Today we went to Urban Family Ministries downtown. It was cool to hear what they do as an organization, when all that I ever see of them is when they bring the inner city kids on campus. One of the things that Urban Family really focuses on is mentoring. I've seen commercials by the Boys and Girls Club recently advocating mentoring as well. I agree that mentoring can really change the lives of people.

My only annoyance is this: Why is there a lack of mentors in the church? Why has our focus turned away from the church and instead on kids who don't know God? Now don't get me wrong, I think it is very important for disadvantaged children to have the opportunity to be mentored and taught all sorts of things, I just wonder if perhaps we need to balance out the help.

I appreciated it today when a student in our group asked the director of UFM what the fruit of the organization was. Do the kids grow to know the Lord? Do things change? Fortunately she said yes, but how many times is there a lack of accountability among the non-profits? That is one thing that I will definitely need to remember as I venture out into the world of business in a few years.

It's true. We dont' know hip-hop. By we I mean those of us not imersed in the culture. If you couldn't guess, we talked about the hip-hop culture today in class. It isn't just the rap music, a "black thing", or 1-D. Rather it is its own culture.

Language: Rap
Music: DJing
Art: Graffiti
Dance/expression: Break dancing
Philosophy/Religion: Street knowledge
Entrepreneurship: Capitalism

I have such a deep appreciation for many of the artistic elements of the culture because they are things that I am incapable of doing. I cannot rap...I cannot break dance...nor can I create good graffiti.

We talked about ministering to the hip-hop culture. I really appreciated what was said about needing to pursue a holistic ministry. Not only do we need to share God's message of spiritual hope, we need to offer them social justice by helping them with housing issues, food issues, etc.

Oh the numbers game...

Tonight we discussed evangelism and discipleship. The suggested way to do evangelism was called disciple-making evangelism. It is rooted in the Grand Narrative, is based on loving your neighbor, flows from the church, and more. The one thing that stuck out to me was that it doesn't play the numbers game.

Let me describe a scenario and we'll see if you recognize it. It's Wednesday afternoon and you are going to go to youth group at your church later on tonight. You're in class and all of the sudden you remember that it's bring a friend night! The person who brings the most people gets a _________ (pizza party, prize from the bucket of surprises, free ticket to heaven, etc). You quickly find all of your friends and invite them to the hip service at your church.

Sound familiar? Yeah, my church has done it too. What is that portraying to the youth? That the church who has the most people is the holiest? Or does it even boil down to the idea that he who has the most is the best? I understand why youth leaders do this. Yes, the youth need God. But perhaps relationships are the answer...not the sheer size of the group.

That's what this disciple-making thing is about: building relationships. As Joel always says, he who spends the most time, wins. Jesus built relationships with people in order to "win them over". He didn't buy them. These days all that kids want is someone, anyone to care. With 50% of all marriages ending in divorce and a plethora of absentee fathers/mothers, kids feel worthless left and right. How do you show them God's love?? You love them. Spend time with them.

Service Project

I have been volunteering at a place called Sabaoth Ministries (changing to Base Camp) that works with inner city (mostly Hispanic) children. It has been an amazing experience to see how the director Kelly Ellis works with these children and keeps everything under control. She keeps a tight ship and yet the kids LOVE her and I can see how they just long for the structure that she provides. Many of them do not speak English at home which makes life a little fun sometimes :). I have been helping them with their homework and then just hanging out with them for a bit.

One thing about the Hispanic culture is that they LOVE soccer! They are so good at it too! Each culture I have come to find is good at something unique. The African American community has natural rhythm and the ability to dance and Hispanics have the natural ability and the passion for soccer. God is pretty cool in designing people that way (you can't blame everything on socialization...)