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.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Ft. Worth = Success
We have been back from Ft. Worth for a few days now and I am still catching up on sleep. Good news is Ron and I had Friday and Saturday to recover, just in time for the official summer program to begin Monday. Regardless of the lack of sleep the trip was one to remember, a definite success. So many stories, lots of fun, plenty of work and a great start to the summer as we solidified several relationships with kids and built up some good steam for the next few months.
We left Monday afternoon around noon and arrived several hours later in Ft. Worth, checked into our hotel and then headed to the home church for the week. When we arrived at the church we were greeted by a room full of teenagers from multiple youth groups throughout the Ft. Worth/Dallas area. After a short worship time we were divided into groups and given our assignments for the week. The Rock Island youth were broken into two different groups and teamed up with other youth groups that were also apart of the work project. Afterwords we enjoyed a great time and meal at Chilis. We then headed back to the hotel, got room assignments and then had some down time to discuss the plan for the week and talk about the theme for the work week, "Called".
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings and afternoons were all very similar. 7:00am wakeup, breakfast, paint and scrap, 12:00 lunch, paint and scrap some more and then clean up around 3:00 each day. For the most part the Rock Island youth did a pretty good job of staying on task. Of course we had the occasional paint fight and lack of interest but it all worked out and the kids got some great work done. After everyone had cleaned up we would make dinner plans. Tuesday night we ordered some pizza to be delivered to the hotel. Wednesday night we joined a youth group at their church and experienced their youth hangout (and ate pizza again). Thursday night was the big finale. We took the kids bowling and had a roommate bowling challenge. Each room would be a team and compete against the other rooms to determine who would choose where we were to eat that night. Well, my team got last, the girls got second and Ron's team won. They choose Razoos. Not bad.
Thursday night (more like Friday morning) was also the night of the epic "Ft. Worth Prank" that will go down in history as the most ridiculously planned, chaotic, yet very successful prank.
We then headed out early Friday morning and got back to OKC around 1:00pm. We had some great conversations with kids. Got to know alot more about some kids that we didn't know much about. The kids experienced being apart of a more traditional youth group. The kids shared the love of Christ. What more can you ask for?
We left Monday afternoon around noon and arrived several hours later in Ft. Worth, checked into our hotel and then headed to the home church for the week. When we arrived at the church we were greeted by a room full of teenagers from multiple youth groups throughout the Ft. Worth/Dallas area. After a short worship time we were divided into groups and given our assignments for the week. The Rock Island youth were broken into two different groups and teamed up with other youth groups that were also apart of the work project. Afterwords we enjoyed a great time and meal at Chilis. We then headed back to the hotel, got room assignments and then had some down time to discuss the plan for the week and talk about the theme for the work week, "Called".
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings and afternoons were all very similar. 7:00am wakeup, breakfast, paint and scrap, 12:00 lunch, paint and scrap some more and then clean up around 3:00 each day. For the most part the Rock Island youth did a pretty good job of staying on task. Of course we had the occasional paint fight and lack of interest but it all worked out and the kids got some great work done. After everyone had cleaned up we would make dinner plans. Tuesday night we ordered some pizza to be delivered to the hotel. Wednesday night we joined a youth group at their church and experienced their youth hangout (and ate pizza again). Thursday night was the big finale. We took the kids bowling and had a roommate bowling challenge. Each room would be a team and compete against the other rooms to determine who would choose where we were to eat that night. Well, my team got last, the girls got second and Ron's team won. They choose Razoos. Not bad.
Thursday night (more like Friday morning) was also the night of the epic "Ft. Worth Prank" that will go down in history as the most ridiculously planned, chaotic, yet very successful prank.
We then headed out early Friday morning and got back to OKC around 1:00pm. We had some great conversations with kids. Got to know alot more about some kids that we didn't know much about. The kids experienced being apart of a more traditional youth group. The kids shared the love of Christ. What more can you ask for?
Monday, June 1, 2009
Ft. Worth Work Camp
We're going to Ft. Worth. Ten of our middle-school and high school students will be leaving for Ft. Worth this Monday, June 8th. There are a total of 8 boys, 2 girls, 2 male sponsors (Ron and myself) and 2 of our best female volunteer sponsors (Jenny and Mary).
While in Ft. Worth we will be combining our efforts with other youth ministries from the Metroplex in housing projects. We will be scrapping old paint, applying new paint and doing everything else in between. We are to meet early each morning with the other groups for breakfast and assignments and will work into the early evening each day. From there Ron and I envision campfire Bible studies and the singing of Kum Ba Ya... or something like that. Actually, we will have lots of swimming, PLENTY of showering, probably our fair share of farting (at least in the boys rooms) and time in each of the rooms for the studying of the Word.
Following the completion of our work on Thursday afternoon we will head back to the hotel to clean up and then we're off to a Rangers baseball game.
Wish us luck and please pray for our safety.
While in Ft. Worth we will be combining our efforts with other youth ministries from the Metroplex in housing projects. We will be scrapping old paint, applying new paint and doing everything else in between. We are to meet early each morning with the other groups for breakfast and assignments and will work into the early evening each day. From there Ron and I envision campfire Bible studies and the singing of Kum Ba Ya... or something like that. Actually, we will have lots of swimming, PLENTY of showering, probably our fair share of farting (at least in the boys rooms) and time in each of the rooms for the studying of the Word.
Following the completion of our work on Thursday afternoon we will head back to the hotel to clean up and then we're off to a Rangers baseball game.
Wish us luck and please pray for our safety.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Summer on the horizon
It's hard to believe that school is coming to an end and summer is quickly approaching. Summer means new schedule and if this summer is anything like past summers, new faces at Rock Island. Ron and I recently completed the Rock Island daily schedule but still have a few holes to fill. Here's what it looks like so far...
Monday
1:30 High School Lunch
2:00 High School Movie Day
4:00 High School Workout
Tuesday
11:30-12:30 Elementary Craft Time
1:30 High School Lunch And Hangout
4:00 High School Workout
Wednesday
1:30 High School Lunch
3:00 High School Bible Study
4:00 High School Workout
Thursday
10:00 Elementary Hang Out
12:00 Lunch
1:30 High School Projects
We still are in the works of a possible athletic team, possibly basketball or soccer, and will also have the spontaneous weekend events that we will do our best to keep you updated about.
As far as camps go, we have opted out of the more traditional Oklahoma City camp appearance for our middle school and high school youth and have decided to take our efforts to another city, Dallas (Cleburne actually). The specifics are still being hammered out but it will have more of a work-project/fun trip look rather than a sleepless week, camp feel. Also, our elementary young'ins will continue their summer camp experience at camp Shiloh, located right here in Okc. We have signed up many of our kids already and have decided upon the camp dates of July 6th-10th. It is a day camp, 9-5:30, and offers the kids lots of outdoor games, crafts, animal experiences and....ok, just check out the link it does a better job of describing the camp ( http://www.shilohcamp.org/index2.htm ).
Along with summer comes more time with kids, along with more time with kids comes more activities, functions, organized and structured outings to keep them connected, involved and plugged in. Due to the increase in activity we also see an increase in the amount of funds we must have in order to keep up with all the summer's happenings. Our two biggest fund-eaters this summer will most definitely be sending the elementary kids to camp ($20 per camper X 15 campers = $300 ) and our jr. high/high school Texas trip (amount yet to be determined).
If you are interested in helping send even one student to camp this summer or are interested in helping fund the jr. high/school road trip, please email me and/or Ron or leave your contact info on my blog. Also, with all the extra activity going on we are always in need and desire volunteers to come check things out and get involved. If you have a special interest in anything in particular on the schedule feel free to contact one of us about that too.
lwhitmire@hotmail.com - Luke
ronwylercrawford@gmail.com - Ron
Monday
1:30 High School Lunch
2:00 High School Movie Day
4:00 High School Workout
Tuesday
11:30-12:30 Elementary Craft Time
1:30 High School Lunch And Hangout
4:00 High School Workout
Wednesday
1:30 High School Lunch
3:00 High School Bible Study
4:00 High School Workout
Thursday
10:00 Elementary Hang Out
12:00 Lunch
1:30 High School Projects
We still are in the works of a possible athletic team, possibly basketball or soccer, and will also have the spontaneous weekend events that we will do our best to keep you updated about.
As far as camps go, we have opted out of the more traditional Oklahoma City camp appearance for our middle school and high school youth and have decided to take our efforts to another city, Dallas (Cleburne actually). The specifics are still being hammered out but it will have more of a work-project/fun trip look rather than a sleepless week, camp feel. Also, our elementary young'ins will continue their summer camp experience at camp Shiloh, located right here in Okc. We have signed up many of our kids already and have decided upon the camp dates of July 6th-10th. It is a day camp, 9-5:30, and offers the kids lots of outdoor games, crafts, animal experiences and....ok, just check out the link it does a better job of describing the camp ( http://www.shilohcamp.org/index2.htm ).
Along with summer comes more time with kids, along with more time with kids comes more activities, functions, organized and structured outings to keep them connected, involved and plugged in. Due to the increase in activity we also see an increase in the amount of funds we must have in order to keep up with all the summer's happenings. Our two biggest fund-eaters this summer will most definitely be sending the elementary kids to camp ($20 per camper X 15 campers = $300 ) and our jr. high/high school Texas trip (amount yet to be determined).
If you are interested in helping send even one student to camp this summer or are interested in helping fund the jr. high/school road trip, please email me and/or Ron or leave your contact info on my blog. Also, with all the extra activity going on we are always in need and desire volunteers to come check things out and get involved. If you have a special interest in anything in particular on the schedule feel free to contact one of us about that too.
lwhitmire@hotmail.com - Luke
ronwylercrawford@gmail.com - Ron
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Wednesday Bible Study
Wednesday Bible studies are still going strong. This past Wednesday we finished reading Luke 8. We reviewed each of the small stories as we read and let the youth determine which stories we would spend the most time discussing. The majority of our time was spent talking about the healing of the demon possessed man, Legion, and the sick women who had been bleeding for years.
Some of the questions we discussed were questions such as: Did the demons know Jesus? What happened to the demons when they fell of the cliff with the pigs? Do demons die? Where did demons come from? We also discussed what kind of lifestyle Legion might live. Where he lived. Who, if anyone, associated with him.
The bulk of our discussion was based around the women who had been bleeding for years and only desired to touch Jesus. Jesus told the women, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. God in peace." We asked the kids how they felt about this and why Jesus would allow this women to be instantly healed and at the same time was having a small girl wait to be healed until he could be present at her house. We discussed how Jesus, like in the stories, decided to instantaneously heal one person and decided to heal another person only after a short wait. Each person came to Jesus with a need and He answered/fulfilled their needs.
As we wrapped up our study and prepared to pray we challenged the kids to ask God for something they couldn't do on their own, something they needed Him to do, that only He could do. We stressed to the kids how the people in the story had REAL needs, not just wants, and how Jesus was true to answer their needs when He deemed necessary.
As we prayed some kids said a word, some kids said a phrase in order to tell God their need. We challenged the kids to keep lifting up the same need in prayer until God showed his power, whether a day, a week, a year or longer.
"God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful"
Some of the questions we discussed were questions such as: Did the demons know Jesus? What happened to the demons when they fell of the cliff with the pigs? Do demons die? Where did demons come from? We also discussed what kind of lifestyle Legion might live. Where he lived. Who, if anyone, associated with him.
The bulk of our discussion was based around the women who had been bleeding for years and only desired to touch Jesus. Jesus told the women, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. God in peace." We asked the kids how they felt about this and why Jesus would allow this women to be instantly healed and at the same time was having a small girl wait to be healed until he could be present at her house. We discussed how Jesus, like in the stories, decided to instantaneously heal one person and decided to heal another person only after a short wait. Each person came to Jesus with a need and He answered/fulfilled their needs.
As we wrapped up our study and prepared to pray we challenged the kids to ask God for something they couldn't do on their own, something they needed Him to do, that only He could do. We stressed to the kids how the people in the story had REAL needs, not just wants, and how Jesus was true to answer their needs when He deemed necessary.
As we prayed some kids said a word, some kids said a phrase in order to tell God their need. We challenged the kids to keep lifting up the same need in prayer until God showed his power, whether a day, a week, a year or longer.
"God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful"
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Bad call by me
Turns out this was a bad idea by me. Shortly after posting my first blog about Oakland I continued to search for who might be my next "blog post". Not what I initially intended. So, rather then seek out relationships with people to blog about them I think it would be best to discontinue this theme. Plus, if someone is genuinely interested in the details about someone they'll come find out first hand.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Oakland
My first "lifestory" that I am going to blog about is about a man I will refer to as, "Oakland". As you will discover, the name I give him has a little bit to do with his story.
Oakland is a black man in his early fifties. He's rough. He's honest. He's funny. He's intimidating. He's an alcoholic. He played college football at Langston. He was drafted by the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders. Upon being drafted he was visited by Fred Biletnikoff, a former Raiders player, and given a large sum of money (Oakland claims it was $25,000). Once he flew out to California he partied, drank and wasted his money away. He never reported to training camp. Oakland is homeless and he's always late to sign in at Cross and Crown for food.
A couple of years ago I got into it with Oakland at the front door when I told him he was too late to get food for the day. I repetitively attempted to explain to him how it would be unfair for me to allow him to get food at 1:00 in the afternoon when 50 other people had been waiting in line at 9:00 in the morning to sign up for food and another 3-5 people arrived at 9:15 or so only to find out they were too late. So, how did he see it fit for him to get food and not all those other people that had been waiting several hours before him in the cold? It didn't matter. He was determined to get food that day (shoot, if i was in his position I probably wouldn't take no for an answer either). After several minutes of failing to get my point across Oakland and I came to an agreement and worked out a plan.
Ever since this instance Oakland and I have been on good terms. Nowadays any day Oakland comes we talk basketball. Oakland is a big Celtics fan (go figure, in all honesty though he was fan well before KG, Ray and Pierce). He is a Kobe hater, so I'm in good company. He always asks me about my basketball playing and how my games have been going. He tells me I look like Jeff Hornacek ( http://www.nba.com/media/history/jazz_hornacek_240.jpg) . I promise him I don't play like him. He calls everyone at the mission his kinfolk and says we're the only family he's got.
That's Oaklands' story.
Oakland is a black man in his early fifties. He's rough. He's honest. He's funny. He's intimidating. He's an alcoholic. He played college football at Langston. He was drafted by the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders. Upon being drafted he was visited by Fred Biletnikoff, a former Raiders player, and given a large sum of money (Oakland claims it was $25,000). Once he flew out to California he partied, drank and wasted his money away. He never reported to training camp. Oakland is homeless and he's always late to sign in at Cross and Crown for food.
A couple of years ago I got into it with Oakland at the front door when I told him he was too late to get food for the day. I repetitively attempted to explain to him how it would be unfair for me to allow him to get food at 1:00 in the afternoon when 50 other people had been waiting in line at 9:00 in the morning to sign up for food and another 3-5 people arrived at 9:15 or so only to find out they were too late. So, how did he see it fit for him to get food and not all those other people that had been waiting several hours before him in the cold? It didn't matter. He was determined to get food that day (shoot, if i was in his position I probably wouldn't take no for an answer either). After several minutes of failing to get my point across Oakland and I came to an agreement and worked out a plan.
Ever since this instance Oakland and I have been on good terms. Nowadays any day Oakland comes we talk basketball. Oakland is a big Celtics fan (go figure, in all honesty though he was fan well before KG, Ray and Pierce). He is a Kobe hater, so I'm in good company. He always asks me about my basketball playing and how my games have been going. He tells me I look like Jeff Hornacek ( http://www.nba.com/media/history/jazz_hornacek_240.jpg) . I promise him I don't play like him. He calls everyone at the mission his kinfolk and says we're the only family he's got.
That's Oaklands' story.
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