The New Year

Craig and I with Young Life President Denny Rydberg

As we look forward to 2013 we do so with excitement and anticipation. We stand on the edge of something big and are making sure we are laying a firm foundation for it. Looking back at 2012 we see the big leaps and bounds that were made towards starting a Young Life club here in Franklin County. As we stand here though we realize we still have a long way to go. In fact, I write this in the middle of a week where our committee and I have pledged to be deep in prayer and fasting as we seek to discover what comes next. While we understand that we have a lot of momentum, we also know we don't have a lot of factors needed to have a sustainable and successful club and so we do want to be very patient. As an impatient person myself, it is especially important for me to slow myself down and understand what the Lord has for us now. It is a wild experience.

Pre-game Warm-ups Before a Home Game

Here in Franklin County we're on the verge of a new semester. For me that means a whole new group of yearbook kids that I get to know. Now Ben and I know over 100 kids and we're excited to have that number grow this semester. We want to build lasting relationships with kids and have been very strategic about that. We decided to go to every basketball game we could rather than just a few. We also wanted to see both the JV and Varsity teams. We've gotten to know a lot of guys on both teams especially during away games where we are the only fans there besides parents. We get to sit with the team and have been thanked countless times for showing up to games as far as two hours away. Our hope is that we're communicating that no matter the distance, win or lose, we're going to show up. If that speaks at all to Christ's character to them, we've done our job.

The Greatest Addition to FranCo Ever: A Brand New Cook-Out

We don't just want to be friends with kids on the basketball team though, or athletes in general. We want to know every kid in the school. As I've been keeping track of the kids we know in the yearbook it hits me more and more how many kids we don't know. We are getting creative with how we meet those kids too. Often when we think of groups of kids in the school we do it around sports teams. We know kids on the basketball team, baseball, soccer, track and football. However, if that's where we stay we miss 95% of the school. We are starting to spread out into getting to know different groups of kids which is scary. We want to know kids that we have nothing in common with. When you look at Jesus' life and ministry he knew people in every type of walk of life from centurions to tax collectors, he was a friend of all. It is such an important thing for us to recognize: Jesus message is for every single kid. When we start club up we want every type of kid in the school there and represented. We want our club to look like the kingdom of God, not a who's who of the school.

Out for Mexican with the Yearbook Kids on Denham's Bday

Where we stand we are desperately in need of prayer. Our biggest prayer is asking the Lord for kids to catch the vision of pursuing their peers for Jesus. We know that even after next year when we'll be adding at least two new leaders (Becca and Kerri) that we are ridiculously outnumbered. Our goal is to reach every kid in the school; 2,200. With four leaders that leaves each of us to run after 550 kids. I'm not sure we can do that. We know that we are going to need kids to come along side us and join us in ministry. Most area's call these kids campaigners. As we move forward this is my biggest prayer. Secondly, we ask for direction. There are so many different ways we could go, and we need the Lord to make it clear for us where we can serve Him best. I am so thankful to have a committee full of people excited to pray and fast about this through the week and for people reading this who will honestly go before the Lord for it. So, I leave you in a place of patience and of waiting. We are excited to see what comes next. I thank you for being a part of it with us.