Ministry To The “Unreachable”
To a person who didn’t know, this would seem like a typical conversation between a student and adult leader. However, this is a message between an unchurched student and a guy who works security at our church. There are a few stereotypes being broken here.
This student is one of many who don’t attend our church, but use our skate park on the weekends during services. These students have a rough appearance and a demeanor that communicates they’re not interested in talking or having anything to do with church.
A security guard (who was a police officer for 30 years) stereotypically wouldn’t mix well with this crowd. This is true not just because of the occupation, but because Matt, the guard, is older, tragically “unhip”, and not somebody who displays an “I a skater who can do a phat ‘rolling nosehook impossible……board side kickflip out….ollie……manual…..’”-attitude. (I had to ask a student for what to put for skater tricks – I hope those words make sense to somebody – I don’t know what they mean.)
What’s happened is Matt has broken through the barriers to reach these students. Dug down into the soft part of their hearts and led them to the road to healing. Matt recently gave his testimony at a weekend service. His is an amazing story of personal tragedy and recovery. Not everybody has to go down this road to reach these students. Matt is an example of what can happen when youth workers care enough to take the risk to reach into the lives of “unreachable” students.
Here’s Matt’s story:
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Filed under: Testimony, Trophy Case
