For the Least of These...

This phrase has been ringing between my ears for about the last 5 weeks now.  I've been thinking about being a Christ-follower in these terms and have been compelled to act in ways that show it. I am so proud (as a father is with his son) of our students tonight.  I left thinking that some real tangible growth happened with our group tonight.  

We have program the first and third Sundays and small group on the 2nd and 4th Sundays, but occassionally we have a 5th Sunday that we decided to be creative with.  Tonight was one of those nights.  We decided to expose our students to "the least of these" by taking 60 students and 10 adults to a homeless shelter downtown Cleveland.  Since our students are living in a land of plenty, it's good to expose them to people who have very little.  Allowing students the opportunity to minister to the kinds of people that Christ was engaging with on a regular basis really helps solidify their faith and provides some great opportunities for conviction to take root in their hearts.  So we squeezed a total of 70 people in vans and brought 80 dozen cookies that were baked by many of our students as well as dozens of pairs of socks and knitted wool hats and hand delivered all these goodies to close to 100 homeless men that were staying in a downtown shelter.  While some students were a bit nervous and clingy to friends, the majority jumped right in with other adults and peers to spend time talking and listening to story after heartbreak story of men who have ended up in a place that they never dreamed they would end up.  We sang Christmas carols and shared the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Students shared unprompted with many people about their own faith in Christ.  The beauty of the gospel and the spirit of what Christ calls us to be was on display tonight in a way I have seldom seen.

High school students were saying things like "Our hope isn't in stuff, it's in Christ", "I want to pray for these people", "I want to pursue Christ's heart by loving these people".  The wheels were turning in great ways in the minds of these students.  

I believe wholeheartedly that the best way to change the world is by investing in the next generation...teaching them to love the least of these.  Man, I love my job.

Compassion fatigue...

Compassion fatigue is a real issue.  Common amongst nurses, pastors and stay at home mothers.  If you run a marathon there are moments along the way that you get tired, need some water and a bit of encouragement.  People who are caregivers need that as well.  Caregivers can't go through life giving and giving without getting refreshed.  Compassion fatigue burns out many people to the point of being ineffective and sometimes even dangerous.  

Here are a couple of signs that you may need to take time and refresh:

a.  can't sleep at night because of all the needs of people

b.  find yourself feeling like a failure as a care giver

c.  sensing your heart hardening towards people's needs

d.  the sense of being "compelled" is gone

e.  fantasizing of another place where things are different

f.  anxiety and worry is stronger than love

A couple of ways to combat this issue:

a.  regular unhurried time alone 

b.  disciplined diet

c.  disciplined time in the Word and prayer

d.  regular excercise

e.  take on a hobby that has nothing to do with being a caregiver

f.  talk regularly and openly with a trusted friend

I publish this because I personally need to be reminded of this right now.  I am about to enter into a situation where deep compassion and patience is going to be needed.  As I reflect on my role here coming up, I need to watch myself.  I thought that these thoughts may help you as well (even though no one is reading my blog yet).

Big changes from my 7th grade year...

When I was in 7th grade:

1. NKOTB was the hit band

2. If girls dressed in a way that showed any cleavage or leg, they had a reputation. Things are different now as even kids who consider themselves "Christian" dress more revealing than those kids with "reputations".

3. Even the word "sex" was whispered and talked about with a blushed face. Kids now talk about sexual things openly.

4. There was a sense of privacy and boundaries that were commonly acknowledged. Myspace and other digital forms of communication cause for everyone to be open books.

5. When I was in 7th grade, I knew who the 7th graders were. Now kids are often mistaken as high schoolers or in some cases college students.

6. In 1990, tennis court baseball, street hockey, basketball after school, frisbee were all common place. The places where all these activities happened on a daily basis have completely grown up with weeds and broken pavement. Kids now spend all their available moments playing Halo 3, pretend games of tennis or Olympics in the virtual world. Real physical activity seems to be substituted for make believe.

7. There was a huge difference between kids in the country and kids in the city. Country kids were always snowmobiling, ATVing, running around on the farm. City kids were very different from that. Now they are all the same as all kids are immersed in the digital world.

8. Kids weren't as quickly medicated to keep them on par with the other kids.

9. Kids weren't labeled as quickly as they are now.

10. Clique's weren't as diverse. Now the diversity is great. Back then I think we had musicians, jocks and nerds. Now there are hundreds of forms of cliques.

pillow fights and sad kids

So tonight was our crazy "pillow fight" for middle school kids at a local gym- yeah good idea, huh?  65 kids with pillows with no regard for...anything.  It was great.  It's so important for middle school kids to "fit in".  That's why we host our annual "nerd prom" and pillow fight nights.  It actually encourages students to be goofy.  Leave your facade and pretention at the door...it's not needed.

The biggest kid got hit today with a pillow.  He's the class bully so it seems.  So guess what happens?  He cries.  The bully of the class is crying because he got hit with a fluffy pillow.  I sat down net to him to console him, but his tears turned to a deeply embittered anger.  For a second, I felt what many of those other kids probably feel on a daily basis around this kid- fear.  I honestly thought he was going to hit me.  One's initial reaction is to scold the kid or tell him to suck it up and get back in there, but I filed it away hoping for another chance to talk.  Well, after 64 kids and leaders leave, there is one kid left standing all alone in a t-shirt out in the frigid cold.  You guessed it- same kid.  His grandma forgot to pick him up.  Joe and I stayed with this kid until well over an hour past the night ended and then decided to drive him home.  We couldn't get a hold of anyone.  For the next 20 minutes, this 13 year old kid proceeds to  share his story relatively unprompted.  He hasn't seen his mother since he was 6.  Last he heard she's homeless on the streets of Cleveland.  She's been anorexic for years and has made no attempts to find her son.  He says he wonders about her, but new that when he was a kid, she was a prostitute and drug addict.  His father is jobless and mooches off the government.  Wants nothing to do with the son and rarely sees him.  His son allows him to recieve a free lunch occasionally.  

     

I asked this kid what he wanted to do when he got older.  Without hesitation he shared that he wants to be rich and famous.  Why?  He wants his family to have respect.  He wants to find his mother and buy her a house and buy his dad armani suits.  He wants to be able to provide for his grandmother and younger siblings.  

It's amazing.  I am going to pray for this kid.  I know where he lives now...in fact, as he walked away from my car he didn't even say goodbye or thank you.  Who teaches this boy manners, you know?  He walked right into the house he currently resides in with no key.  I guess the family finds Parma safe enough to raise 4 kids in a house that is always unlocked.  

My heart breaks for these kinds of kids.  I couldn't help but think about Christ's heart for kids like this kid.  This kid needs Christ, but I'm not so sure the church would do such a great job helping this kid see Him.  I don't mean that towards any one individual, but these kinds of kids make our church programs messy.  We need to create policies, procedures and parameters to keep this kid in line, but typically he won't line up with anything that we create, but this is the kid we need to reach.  

I may never run into this kid again.  

Just another day at the office.