Where Did Two Years Go?

When I stopped blogging a couple of years ago, it was mostly about priorities. I liked writing Wesley Blog, but I only had so much time to spend doing it each day. Writing a relevant, up-to-date blog requires a lot of reading and research, and things were happening at the time that consistently pulled me away from being able to meet those requirements.

So what have I been up to the past two years?

Well, my day job has taken a significant portion of my time, and so has youth ministry in my church. I'm not sure if I ever told the story here of how I got involved in youth ministry, but for those of you who don't know, I fell into it by accident.

I attend a small, diverse United Methodist church in Southeast Austin, a part of the city with a large percentage of lower income families. A large part of the population is Latino or African-American. When I began attending my church over six years ago, the white 21 year old rookie youth minister who had just inherited a youth group of mostly non-white middle schoolers asked for my help. I agreed to give it a shot (mostly because I had a hard time saying no.) I had nothing in common with any of the kids. I was a not-very-athletic white guy who had just moved to Texas from North Carolina three years before. I didn't know Spanish (which was actually all right because all the kids spoke English) nor did I understand Latino culture. The one thing these kids (at least the guys) were into that I could somewhat relate to was basketball, but I could hardly dribble the ball, much less play a serious game. It was a spectator sport for me. For the first month, I could hardly get any of the kids to talk.

Fast forward 6 years.

I'm now the youth director, our focus has shifted more to unchurched teenagers, and we have gone from having an almost nonexistent high school ministry to specializing in this age group. Our neighborhood high school has a high population of "at risk" students, so the ministry need is great.

And yes, I learned to play basketball in the past two years. I've actually improved my game a lot. I run full court with kids less than half my age who have perfected every street ball move known to humankind, so I guess some of it had to rub off on me eventually. (Being 6'5" really helps too.) The ministry doors really started opening when I started playing. Basketball is a native language for many of my students, and as a missionary, God made me learn to speak it. And I've had more fun doing it than I ever imagined.

This week, I've been helping two guys enroll in college for the first time. One of the guys I've known since he was in middle school, the other since he was a freshman. One became a Christian at a young age, the other when he was a sophomore at a youth group meeting (after basketball if I remember correctly). One almost got deeply involved in a gang several years ago, but thank God he got out and stayed out. He turns 20 this week, and I'm going to be working with him as he further discerns his call to ministry.

Things haven't been stress-free. I've helped some of my students deal with emergencies, broken bones, unplanned pregnancies, and done lots of counseling. I've also gotten frustrated, hit some dead ends, almost quit a dozen times, had a few run-ins with profiling police officers, been charged with jaywalking (a criminal misdemeanor in Austin) been a victim in two hit and run auto accidents, and had my apartment burglarized. But considering some of the stuff going on out there, I think I've been very blessed.

So that's where I am. Now it's time to write again, and I'm ready. I'm going to be sharing youth ministry stories and strategies with you on a regular basis, and you'll probably hear a lot from me about urban ministry in general. Something tells me the usual UMC issues and politics aren't going away, so I expect to be writing about those too.

Stay tuned.

Comments

[Neil]

He's back! I've wondered what you've been up to. I saw your link on John Lomperis' new blog. Glad you're blogging again.

[Ray Reavis]

Isn't it great how God puts us in a position to serve even when we least expect it? Glad to see you're back, and I look forward to seeing more.

Peace,
Ray

[Brother Marty]

Welcome back!
I appreciate your telling of how you got into the youth ministry. We've just hired a new youth minister who was all state in basketball. We have a wonderful facility where b-ball is what it's all about. Your story is inspirational for our ministry and for that I thank you.

Additionally, I appreciate you keeping your thumb on the pulse of the larger Methodist world. I'll check in regularly.

[Jerad]

Years ago your site was a great forum for dialogue between different points of view in the UM family. I look forward to learning and sharing more in the community God has gifted you to create.