Hey Friends!!!

So you all know that I am taking a class from Fuller that is related to urban youth ministry. I have a project due where I am supposed to present Ministry Implications to 3-10 people involved in this ministry. I am just going to post my assignment below. Let me know what your thoughts are.

Just a little backdrop. I read a book about violence among teenagers. I also researched J-town's crime statistics. Here are the implications I think we need with this ministry. I would love to hear your thoughts! (Trust me. . .these are brainstorming ideas)!

• Affirm kids. This sounds so simple, and it truly is. The children that we meet do not have good self-esteem. For the most part, they think they are poor, stupid, ugly, and the list goes on and on. They have no goals. They have no excitement to live. They have no hope. We want our teens and children that we meet in our ministry to be affirmed. We want to encourage them. We want them to feel they are part of something greater. We want them to know they matter. By affirming our kids, we begin to challenge the notion that they aren’t good enough. We give them a place by affirming them.
• Place of Refuge. Our apartment that we rent needs to be a place of refuge for these children and teenagers. There are so many places that are dangerous, and our apartment does not need to be one of those. We need to do everything we possibly can to make it a safe place. If they are scared, they need to know they can find our place to be safe.
• Buddy up a Mentor. So many of the kids we meet come from single-parent families who often are working two jobs to make ends meet. When we encounter most of our kids, they are roaming the street by themselves. No adult is ever around. In order for the violence to cut down as well as immense growth, it is crucial we buddy up a kid with a respectful adult who shares the vision of our ministry. This will take time. But, it is a high value for our ministry.
• Teach Kids Coping Skills. It is so important that we not only meet physical and spiritual needs, but social needs as well. We need to teach kids about anger and about patience. We need to teach them some self-defense moves. They need to know how to cope in difficult situations. If we teach them these values, it should decrease the violence levels.
• Big Group of Volunteers. Obviously, there needs to be many volunteers who share in this ministry and our vision. There will be so many kids who are so unique that the more volunteers we have, the more likely that one of the adults will be compatible with one of the kids. It takes a team for our ministry.
• Career Day. We want our kids to dream big. We want them to be able to explore different career opportunities. An idea: What if we had a Career Day once a week where someone from a specific occupation came in and hung out with our kids? We could have doctors, lawyers, garbage men, postmen, pastors, secretaries, scientists, teachers, etc.
• Gang Awareness. Because there are small gangs being formed directly around our apartment, it is necessary that all of our volunteers go through a training session that relates to gangs and violence. They need to be able to spot a gang member, etc. We could even have the police help us with the training sessions.
• Police Are a Good Thing. Our kids do not have good feelings towards police officers. We need to be trying to cultivate a different way of thinking. We could invite police officers to come shoot hoops with our students, come read books, etc. Most likely, they need to be involved in our ministry without the uniform. However, over time and once relationships are formed, then it would be appropriate to stop by in the police car or wear the uniform.
• NO VIDEO GAMES OR MOVIES. When students are with us in the apartment, it needs to be a goal to not play video games or watch movies. Obviously, the media is saturated with violence. We need to be that safe haven of violence-free activities.
• Pairs Policy. It needs to be heavily enforced that no adult leader is by themselves with students. There must always be at least two adults. No female should be by herself either. It is important that we are smart and aware at all times.
• Written Policy. As soon as our students walk in our door, we must have a registration form on them. This includes allergies, parent contact information, emergency numbers. They will also have a spot for them to sign (or their parents) that stresses our NO TOLERANCE policy on violence. We must also have consequences if they break the NO TOLERANCE rules.
• Get the City Involved. It would be great if our newspaper did a story on our ministry and got the community involved. Likewise, what if they did a weekly story on one of our students? This would once again instill in those kids that they are valuable and they matter.
• Carpool. Since reading our specific city’s crime statistics, it is obvious that theft and car burglary are some of the most popular crimes. All of our volunteers will meet at our church building, then carpool over to our apartment. This limits the amount of cars we have over at the apartment.
• School Visits. It’s important that we don’t do ministry just when it is convenient for us. There must be some of us who visit our students in their context: at their homes, in their schools, at their football games, etc. We also need to be a resource to the schools principles and officers. Likewise, they can be a resource for us.
• Behavior Logs. Since there are so many kids in our ministry, as well as adult volunteers, it is important that we keep a written log of any misbehaviors. For example, if a kid hits another girl, it needs to be written down by the adult on a behavior log. This covers us in case there was ever to be any legal problems.

Once again, these are just ideas. Holla!

Abbey