Street Youth Ministry: Christian Community

Showing posts with label Christian Community. Show all posts

Jan 27, 2017

Being loved by Austin Christian Fellowship

Local ministries supported by Austin Christian Fellowship (ACF) were recently invited to a meeting. There were about 80 people in the room. I have been to local ministry meetings before, but never anything as awesome as this!

First, we worshiped together. Nothing feeds my soul better than a mid-week worship. If you see me and I'm down, invite me to a worship service. Always a pick-me-up!

Next, Sr. Pastor Will (a pastor in the church... not the pastor of the church) gave us an inspirational message that resonated with, "Thank you!" He provided scriptures that reminded us we are called into God's Holy purpose and that ACF is in partnership with us. He reminded us that we must not be in competition but be brothers and sisters alongside one another. And he reminded us that even though we are just being obedient to God's call on our lives to live in daily ministry, God the Father honors us for doing so. It's a crazy thing to think about.

Will did lay down a few challenges to us: Pray more; Build out faster; Give away even some of our money. Will said he's never yet heard from God, "Hey, that's enough praying. Stop that." Good point. He also said that he's discovered that when we focus on building outward, God focuses on building inward on us so we are able to do what we have planned outwards. Quite encouraging! And then Will said we should all consider tithing even with our donated funds. Finding someone to build into ourselves. Wow! We ask our staff to volunteer 1% of their time at another organization just to learn and give. I've been considering how we could donate to some other-country solution for the equivalent of our clients. But I never considered giving 10% away. What would that look like? How would God respond?

Then we had a really special gift. ACF loves local mission and nonprofits so much they have partnered with Mission Capital to create a non-profit training program for faith-based ministries. Once this program is out of pilot, ministries will no longer have to struggle with translating secular terms and best practices into church environments. And just to get things started, ACF has arranged to give each ministry they support $750 scholarship at Mission Capital for training in 2017! These are just super exciting things.

Finally, they put us at tables and asked us to network. SYM sat next to someone who might be able to find me a mentor (I've been looking for a while). SYM met a group who goes into juvenile detention centers and does prevention work. We've been toying with how to do this, but together I'm sure we'll have a better solution. And we were at the table with a brand new free clinic. We no longer have a free clinic option for our clients so this was welcome news!

It was a fantastic way to love me. I so appreciate it. I repeated much of the content to my staff so they would feel loved. And I'm going to share it with church partners because I've never seen quite this approach. I think it was awesome! Way to go, God!

Jul 26, 2016

Tell the world!

http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/write/street-youth-ministry-of-austin

If you love our work then tell the world!

Dear Friend,

If you love our work then tell the world! Stories about us from people like you will help us make an even bigger impact in our community.

GreatNonprofits – the #1 source of nonprofit stories and feedback – is honoring highly regarded nonprofits with its 2016 Top-Rated List. Won’t you help us raise visibility for our work by rating us or posting a brief story of your experience with us? Your input will appear on other nonprofit sites like GuideStar, JustGive and Foundant. We need just 8 more comments between now and Oct. 31 to earn that award.

All content will be visible to potential donors and volunteers. It’s easy and takes only 3 minutes! Go here to get started! http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/write/street-youth-ministry-of-austin. You can log in with Facebook, go as a guest or create an account.

Aug 17, 2013

What a difference!

I was walking on our Friday mini-mission trip with a volunteer talking. I saw someone I thought I recognized about a half-block up. I suggested that the volunteer allow me to approach the person alone because the person I thought I recognized is sometimes very angry.

I couldn't have been more mistaken about who I saw. The musical 6 foot 8 young man grinned ear to ear and shouted, "Well hello, Terry! I was hoping to see you! You probably don't remember me, but I'm Jason." I could hardly believe what I was seeing.

For you see, it was the same man outwardly, but there was nothing the same about him. He was peaceful, happy, and full of joy. He told me where he had been for the past year or so and why he was traveling and street-dependent again. He gratefully took a few things and bragged about how he tells everyone what great work we do, wherever he goes. And then he said goodbye.

I stopped him and asked about his faith, because I had a hunch. Sure enough, he told me he had hit rock bottom about a year ago and have found a new life in Christ! I asked if I could give him a hug and he grinned ear to ear and dropped his pack to the ground. I once again feared for my safety as he bear-hugged me. Thankfully no ribs were cracked. What a wonderful difference faith makes.

We cannot fix anyone, but faith can cure anything through God. We are so happy to see someone find their way home to Christ's loving arms.

Supporting our work.

"To know, love and serve street dependent youth."
Who We Serve What We Do Get Involved Support Us News Publications Ministry Needs Speaking Service Projects Sign-up
Become a fan on Facebook!Mobile? No problem: m.StreetYouthMinistry.org.
I'm a notary for benefit of clients and supporters. Ph: (512) 553-3796
Volunteer or donate (tax deductible) online

Feb 10, 2013

So Proud!

I left the fellowship gathering to make copies of brochures to give out at an upcoming volunteer fair. I didn't expect what I came back to see. It was a fantastic evening.

First, I had four clients to came to Covenant Presbyterian Church Wednesday night fellowship on their own. They have experienced enough value that they get themselves there for dinner and stay for the discussion afterward. And I had brought two more for the first time in my truck. I came back to find them sitting packed in at tables with church members. They were integrated into three separate discussion tables. That was a really nice sight.

But as I listened, it got better. In the din of all the conversations, I could hear my clients talking and sharing. I heard members listening and sharing. It was truly an exchange. The subject matter was about how a church should go about outreach. Should it be focused on converting people or should it be focused on being a blessing.

It truly was just an awesome experience to hear summaries from the tables that included our client's ideas. They are super smart. The best programs we have came from them: Wash Night, for example. And they came up with our behavior rule: "personal daily best behavior" is expected from each client at our indoor events. And we will be launching a bus pass program that they helped design. Clients even voted on our logo back when we started, choosing the cross shape and the street or road striping that forms our logo.

What a night. I'm so proud of our clients and of my home church, Covenant Presbyterian Church. God is so good!

"To know, love and serve street dependent youth."
Who We Serve What We Do Get Involved Support Us News Publications Ministry Needs Speaking Service Projects Sign-up

Become a fan on Facebook!
Mobile? No problem: m.StreetYouthMinistry.org.
I'm a notary for benefit of clients and supporters. Ph: (512) 553-3796
Volunteer or donate (tax deductible) online
Arrange a meeting with me: tungle.me/terrycole

Follow SYM:

Mar 19, 2012

The Meaning of Family

Help us bring street youth into God's family.

I was interviewing a street youth that I had spent some time with. He appeared on the Drag a few weeks ago; I've seen him fairly regularly. Because I wanted to speak with him privately, I asked him to help me carry some things to my truck.

When I asked him if he had family, he said, "No, I have no one." So I asked a few more questions and I discovered that he did have a mother and a father (living in the area). So when I asked again, he said emphatically, "Family is someone who loves you and cares about you. I don't have a family."

Street youth often feel a complete loss of family. All teens go through a process marked by distancing themselves from their family. This stance results in an extreme feeling of detachment. It contributes to their daily sense of disorganization, disorientation and maladjustment to societal norms.

At Street Youth Ministry, we yearn to bring them into God's family and even into church family. Helping street youth find stability, achieve functional sobriety, make their connection with God, and connect with the Christian community.

We can't do it alone. We're praying daily for partnerships with local churches that God is crafting for this work. It's going to be awesome!

Think about your famiy. Would you be interested in helping SYM? Check our the volunteer opportunities for both individuals and church groups.