School Store Complete

It's the first of August which means for those of us at Cross and Crown the annual school store was back in session. Every August, generally about 2 weeks before school starts, Cross and Crown distributes backpacks, pencils, rulers, paper, highlighters and everything else a student might need for the school year. We, as well as the families that came to receive backpacks, were pleasantly surprised to be blessed with some unexpected items to go along with the backpacks this year. A couple days before families came to get their backpacks, we were also given of hundreds of canned drinks, potato chips, cleaning wipes, stuffed animals and crocs.

School store is one of the most enjoyable weeks of the year at Cross and Crown. We, along with many volunteers, take a break from the more traditional setup that happens throughout most weeks and focus solely on the school store.

Check out some of the action...

J-O-B-S

As of late there has been a growing desire for jobs amongst the youth of Rock Island. I know, huge surprise. During one of the toughest times in history for grown adults with developed educations to get jobs, now the 16 and 17 year old kids want them! With that being said, I understand that most managers/business owners might not be super amped to hire a high school student to work for them. I also know there are alot of jobs that many grown adults and educated people consider themselves "over-certified" to work or not suitable for their needs.

So, my proposal, my need, my question to you is...do you own a business, a company or some type of establishment that is in need of workers? The summer is over halfway gone and school will start back up in less then a month. Do you have a need for workers after 3, 4 or 5 o'clock once school is over?

Maybe you do. Maybe you don't. Or maybe you kinda do or could have a position but you're not interested in hiring a kid from the neighborhood we're in because he or she is too big of a risk... There are alot of people I know, and even more I am sure that I don't know, that say they wish we were open different hours or different days because with the hours we have now they can never come because it's during the work week. They want to come help at the mission and be apart of the ministry that is already planned and going, which is great. But...

What if... what if you could use your current business or workplace as your own ministry.......You could hire on younger people and/or adults, even risky ones, just for the sake of ministry! You could secretly try to mentor or teach kids work skills that they could use in their current job and maybe even in the future. No, maybe not. You might have to spend extra time with them or give them a bigger learning curve or walk them through things more than you would like. Plus, you don't want to mix work and ministry, that's just asking for a loss in sales or more of a hassle for you because it takes up your time. And, time is money, so, hiring a "risky" kid or some guy off the streets that seems shady is basically a loss of money...and it's just ministry and you can do ministry at church or maybe even a Saturday.

Ok, really bad idea by me. But, maybe if you think it is a bad idea too and want to consider it because you like bad ideas like me, let me know... lwhitmire@hotmail.com

Not your typical youth group

I'm not really sure you can classify Rock Island as a youth group. Do a cluster of young people meet in a group at Rock island? Yes. Are we a traditional youth group? No.

Typically, for sake of time and explanation, anytime someone asks Ron or myself what we do or where we work we will explain that we work at Rock Island, a youth center, in downtown Oklahoma City with kids from the neighborhood. Generally we shy away from the term "youth group" because we don't function like most youth groups people are accustomed to. We don't meet on Sundays and Wednesdays. We don't meet at set times (even though we have set times just for some form of organization) each time we get together. We don't meet, eat, sing, listen to a devotional thought, hangout and then go back home. Nothing wrong with that, that's how I grew up doing youth group, but that's not what youth group looks like at Rock Island.

Here's what "youth group" looks like at Rock Island this summer. Meet 4, sometimes 5, times per week. Carry boxes of food for families that come for assistance for a few hours a day. Mow some lawns in the neighborhood. Play some video games. Have a weekly Bible study (currently in Luke 19). Paint some houses. Pickup donations from other churches in the Okc and Edmond areas. Eat lunch together, EVERYDAY! Go swimming. Watch movies at Rock Island. Workout in the gym. Play basketball. Move families and their furniture, appliance, beds and clothing to new homes. Work in the prayer room at Cross and Crown and pray for people (some of the students translate for other volunteers also, big help!). Unload 15,000 lbs of food cans, produce and drinks at Cross and Crown.

My point is Rock Island does "youth group" a little differently then most, differently then what I was brought up doing. We didn't originally plan it this way but that's the nature of where we work and the youth we are in relationship with on a daily basis. Ron and I have learned that in order to actually have an influence in these kids lives, we have to know them, we have to learn about them and we have to be in their business. And, we are. The best way we know how to do that is to spend as much time with them as possible and get into their lives as much as possible. Do Ron and I want to strangle some of the kids sometimes because we are with them constantly on a daily basis? Yessir, but that's part of the plan. Not strangling them but being with them long enough that they can be real with us and not hold back or put up a front.

This summer has definitely been a great time of relationship building and learning for everyone involved at Rock Island. We'll see what the rest of the summer has to offer.