of the theatre once we sat behind them....weird.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Cranium Craziness

Now that summer has come and gone our Sunday night services here at Cross and Crown are back in session. In years past we have had a meal at 6:00 and worship to follow, usually around 6:30-6:45. Having a "church" service was never anything that Paul, the director of Cross and Crown, or anyone else that works here intended to have but rather it evolved because the people of the neighborhood, the people that come for the food, the clothes, the doctor voiced their desire to have a service Sunday nights. People would ask Paul and others at C&C, "Where do you go to church?", "What church do you go to?". " I want to go to church where you go to church". The people were asking these questions and making these statements not because they wanted to go to a church they might think is better or might have more to offer, but because they wanted to go to a church with someone they are in relationship with. Think about it, why do you think pastors, preachers, youth ministers, ect are always preaching and encouraging their members to invite a friend, invite your neighbor, invite your co-worker? We all know why, it's because all people are the same in that they desire relationship. There is a certain level of comfort when you go to a place, in this case church, and you know someone. The people wanted to go to a church where they were with someone they were comfortable enough with and because C&C is located in a building that used to be a church, why not use the building we are in? (Because relationship was the foundation on which the people were asking and inquiring about church, these questions and suggestions of church in our building didn't start coming until 2-2.5 years into C&C's existence. Over these 2-2.5 years is when the relationships were developed.)

This year on Sunday evenings Rock Island will also be beginning some activities. From 4:15-5:30 our junior high and high school aged kids are encouraged to take advantage of our fitness room located downstairs of C&C. During this time Ron, myself and a few occasional volunteers will take the youth through a series of workouts (let me know if your interested in helping with this). Then, following the meal and worship time, the youth meet at Rock Island for a time that we break into small groups and discuss, read scripture and talk about just about anything, and I mean anything. We have a couple volunteers that have also committed to help during this time and be small group leaders. We are excited about the potential that these groups have and look forward to what may come from them.

This past Sunday was our first trial run with the new Sunday night schedule. During the workout we had 8 or 9 kids and these same kids were the ones that stayed for the meal, worship and Rock Island events afterwards. Just like anytime we introduce something new to the Rock Island schedule it usually takes a few weeks for the kids to catch on and start attending. Generally the schedule travels by word of mouth and so we're anticipating a few more students to attend this Sunday. During our time Sunday at Rock Island we decided to use the time to let some of our volunteers get comfortable with the kids and vice-versa. So, we had 4X4 Halo, 4 computers blasting, some snacks and one very intense game of Cranium. After several clay creations, some blind-folded drawings of rocking chairs, pancakes, half-pipes and Elvis Presley we finished up what was a very competitive Cranium experience. We'll see what this Sunday has in store. Anyone interested in partaking in a workout, meal, worship time or Rock Island small group, feel free to attend this Sunday night.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

elementary dayz

Here's is one of our latest videos from an elementary day the last few days. For anyone interested, this video gives you a look into some of the younger kids perspectives about school, teachers names, grade ect. Also, in this video the kid I am checking in on had some homework to do that one of our high school kids was helping him do. Whenever the two of them got to a particular portion of the homework they ran into a small problem or issue. Once they got to this particular portion and the high school student realized there might be some explaining or help needed he came over to me, told me the situation and asked if I would finish the homework out with the younger kid. Because our high school friend wasn't exactly sure what to say, I decided to try to jump in and help, but, as you can see for yourself, I was also struggling with what I should say or ask.

It is kinda hard to hear alot of what is being said, but we arrive at a part of the homework that says, "When I grow up I want to be a __________ because_____________________________." So, the kids have to say what job or profession they want to have or be in when they grow up and tell why. Anyway, here's how it panned out, which I think was alright, it was just an interesting interaction and somewhat humorous situation because you never know what the kids (this one especially) are going to say. Take a look...

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

been a while...

Needless to say, it has been a while since my last blog, but rather than tell you why just believe me when I tell you that this summer was crazy. Crazy awesome, though. We had alot of laughs and fun, some heartache and tough times, but God was very apparent and present with our youth this summer.

Since school started just a few days ago we began our "after-school hours youth ministry" just this week (yesterday). Generally during a transition period (summer to school, school to summer) alot of the faces that we see will change. Whether it be sports, different friends, homework or family related activities many of the kids will stop coming or be very inconsistent when they do come. But, on the other hand, alot of kids that we didn't see much of during the summer begin to make their way back to Rock Island once school starts. Yesterday was a prime example of that.

This school year Monday is officially our "Study Hall/Tutoring" opportunity for the week (although, in the past there have been a select few of the youth that come for help throughout the week). In the past we have split up the junior-high and high-school kids from the elementary students but because attendance isn't usually as high on homework day we have decided to combined the two. The experiment worked out pretty well yesterday as the younger kids did a pretty good job of not annoying the older kids. We did our best to make anyone from the neighborhood that came go home and get their homework if they didn't have it with them. Because some kids were dropped off and didn't have their homework we tracked down some multiplication workbooks and had them solve a few problems. With all of this being said, my favorite aspect of the day was when "Teddy" arrived. Teddy and his younger brother come any and everyday we are open, whether it's an elementary day or not. They are always dropped off. This day was no different.

As soon as Teddy and his brother came in I quickly noticed neither or them had their backpacks. Their mom had already driven off and so we were left with nothing. After some investigating Teddy informed me he had to read a story and then have a signature to confirm he had read. I began to search throughout Rock Island but was unable to find a single childrens book. After delaying a couple minutes I stumbled upon one of our easy to read new age interpretation Bibles. Perfect, I can have Teddy read some of Revelation. Not really. I gave Teddy story options. I asked him which story did he want to read, a story of a big fish swallowing a man named Jonah, a story of Noah and the ark and a bunch of water(he wasn't impressed) or the story of Daniel and a bunch of lions. Which do you think he chose? Daniel.

The story of Daniel, in Daniel, is relatively short. I mean it's only one chapter and maybe, I'm guessing, thirty or thirty five verses? Either way it wasn't terribly long. I forgot to factor in we were at a 3rd grade reading level and Teddy's primary language is Spanish, not English (which by the way you wouldn't be able to tell). It took about thirty minutes. It was well worth it though. After every five or six verses I would stop Teddy and ask him to tell me what he read. I was astonished at how well he could process the information he was reading. The fact that it took him 5 minutes to read five or six verses and could report back to me what he was reading was impressive enough. The thing that got me though was it seemed like he wasn't just reading and regurgitating the story to me. When he told me the story in his own words he phrased things in a way that made me feel like he was actually "getting it" and he would ask questions about Daniel and his position.

For instance in the story when it talks about how Daniel was thrown into the pit it says King Darius went back to his room didn't eat, sleep or have entertainment, Teddy said things like, "So the king and Daniel were pretty good friends, huh?", and I would ask Teddy why he thought that and he responded. "Well, why wouldn't the King go back and eat and do whatever he wants he is like the richest man alive." Teddy just seemed interested not only read, but to know what the story was trying to communicate. It was exciting, to say the least.

After several more minutes of reading and talking Teddy finished up the story, I signed his paper and he went on his way (for some pizza and halo). Instances like this are times and opportunities I look foward to this school year. I am anxious to see and be apart of God doing great things with and through our kids the next several months.

PS. Ron and I will be posting videos of some after school activities soon, as well as, a schedule, which may or may not change throughout the course of the year. Ron's site is www.ronstale.blogspot.com or you can just click the link to his page.

Enjoy

Saturday, January 12, 2008

blog combo

Ron, Chandy and I have decided to form a blog-treaty and combine each of our blogs. This will allow anyone that follows any of our blogs the opportunity to read on one site, rather than three. You can follow us at Chandy's site...

http://undergroundokc.blogspot.com/

Enjoy.