Dog Days of Summer

I feel a little weird about the title of this post, if not only because I don't think we should be allowed to have them in the first half of the summer. But I'm no meteorologist... If there is anything these ridiculous temperatures have done, other than scorch our lawns, it has driven us to the lake to escape the dense never-seen-A/C air of everywhere I live, work, and drive. I think I've been to the beach more times this summer already than probably the last 3 combined. Living in a small town means that often everyone has the same idea, which for us means huge ministry opportunities. 


Over the past few weeks, we've taken kids hiking on the mountain, to the beach, and met up with them at the skate park, pier, and lots of other places around Collingwood. What an incredible way to reconnect with our youth after 3 weeks away for training and holidays. Being able to meet up with them, planned or informally, during these times allows us to remind them how much we care for them and how much we enjoy being in their presence. We talk a lot about the sense of family and community, and how we seek to build positive memories with our youth, and these connecting points that we all share together. 


We have about 8 youth that we see nearly every day of the week. It's amazing how our relationship with them grows when it moves beyond our drop-in or high school connections to really living our lives together. We spend lots and lots of face time with our youth, and that is an incredible privilege. We find out what is going on in their lives. We support them as they need to find housing, jobs, or reconciliation with family and friends. But far more important, we pray for them, and with them, and we share the hope of Christ with them, in hopes that they receive God's strength to persevere for even the next minute. 


Those type of moments don't typically happen in the midst of a busy drop-in program (although they do), or a quick stop to chat on the sidewalk. They happen when we spend hours and hours growing closer together and sharing in this wonderful, weird community. 


In a couple of weeks, we will take a group of our youth to CampFire. My goal this year is to have 10. I'll leave that in God's hands, but we know that regardless of who comes, they will become a part of our wider Youth For Christ family. They will join the mix of crazy laughter, poignant stories, and sometimes intense self-reflection. And through it all will be a mix of loving staff and new friends who welcome them, no matter what is going on in their life, and who will become a part of that youth's summer story. The dog days of summer are so much easier when we can live them together. We bear the humidity a little more gracefully, splash each other in the cool water, and look forward to our days spent together. And that is why I love this time of year. 

I'm Going To Punch Her Face In...

Anger is nothing new to me. I dealt with it many times growing up, and it's something I'm not proud of. As with any struggle in life, I still see it creep up from time to time, and have to deal with it before it rears its ugly head. Perhaps its the heat, or the stress of the end of school, but anger has been a common theme here over the last couple of weeks.

I used to think that being filled with rage was just a matter of youth not being able to deal with their issues in a constructive and healthy way (although there is lots of truth to that). But as the years and number of youth that I see increase, I have realized something really important: sometimes they have a lot to be angry about. There are members of The Door community who have been told by their parents that they were a mistake, and that they shouldn't be a part of their own families. There are youth who have experienced years of abuse, bullying and neglect. Labels, names, and rumours begin to take their toll on these lives and souls. 

I sat down with a couple of our girls this past weekend, and as we talked one of them said to me, "I'm on my third assault charge. If I get one more, I'm probably going to go to jail." She breaks the idea of who we "think" should be angry; she has a supportive family, she does fairly well in school, and appears to have it all together. It's amazing how often we miss the fact that any youth can struggle with this, even when everything else seems all together. 

One of the painful parts of being a person in conflict is that often we don't reason well, or in my case anyway, keep people at arm's length because we are ashamed of what is actually happening inside of us. This is the ministry environment that we are working in right now: a number of very angry girls who can't see things objectively, or have the courage to walk away from a situation instead of making it worse. I've been there, it's not fun. 

We want nothing more than for them to experience true freedom from this weight in their lives. We pray that while they can't change all of the circumstances in their life, they can begin to face them in a more healthy way, one that leads to resolution and restoration instead of causing more pain and brokenness. And in our case, we believe that the only way to experience this is through Jesus Christ - I know this to be true because I have experienced it. I have experienced coming to a breaking point and giving up my anger to God, and experiencing the grace of having it replaced with, well, grace. 

Some of this is just stuff that needs to be worked out as our youth mature. But we are so honoured to be walking alongside them in this difficult time of sorting things out, and pray that we are making an imprint on their lives, equipping them to deal with conflicts as they arise. And we pray that they come to know the freedom of giving it up, letting it go, and experiencing transformation and becoming a new person in Christ. 

Transforming a Generation... One Life at a Time.

I just got back from Tim Horton's. In what was supposed to be a 2 minute pit stop, I left 20 minutes later, having run into 6 of our youth and one volunteer, all there for different reasons. Maybe this is why some weeks I don't get much work done. This is one of my favourite parts about Youth For Christ, that we are not chained to a desk, or even a youth centre for that matter, since we have the freedom to meet those we work with right where they are. There are definitely times where they come to us, The Door is a prime example of that, but the rest of our ministry involves meeting them at lunch for Campus Life, grabbing a drink at McD's, or even just running into them as we are out and around. And that is where our best ministry happens. 


I once read through the Gospels where I focused on all of the times that Jesus was interrupted in what was "important" and "necessary" ministry. It happened a lot. Think about all the times that Jesus and the disciples were interrupted by those needing real ministry, now. People crashed into meetings, grabbed hold of him while he was walking, and even dug through ceilings just to get his attention. How differently we would perceive Jesus' ministry if He had said, "I'm sorry, you'll need to wait. I'm really busy right now" instead of acknowledging their need in that moment. If he had ignored those who were unclean, broken, sick, and full of sin, what would His ministry have looked like? Would there have been any ministry at all, or would it have been lost in the midst of a fantastic miracle? 


And of course, I can't think about that without looking back at the times where I have been like that. Times where my to do list has outgrown my "to care" list, my "to love" list, my "to listen" list. That's happened often, and sadly, sometimes recently. But as we head into summer, where we always get excited for how much time we have with our youth, I hope that I can keep Jesus' example in mind. Some of the best times of ministry are the times separate of any program, free of any need to impress anyone, and with nothing planned. Some of the moments when we can be most present with our youth is over the simple things, where little thought is given to what we're going to do next, but instead turns to each other, and towards caring about our friends. I hope I have more days like today. And I hope that I am aware of the Spirit walking alongside me to lead me into those areas of ministry, where Jesus can shine through me and allow me to unconditionally love and encourage those I walk with. Our statement here in YFC is "Transforming a generation... one life at a time." Today, that is a good reminder for me. 

The Chance To Connect

Yesterday as I walked to the youth centre, I saw one of our young women walking down the street with her mom. I crossed over to the same side of the street and tried to catch up to them. But, by the time I got close, someone stopped me, and I noticed the youth I had been trying to catch up with had crossed the street and were now walking towards where I had just come from. For a moment, I felt a little regret for missing the opportunity. 


Opportunities are something we seek out regularly here at The Door. We pray that God shows us opportunities to minister and to speak truth to our youth. We create space for opportunities to connect with our youth. And most of all, we seek opportunities to pray for them, to lift up their concerns, and to pray for positive change in their lives. And every single week, God provides us with these opportunities. Of course, whether we take them is up to us. 


The beauty of working with these youth over a long period of time is that often we can catch up on missed opportunities. I was able to connect with this young girl today, and I'll see her tonight. We'll catch up on what is going on in her life, I suspect I'll hear about her recent struggles with depression, how much she loves babysitting her nephew, and the next tattoo she is thinking of getting. And in the middle of all of that, we'll probably talk about God. She asked me recently if she could come to church with Aaron and I, and I'd like to take her soon. She will never know how hard I tried to catch her on the street, but I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to remember to pray for her. I pray that God continues to open our eyes to the small things around us, and that we are faithful in moving towards them. 

We're Not In Kansas Anymore

So, a week ago we returned, relatively unscathed, from Campfire. It was a fantastic week, if not a bit of a strange one. We were headed towards Goderich not even a day after a tornado devastated the town. 

This was always in the back of our minds, as we went through our week running the camp program that I described in my last post. Then Wednesday the thunderstorm warnings came. Nothing really happened. But then the tornado warnings came. Again. This town ripped apart by a tornado was facing the prospect of more volatile weather not even a week later. Our kids were scared. Some of them terrified. They'd all seen the news and pictures. 

Leaders herded kids into shelter, then a few of us huddled around radios to keep up with the latest warnings (evidently, tornado warning music is actually pretty good. Aside from my concern that the announcers weren't saying anything, probably because they too were hunkered down in the soundproof padded rooms, they did pick a good playlist. And I digress). Leader's and kid's cell phones were ringing off the hook as concerned parents texted and called after watching the Weather Network. The guys were scared, but tried not to show it. It was written all over their faces. The girls were much harder. They were visibly scared and shaken. Some were crying. So, huddled in the only shelter we could find, we did what any sane human being would do: we sang Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of our lungs, complete with guitar solos. But as the song ended, that awkward tension of not knowing what's going on began to take over again. 

By now, the sky looked wicked, and was divided in two: tornado clouds and blue sky. We had no rain, no hail, and the wind was there, but not gale force. Some of us shared Scripture, reminding the girls that God was in control of the weather. At one point as I walked in to check on the girls after listening to another weather bulletin they were all lined up in a massage train. 

I don't think I could have predicted what happened next. The next time I returned to look in on them, one of the leaders shushed me as I walked in. We went outside and she told me what was going on. The girls had rallied around those who were very shaken by what was going on. At one point, as I'm sure they began talking about anything to not think about the weather, one of the girls shared something that was going on in her life. One of the girls, asked if she could pray for her. Within minutes, prayer was bouncing through the washroom, from girl to girl, with no leaders leading or piping in. I wasn't in the room, so I hope I'm giving this story justice. But God's peace showed up. Not long after, the warnings were lifted and the funnel clouds were gone. After a spectacular evening program, I sat out with a few of my colleagues and we watched the stars in the now clear sky. And we saw a shooting star so big that I've only seen a handful in my life. God was with us. 

--
To read about The Salvation Army's relief efforts in Goderich, go here.

Sun, Sand, and Smores...

We're just a couple of weeks away from Campfire, our final trip of the summer. [Note: I am disappointed to be writing "final" and "summer" in the same sentence. I must make the most of the weeks I have left]. I look forward to this trip every year, since it's a chance to take our youth out of their usual setting, and to do something different with them. We also get to see youth that we see once a year at Campfire, and it is a great time to catch up with them.

Campfire is a pretty special setting, it's not really anything to do with the physical setting, but more with the environment and feel that the youth and leaders bring to it. For some kids, it's the rare chance to get out of Collingwood. For others, its reconnecting with friends they made at Campfire last year. Others are there for a completely new experience, meeting new people, trying new things, and experiencing the Youth For Christ family in action. Campfire is a crazy place, with people playing goofy improv games at the campfire, or plotting ways to prank their friends. It can also be a really meaningful time, where tent conversations or afternoons spend on the beach can lead to discussions that leave a profound impact on both youth and leaders alike. 

This year, we are excited for the youth that we have at Campfire. We are praying that sponsorships come through and that they follow through with their registrations. We know that God has got exciting things in store for the youth who are attending, especially as we enter into lots of discussions about life and Jesus. Campfire is a chance where we can just be together, enjoying nature and each other, and through that, God is present in a very real way.

When I Say Keep It, You Say Real

 A week ago, I was sitting on the beach in 30 degree weather, soaking up the last bit of sun with a bunch of youth before we left Florida for another year. We had a fantastic week. SouthBound is a highlight of the year for many of our youth and staff, and this year did not let us down.


This year our youth were challenged to "Keep It Real" by our speaker, Laura Bronson, of Keep It Real Ministries. This was not just the theme for the week, but quickly became the overall attitude and lifestyle around the camp. Youth connected in a way that we hadn't seen in a while. If a youth was hanging around the fringes, there were always one or two peers who brought them into the group, breaking down many of the cliques and boundaries that often exist in the teen world. There were so many deep discussions this year, and the focus around keeping it real and sharing our stories certainly helped youth think about important things in their lives. We talked to youth who wanted to know if they had a story to tell, youth whose stories involved trauma and tragedy, and youth who had deep questions about life, God, and how the two mix. Youth prayed for each other, a treasure we hold on to when we work with teens who are all over the place in their journey with Christ. Youth read Scripture to their peers, and shared about their faith journey in small groups. It was an amazing year. 


Of course, as with any Youth for Christ event, we were up to our usual camp shenanigans. More than one dinner was interrupted by hilarious melodramas featuring superheroes with wacky hair or Harry Potter superfans. A mysterious green rubber snake made its way into a few bunkbeds (mine included). And, we spent crazy amounts of time on the beach, wakeboarding and tubing, doing our best Baywatch impressions, and getting thrown in the water.

This trip is amazing, and it seems to get better every year. As a staff, it leaves me fired up as we return to our usual programs this week, and I'm excited for what the weekend will bring. Many youth were profoundly inspired by our week in Florida, and we look forward to growing in our relationships with them. Here's some pictures:

Tubing with our cow friends.

The wacky hair superheroes.

Minute To Win It YFC style

A dramatic presentation of the Prodigal Son.

YMCA forever!

Typgoon Lagoon

St. Patrick's day with some of the female leaders

St. Pete's Beach

Our speaker, Laura, tagged shirts for all of us.

Evening session

Friday's relay led to some swamped kayaks

The whole group

Lattes, Cher, and Toilet Paper Elastic Wars

Recently, we started a new program. We seem to be a very music oriented centre these days, and we wanted to feed the creativity of many of our youth. We've also had a number of youth who are becoming more and more leadership oriented at the youth centre, and were looking for something to do. Pairing that with the love that youth have for hanging out at The Door, and soon we had a coffee house brewing (oh, pun fully intended).

Our aim is to have a youth-led program, where we can facilitate and step into the background to help make it happen. In the bitter cold last night we hosted our first one, and with a dozen youth in attendance, we had success. We had three youth interested in leading, so we had them sort out the music, the games, and the overall feel of the centre. We created ambient lighting, had music by Dj Hutch (one of our youth), and even had karaoke, when Aaron coerced a bunch of the guys to join him for The Village People, Celine Dion, and, um, Cher. We served lattes, cake and cookies, had Valentines candy on the tables, and chess boards and card games. The latest trend in our circles is Minute To Win It, and there were ongoing games of ping pong tic tac toe, followed by a race to see who could break a string of toilet paper with an elastic band torpedo (if you think that it is ridiculously easy, I challenge you to go into your bathroom and office supplies, and hang a roll of t.p. off of a broom handle, letting the paper trail to the ground. Shoot away, and let me know your findings). 

Overall, we were happy with the first event, and thrilled that we had a chance to talk to our youth in an environment more calm than drop-in, but cooler than Tim Horton's. Next month, we hope to feature some youth performers, and continue the karaoke trend, which can only get better from here. And, here are some very fuzzy pics from my cell phone, enjoy!

The set-up, with DJ Hutch in the back.

The coffee and hot chocolate bar (I loved playing barista!)

Our drink menu... not bad!

Two Left Feet and Learning to Stop

Or perhaps I should say, two right feet. Our youth have been off school for sometime with exams and the turnaround to the new semester. And with winter, the group of us is starting to get a little stir crazy. Last night we went skating.

It was a great night, not too cold, and having dodged most of the nasty snow that was expected (although it was still a snow day), it was the perfect night to hit the outdoor rink. We had a few kids interested, and after Soul Food, we packed into our car and headed to the rink. I haven't skated in probably 15 years, but I didn't figure it would be too hard to remember. Like riding a bike right?

Maggie (not her real name) also hadn't skated in a while, but figured that she could dig up some skates at home, so when she met us at the rink, we had to share a laugh about the fact that she couldn't find matching skates, so she grabbed two right footed skates. How she got them the same size, I have no idea, but she managed to get them on and not skate around in circles. Craig (also not his real name), our resident tall guy, who has to be near seven feet tall, had many years of hockey under his belt and soon took off, flipping around backwards, and zooming in close to all of us who were far less skilled than he was. 

As Maggie and I slowly made our way around, I finally stopped my feet from wobbling, and was able to crosscut the ends. Stopping however, was a much different story. If I wasn't near a board, I would eventually slow down to a point where I stopped moving. If I was skating along the boards, I'd kind of throw myself into them, and grab on to stop. But if I tried to hockey stop, my newly sharpened blades would skid across the ice, sending me into a panic as I could feel myself tipping back, or turning backwards. It was not good. And Craig was eating it up. As he lapped me again and again, I reminded him that he should relish this moment of me looking like an idiot on blades, until I would get good enough to beat him. 

Aaron was trying to teach me the technique, and refresh my very foggy mind. It's just like skiing, he said, but I'm quite proficient at stopping when I'm flying downhill. While I felt frustrated at my forgetfulness of this once familiar and necessary skill, I didn't feel bad. At one point, Craig joined up with Aaron and I again, and started to show me what I should be doing. I blathered on to him about how easy he made it look as again, I felt Aaron grab the back of my jacket before I fell over again. But when I let him and Aaron come alongside me to teach me how to stop, I found that when I got over my own inability, they were both patiently skating beside me and I was making some lead in this venture. 

Before you think that I became a pro at stopping, I should tell you that I am still far away. But I can can mostly stop, kind of. My goal by the end of the winter is to know how to stop, and to be able to cover Craig in my ice flakes as I do it (I know, bad goal). Lately, I've been focusing a lot of my reading and reflection on our presence with youth. One of the things that strikes me over and over again, is that I have so much to learn from our youth. Some ways, such as learning how to stop, are practical, others, are much more profound as I've learned to be more like Jesus while walking along with our youth. We build memories together, we challenge each other, and we ask each other deep questions - and then we look for the answers together. And through the fun times like last night, and the difficult times when none of us have words to express what is going on, we grow together, learning to skate on our two right feet. 

2011... A Look in the Review Mirror

Happy New Year everyone! After a busy close to the year, and some much needed time off, we are back in action today, looking forward to the year that lies ahead of us! But a brief look back, as we celebrate some of the things that left their mark in 2010.


The past year was the year that our youth really took ownership in the centre. This was the first time that many of them wanted to be involved in the operating of the centre. For some, it was as simple as taking on small volunteer roles during drop-in, such as equipment sign-out. For others, it was adding their mark to the walls of the centre with a painting or a sketch. Others still gave fantastic input into special events at the centre. One young guy actually spent a night as an acting shift supervisor (closely shadowed by the real supervisor) as an exercise in leadership and to better understand just what our staff do. As our volunteers and some youth who were in the know went out of their way to challenge him with cleverly disguised bottles of ginger beer (from a distance they look exactly like a bottle of beer), he commented, "This job is hard! There are so many things going on!" And in December, when we had to rearrange the centre to accomodate some new media equipment, one of our youth visioned and directed the whole layout, making the place truly their's.


This was also the year when Project Serve really became a part of our fibre at The Door. While we had run trips in 2009, this was the year when we saw youth participate in all three trips: Toronto, Huntsville, and Mississippi. We saw so much growth in the group of youth that participated in PS, and they blew us away by the time we had completed everything. The level of committment they had to complete Project Serve was incredible! Now we have youth who want to go through the whole process again, and youth who are constantly asking when the next trip is. It's now a part of who we are at The Door, and it continues to be a great experience.


2010 was a year where we saw our partnership with the town and community around us go to a whole new level. We had some high profile events (like the Canadian Idol concert), developed stronger relationships with local service clubs, and got some decent press on local radio and in papers and magazine. We hope to continue to build this even further. 


And of course, this past year was a year when we saw God work in the lives of our youth! We had record attendance to Soul Food, and more opportunities to serve youth in meeting their practical needs. We had opportunities to pray with youth, to encourage them, and to challenge them, and it was incredible!


So with 2010 behind us, now we open ourselves up to where God is leading The Door in 2011, and expecting great things!


 

Compassion & Justice

Things are a little off for me today. For one thing, my nails are painted, which if you know me, means that you probably can't remember a time in my life ever that my nails were painted metallic green and blue. But, they were painted this weekend by Melanie*, a young woman that I met at a shelter in downtown Toronto as we had a girl's night, painting each others nails, and watching chick flicks. 

Part of me is shaken, as I've been reflecting on my experience sitting with Connor, a young man that we met on the street who had overdosed twice last week. As he recounted the few moments in the week that he could remember, he looked up at us, eyebrows deeply creased, and asked, "What's wrong with everyone?" Our staff guide for the night explained that we were visitors, and that we'd had a really long day, not bringing any more light to the obvious shellshock that most of the youth had on their faces. "They're pretty tired," he said, "Connor, tell 'em how much sleep you got last night."  Pow. We had nothing to say. Suddenly, our few hours of restless sleep on a church floor didn't seem to matter. 

I'm also honoured to have the opportunity to be in the presence of so many incredible people in shelters, vans, and drop-ins. Sitting down with Barb, a crack addict and prostitute, and listening to her story of addiction and recovery in progress left a deep imprint on the youth I was with. Or talking with Mary, a woman suffering from mental illness, who in moments of lucidity, was able to ask the questions that everyone has deep inside. But I can't begin to imagine the suffering she has experienced. Or talking with Andy, who at 18 wants to leave the lifestyle of the "street youth who is always high", and get his life together. The staff and volunteers who operated these services are also incredible. Fostering community, holistic in their ministry to the poor and broken, they work tirelessly to serve their friends on the street with dignity, respect and love. It only takes a moment or two to realize their passion for the work that they are doing. And the youth and co-leaders on this trip from YFC served with great attitudes and maturity, and were deeply affected by their experiences. 

Each Project Serve trip I've taken has challenged me, rocked me, and opened my eyes to better understand God's Kingdom here on earth. One of our key verses this weekend was Isaiah 58:6-12. Consider this:

“No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
   Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
      lighten the burden of those who work for you.
   Let the oppressed go free,
      and remove the chains that bind people.
 ⁷ Share your food with the hungry,
      and give shelter to the homeless.
   Give clothes to those who need them,
      and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
 ⁸ “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
      and your wounds will quickly heal.
   Your godliness will lead you forward,
      and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
 ⁹ Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
      ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.
   “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
      Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
 ¹⁰ Feed the hungry,
      and help those in trouble.
   Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
      and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
 ¹¹ The Lord will guide you continually,
      giving you water when you are dry
      and restoring your strength.
   You will be like a well-watered garden,
      like an ever-flowing spring.
 ¹² Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
      Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls
      and a restorer of homes.


For more information on the organizations I partnered with, check out The Salvation Army and St. John The Compassionate Mission.


*I've changed the names of those we met to protect their privacy.



 

Freedom Writers

Our youth have recently been working on a number of graffiti pieces for an auction that will be taking place in the downtown (check it out here). I thought this would be a great opportunity to show you some of the talent that we have in our centre. And, there will be much more to come!

This was done by one of our young men who has been with us for a few years now. He'd never done anything like this, and really put a lot of thought into what he wanted it to say.

Just a demo piece I did to show some technique.

This guy was really shocked that he was at The Door and was allowed to spray paint. He said to one of our guys while they were painting, "I never thought I'd be doing this here with you". We're trying to encourage our youth that graffiti is a viable form of art, that doesn't need to be vandalism.

The young woman who did this is hard of hearing. She paintedthe sign language for love on the right hand side. She has just started college this year to become an interpreter.

A demo piece done by Aaron.

The young guy who did this piece also did the very last one. He loves BMX and skate culture, so this is a natural art expression for him.

This was a collaborative piece, that Aaron worked on with a couple of our guys.

Again, done by the guy who did the "Hello My Name Is" piece. At first, I thought he was a little out there in using the can so close, but I have to admit that the dripping paint is my favorite part.

Guest Blog: Beca Osmond

I would like to start by introducing myself. My name is Beca and I am the summer student working here at the Door. This is such an awesome opportunity as the Door is basically missions on our own front step. The teenage years are a time when kids are evaluating life and trying to figure out who they are. They go to extremes to both create an identity for themselves and to be accepted by others. What amazing opportunity for us to step in and provide for them a place where they are accepted and to guide them towards finding their identity through Christ. Through building relationships with the youth who come here we are able to offer them hope.

Over the course of the summer, I have been able to sit down and really get to know one of the young girls here. One time when we got together we talked about her hopes and dreams. What she wants to do with her life. Where she wants to go to school in the future. I told her that God has a plan and purpose for her life. I challenged her to work hard towards those dreams and not get distracted by lifes ups and downs. I wish you could have seen the smile on her face after that talk. I wish life were easy and I could rest assured knowing that she will make all the right choices, but I know that is not always the case. Now we need to continue to walk with her on this journey, encourage her and pray for her. I believe that we need to commit to walking with these youth on their journeys and commit to praying for them. This is what Aaron and Danielle are doing here at the Door which is absolutley amazing and I am excited that I get to be apart of it.

SouthBound!

It's getting to be that time of year again. We are getting ready for our March Break camp, SouthBound. This week I've been taking stock of my sunscreen and aloe vera, board shorts, and this year, pants, all going into my suitcase for our annual trip to Florida. This is for fairly obvious reasons, one of our favorite trips of the year. We have great experiences with our youth, and I'll be honest, the setting isn't all that bad either. But perhaps a little deeper than the surface is my ulterior motive: to create memories, to share experiences, and to open doors to conversations that wouldn't have happened otherwise.

Back story: when Aaron and I were in college, we blew off studying over reading week to join his family in Florida for a family vacation. It was a great week, but with one fairly significant trade off: we were poor students who drove junky cars that would barely make it to the border, so we were left with one choice, Greyhound go anywhere passes for $200. These passes took you anywhere you wanted in North America, but you had to travel an exhausting route. Since then, I have never driven through Alabama on my way to Florida. All in all, we spent nearly 80 hours on the bus, and all of the stops and passengers blended together by the time we reached our 3am destination.

That said, the first year that I took the bus to Florida, Aaron stayed home, and I was having flashbacks. That was also the year that the huge snowstorm hit, and it took us nearly eight hours just to reach the border. However, that time on the bus with 50 youth was amazing! We sang songs, we played baseball up the aisle, we attempted to play cards, and we developed friendships all by the time we reached our camp, more than 30 hours later. It is a great thing to be able to accompany a youth on their first time to Florida (or at least their first time to Florida with us). There is so much to see, from the first gator, to the ocean, to the spectacles of the amusement parks. They are making new friends. They stay up at night talking with their cabins. Our evening program shares the Gospel with them, but not in a bang-you-over-the-head kind of way. Instead, they hear stories, of real life, and of God's presence throughout it. Then our staff listen, and ask questions. It has been amazing seeing kids lives transformed through the community built on this trip.

And in the middle of all of this, we make memories that the youth are still talking about years later. I have kids who come and ask me every year if they can still go, even though they are too old. SouthBound is a weird, wonderful, crazy thing. This week is a busy one, for sure. I am so looking forward to being crammed on a bus with these guys, and seeing our new friendships come out the other side. And that's my ulterior motive.

Drama

We have a saying around the centre that goes, "Save the drama for your mama". We use it sometimes when tensions are rising because tiredness and circumstances edge life's problems from speed bumps to impassable mountains. This week has been a very dramatic week.

These are the weeks that are emotionally exhausting, as youth after youth have called us with issues that they can't seem to face. Some just need someone to listen. This week, many needed a solution. We talk often about hope, and this is pretty much the polar opposite of hope. The weeks where we see and hear despair in the lives and voices of our teens are the weeks where "save the drama for your mama" just doesn't cut it. Instead, the drama requires a patience that is beyond what any of us have to step into the mud, and get a little bit messy. It's never black and white, always heavy to carry, and often doesn't work out in the clean way we feel it should.

Inevitably, somewhere in the course of our discourse and Facebook chats with our youth, we are again reminded about the drama in our own lives, and what little we can really do for our youth. We can give our best efforts, but our own brokenness often limits us in our attempt.

But I think it can be redeemed.

In our brokenness we join our youth on the trail. We join every other human on the trail, because we are all broken, and sometimes don't know what to do. In understanding our brokenness, we also come face to face with our need for God, Who (this still astounds me), meets us right there, dirty and smelly as we are. In one of my favorite books, Messy Spirituality, Mike Yaconelli writes,

"Spirituality is not a formula; it is not a test. It is a relationship. Spirituality is not about competency; it is about intimacy. Spirituality is not about perfection; it is about connection. The way of the spiritual life begins where we are now in the mess of our lives. Accepting the reality of our broken, flawed lives is the beginning of spirituality not because the spiritual life will remove our flaws but because we let go of seeking perfection and, instead, seek God, the one who is present in the tangledness of our lives. Spirituality is not about being fixed; it is about God’s being present in the mess of our unfixedness."

And there it is, that beautiful moment, where in the midst of chaos, and breakups, and fights, and missed classes, that moment where we may not have all of the answers but we sure wouldn't want to be anywhere else to deal with it. Sometimes it is uncomfortable to get here, but if it weren't for the moments of despair, real or imagined, I think it would be hard to appreciate the incredible grace of God. So we hope, that after a good night's sleep and some time to withdraw from the crisis that never seem to stop this week, that in allowing our youth to be broken and in the admission of our own brokenness, that we can demonstrate a love that never leaves. It is certainly a love that can only belong to God, because it is so far beyond what we are able to demonstrate. And we remember what a privilege it is to be allowed into these worlds, as confusing and messy as they are, I don't know we'd want to be anywhere else.

Stories

Our youth centre thrives on stories. They're what break our hearts, what keep us going, and what make us laugh. We often hear stories over a long period of time, a piece here, and a piece there. The struggles, successes and experiences that we all experience become intricate parts of our stories.

Aaron has been working on a video project with a coworker, Jeremy, over the past few weeks. We often use videos in our discussion with the youth as a way to foster deeper thinking on many life, character, and faith issues. Aaron and Jeremy have a desire to produce some of our own, so that they reflect the needs and perspectives of the youth we are working with. They are making it highly collaborative with the youth, and have teens involved on every level from video production, to writing original music, to even writing the scripts and stories that will evolve into short films. With that in mind, Aaron asked one of our young men simply to write a story. He did not assign a topic, length, or give any limits. Last night, this young man came up to us at the snack bar of the youth centre, and said, "It's eight pages, I did it this afternoon."

Once we recovered from the initial shock of his submission (keep in mind that many of our youth do not show strong initiative or desire in school), we read his story. It is a story about life after high school, and is a mix of his current life and circle of friends, struggles he has experienced recently, and dreams for the future. It is raw, honest, and gives huge insight into his world. Some parts have been exaggerated, others idealized, but let's be honest, that is often what draws us into movies and books. His story is a springboard into the much bigger picture that is his life.

It is both a privilege and an honour to share in his story. We hope that the discussions that come out of his written story will lead to opportunities to add value to his life in the bigger story. We pray that we can encourage him in these dreams, reveal the hope that Jesus Christ has offered him, and support him in the journey. Before last night, I was interested in the project that Aaron had begun. Now, I am truly anticipating the opportunities that it will allow us, and if there are some videos produced along the way, they are icing on the cake.