So day 2 was an eye-opener. Day one was all about good first impressions, but this time, the masks were off.
I arrived just in time to play a little ball with some of my homies from last week (Donavon, Reese, Terry, Bobby, and a few others), and got schooled again.
After playing some air hockey and ping pong and meeting new people, it was time to congregate for Pasto Mike's lesson of the day. Within five minutes of sitting down, I realized that the guys sitting behind me were much more interested in disobeying Pastor Mike and my orders than they were about learning obedience from the story of Abraham and Issac. It dawned on me then that these kids were there to have fun and really were not THAT interested in coming to know Christ.
Now my youth group at home is waaaay different. Everyone who is there knows that the main reason we are there is to learn about and worship God, with fun being mixed in like a seasoning. For these kids, I think they'd rather swallow lysterene than a story about some guy in the old testament.
So the misbehavior went on for a while until I learned that empty words weren't going to mean anything. I threatened them that if they couldn't at least be respectful then I would come back and sit with them.... then they were quiet for a while... huh imagine that.
The main thing I learned from Day 2: Before they will listen to you, they have to respect you. Before they respect you, you have to earn it. To earn it, you have to mean what you say and say what you mean. I want to be nice as much as I can, but there is a line, and when it is crossed, I will be firm, regardless of how "mean" they think I am. I will earn their respect.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
JC Bodyshop Blockparty Day 1 (6:15-8:15)
For my practicum, I decided to help out with JC Bodyshop (which is the youth group of College Wesleyan Church.) One of their ministry opportunities is called the "Blockparty." Mike Hofer, the youth pastor in charge of JC Bodyshop described it as, "the most diverse youth program we have." He said that they got all kinds of kids to come to the Blockparty: goths, skaters, punks, white kids, black kids, hispanic kids, poor, rich, Christian, non-Christian, kids with good families, kids from broken families.
So I went there the first night not knowing what to expect by any means. I was somewhat nervous, walking on unfamiliar turf surrounded by unfamiliar faces. I was surprised to see that, for one of the few times in my life, I was in the racial minority. Most of the kids there were african-american and I couldn't help but feel like I stuck out like a white marble in a bowl of chocolate ice cream.
Now don't get me wrong. I love people of all shapes, sizes, backgrounds, and skin tones, but I got a little chance to experience what most african-americans face everyday: being in the minority. And being in the minority always makes you feel self conscious.
Anyway, I was glad to have Anthony, Trent and Corey there. As soon as the doors opened and all the kids came rushing in, we found a few jr. high guys and challenged them to some basketball. I had always considered myself a decent basketball player. I started varsity for a Christian school and averaged 14 points and about 9 rebounds per game. As we played JC sponsers vs. JC students, I soon figured out that, most likely, I would have had a much different view of how "like-Mike" I was, if our Christian school had played teams with african-american players. Needless to say, we got our butts handed to us.
I think that playing, (or trying to play) basketball with them was a necessary step, however, in connecting with these kids where they were at. Obviously basketball is a large part of their lives. Even though we flailed around like fish out of water every time we went up for a rebound, we showed them that we cared about them enough to keep playing even though they were tanning our hides.
That was probably the #1 thing I learned Day one at JC Bodyshop: To connect with people, you have to meet them where they are, even if it means feeling inferior for a while.
Well that's it for day one.
So I went there the first night not knowing what to expect by any means. I was somewhat nervous, walking on unfamiliar turf surrounded by unfamiliar faces. I was surprised to see that, for one of the few times in my life, I was in the racial minority. Most of the kids there were african-american and I couldn't help but feel like I stuck out like a white marble in a bowl of chocolate ice cream.
Now don't get me wrong. I love people of all shapes, sizes, backgrounds, and skin tones, but I got a little chance to experience what most african-americans face everyday: being in the minority. And being in the minority always makes you feel self conscious.
Anyway, I was glad to have Anthony, Trent and Corey there. As soon as the doors opened and all the kids came rushing in, we found a few jr. high guys and challenged them to some basketball. I had always considered myself a decent basketball player. I started varsity for a Christian school and averaged 14 points and about 9 rebounds per game. As we played JC sponsers vs. JC students, I soon figured out that, most likely, I would have had a much different view of how "like-Mike" I was, if our Christian school had played teams with african-american players. Needless to say, we got our butts handed to us.
I think that playing, (or trying to play) basketball with them was a necessary step, however, in connecting with these kids where they were at. Obviously basketball is a large part of their lives. Even though we flailed around like fish out of water every time we went up for a rebound, we showed them that we cared about them enough to keep playing even though they were tanning our hides.
That was probably the #1 thing I learned Day one at JC Bodyshop: To connect with people, you have to meet them where they are, even if it means feeling inferior for a while.
Well that's it for day one.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
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