Dear Friends

God on the Clock

While my primary ministry is with young people, every once in a while a different opportunity comes up. Two weeks ago I was asked to speak to a group of homeless veterans. The youngest member of the group was a marine just home from Iraq and the oldest were Vietnam era vets. After sitting with them awhile, introducing myself and making small talk, I said, "You know guys, I am a story teller. I love to tell stories and I would like to tell you guys a story of an event that took place nearly 2000 years ago. I opened my Bible and with great affect read the story in Matthew chapter 8 of Jesus and the disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee. I described the storm, the picture of Jesus asleep in the boat and the panic of the disciples. As I looked around the room each of the fellows was very engaged as the conversation turned to the storms of life. Their stories reflected all kinds of storms and they seemed to be able to identify with the disciples and their fear. I spoke of the fact that Jesus has control of every circumstance of our lives and that the risen Savior no longer sleeps. I shared with them how they could call on him for help and how He could speak "peace be still" into their lives. They all seemed very receptive except for the young marine. He was looking down, his fists clenched and saying, "Sometimes the storm's too hard; sometimes the storm's too hard. I haven't seen my son in weeks, his mother got a court order against me." Then began a string of profanity aimed at the child's mother, the court system and his lawyer. He got louder and louder and more belligerent with his counselor who was in the room.

Suddenly I was shocked to hear myself say in a very bold tone, "G, look me in the eye." He didn't look up. "Look at me," I challenged him. "When I pray, God answers. I'm going to pray for you right n0w and within two weeks God will make it possible for you to see your son. Do you believe me?" His eyes were locked with mine as he said, "Yes sir." Now here's the strange thing. I never give God time lines. I always tell people that God will work in His own time. But I had put God on the clock in front of G and the other men in the room. I made him promise to not follow through on any of his threats and then I prayed. After prayer I crossed the room and hugged him as he cried. As I hugged him I whispered in his ear, "Trust Jesus, G, He's going to work this out." Shortly after, I left to go back to work. Later that day, his counselor called me to tell me that G, without his lawyer, had gone to see the judge and that the judge had promised to draw up new papers the next day. That next weekend G and his little boy spent two days together at the home of a family member. Please pray that G and the other men in the group will understand the power of God that changes lives.

I Will Fear No Evil

Ruth and I meet with a group of people from various agencies that address the needs of teens in our city. One of the providers is part of a national organization whose mission statement includes "working for reproductive rights for women" and is one of the largest providers of abortions in the country. The meeting was scheduled for their facility and I have to admit I had doubts about whether I should go. As I approached the door of the fortress like entrance, I was repeating to myself "love the sinner, hate the sin." Like a warrior preparing for battle I reached for the front door, pulled it open, and suddenly I heard in my mind words that my pastor had once repeated! Those words were, "Love the sinner, hate your own sin." In that instant my heart broke. Probably the two greatest reasons for the many abortions performed in our country are finances ("I can't afford this right now") and convenience ("This just isn't a good time to have a baby.") My own heart was filled with grief as I thought of my own greed and selfishness. As I took my second step nto the building there was little doubt that I was the chief of sinners in that place. We walked through the waiting room and into the meeting room where the organization's representave and representatives of other religious and secular groups were waiting. As we went through the introductions, it was clear that we were the only evangelicals. "Ray and Ruth" the leader said, "We'd like to hear what you are doing in the community." We jumped in and just began telling stories of lives changed by the power of Christ. We told story, after story, after story and began to realize that all of the people in the room were moved to tears. They started passing tissues around and finally one said "How do you account for these results?" There, in the valley of the shadow of death we proclaimed the resurrection. Simply and quietly we told how the Way, the Truth and the Life was the difference maker. As we left, all asked us to return and give updates on what we were doing and several asked if they could come and observe. I went out to my car and cried, thanking God that he had considered us worthy to speak life into darkness. Thank you for your part in both of these adventures and the many others that we are privileged to have.

Two Great Needs

Please pray for the following: 1) We are in need of $30,000 to up grade our City Life building. This fall our local inner city high school will be bringing nine hundred students (the entire freshman class) during school time, to our anti-bullying, anti-suicide program. We will have about 75 students and six to eight teachers at each individual event. The building, however, needs electrical work, air conditioning, new windows, new tile, and a serviceable kitchen. 2) We are in need of approximately $1000 this summer for activities for our teen parents program.

Family Business

Please pray for our family as this summer we not only have Domonica and Zanaiya living here but our 11 year old granddaughter, Victoria and a 19 year old summer intern from Indiana. Life is extremely busy and very noisy. Pray that we may take hold of the grace of God to be the best example possible of His love. Thank you for all your prayers and financial support.

For Christ and the kids,

Ray and Ruth

Domonica

Many things have changed in my life over the past year and a half. My biggest personal accomplishment has to be the completion of my first year at the College of Saint Rose. I'm still living with the Lightcaps and consider them to be my family. Even beyond being my family, they are my Mom and Dad, which to me is huge because I have never called anyone by those names before in my life. God has always done amazing things in my life, even when I was naive and would blind myself to His gracious ways. I have come to realize that I am not perfect, I do mess up, but with His help I have become a better person, a happy person, and I see myself living more for Him everyday.

Before moving into the Lightcaps with my daughter Zanaiya, who just turned 4, I had been going through a lot of personal, and spiritual hardship. One of my main problems was letting go of control of my life and letting God lead me. When you're put into a world and given hard circumstances without much guidance, it's hard to believe, or feel that there is another person bigger and greater than yourself that has a plan for your life. I was unaware that God's plans for me were greater than any plan I would have thought up on my own.

This summer I have the amazing opportunity to work with YFC's City Life Program, mentoring middle and high school students. many of the students face the same difficulties in life as I did. I plan on becoming their friend for the summer and helping them to see that in God they will have a friend forever. I would love for someonme else to realize that they don't have to go through this life alone, and hopefully they will gain a better understanding of what it is to have a relationship with the Lord.

In order to cover my expenses at YFC, I need to raise $5,000. One June 6, I will be participating in YFC's annual Step-by-Step walk. Please would you consider making a donation to my walk? Thank you for helping me make a difference in someone's life just as the people at YFC have made a difference in my life.

Domonica

A GREAT OPPORTUNITY

A GREAT OPPORTUNITY

Two weeks ago a young father to be showed up unexpectedly at our Teen Mom’s meeting with his 15 year old pregnant girlfriend. We had never met either of them before but that night God presented a smooth introduction. The young girl was quickly welcomed by 2 of our older moms who have already given their lives to Christ. The 15 year old hit it off with Domonica, the young mom that lives with us. Domonica and Ebony helped T feel right at home. Upstairs, I (Ray) was standing guard at the entrance (a necessity since some of our girls have come out of abusive relationships). It was there that I first met J. Remember the verse, “Jesus, looking on the young man, loved him.”? That’s what happened that night. J is very shy but we talked for almost an hour about where he was going in life and what kind of a man he wanted to be. He was extremely open and relaxed in talking about the things of God. He believed, he said, that Jesus was the Son of God, died for his sins (of which he confessed many) and rose again. The question for him was whether he would make Jesus the Lord of his life. He is still grappling with that as he reads through the Gospel of John that I gave him. We prayed together that night and went our separate ways.
On the Saturday before Easter I remembered him saying that he and his girl friend would like to start going to church. I called and invited them and at 8 am on Resurrection morning picked them up and brought them to church. They stayed for my Bible class and were warmly welcomed as we talked about the power of the resurrection.
They will be back and we will continue to follow up with them and all the teens and early twenties that attend. Please pray that these two in particular will surrender their life. Neither comes from a stable home situation and the challenges they face are huge. Pray for wisdom for us as we deal with this and many more complex socio/spiritual situations.

TWO GREAT NEEDS

We are in the midst of planning our budget for YFC for July 2009-June 2010. This summer we would like to hire Domonica to work as an intern in our City Life program. Domonica lives with Ruth and I and we have watched her Spiritual and emotional development over the year and a half we have known her. She will be 20 years old this September and is gifted in working with younger teenagers. She has been a chaperone on several retreats and we have really come to appreciate the rapport she has with city kids.
A second need is to increase Ruth’s hours or rather to pay her for the hours she works. Ruth routinely puts 30 or more hours a week but has only raised funds to cover 20 hours.
For these two needs we need to raise $5,000 for Domonica and about $40,000 a year for Teen Parents. Ruth currently has about $25,000 a year pledged. Perhaps there are some of you who like Ruth and I, will pledge $100 a month for 5 months to cover Domonica’s expenses. Perhaps you could give a one time gift to our Step by Step walk. We are in need of others to pledge monthly for Ruth’s ministry with Teen Parents and for others to give a one time gift to our SBS walk for Teen Parents. Please consider helping us out as we seek to reach kids with the life-changing power of Jesus Christ. As I have said in previous letters, your gifts will be used on the front lines of God’s work with lost teens.
May God bless you richly.
For Christ and the kids,



Ray and Ruth

WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND!

This past weekend demonstrated some of the fruit of our labors here in our Teen Parents Program. In church yesterday, I had the privilege of baptizing Nicole, one of our Teen Moms, as a follower of Jesus Christ. In her testimony to the congregation of several hundred people she shared that she had read through the Bible two times since surrendering her life to Jesus in May. She has read through several devotional books and is now keeping a journal based on the scriptures that she marked with highlighter these past ten months. Later in the service, I called her and her two little ones forward so she could dedicate them to the Lord. None of her biological family would attend the day’s events but our church family and YFC family rose to the occasion to stand with her. Later people from YFC and church came over to the house to celebrate.

On a second front, two of our teen moms got babysitters and served as chaperones for our Snowblast retreat. Twenty some inner city kids from high school and middle school as well as some suburban kids were ministered to by these two gals who are following hard after Jesus. Ebony, herself just baptized a month ago, and Domonica roomed with teens and served as small group leaders. What a blessing to hear the reports of the opportunities they had to share with kids younger than themselves. God has his hand on all three of these gals in a very special and discernable way. Please pray that they would go ahead and grow ahead for God.

PATIENCE

I recognize the communication coming from Ruth and me is not as regular and consistent as it once was. Please be patient with us as we work out the demands of our jobs and raising two foster children. Domonica lives at school five days a week so we have full responsibility her little one, Zanaiya, and it is sometimes difficult to balance all the things in our lives. Ruth is being paid on the basis of a twenty hour a week position but routinely puts in close to thirty hours. There is the possibility that she could be compensated for the additional time if we can raise the funds. When the needs are great it is difficult for her to just stop and be a clock watcher. With our teen parents director resigning as of March 13, please pray for wisdom for us. Thank you for your patience. We could not do what we do without your gifts and prayers. Please know of our deep and profound love for all who serve with us in this ministry.

WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND!

This past weekend demonstrated some of the fruit of our labors here in our Teen Parents Program. In church yesterday, I had the privilege of baptizing Nicole, one of our Teen Moms, as a follower of Jesus Christ. In her testimony to the congregation of several hundred people she shared that she had read through the Bible two times since surrendering her life to Jesus in May. She has read through several devotional books and is now keeping a journal based on the scriptures that she marked with highlighter these past ten months. Later in the service, I called her and her two little ones forward so she could dedicate them to the Lord. None of her biological family would attend the day’s events but our church family and YFC family rose to the occasion to stand with her. Later people from YFC and church came over to the house to celebrate.

On a second front, two of our teen moms got baby sitters and served as chaperones for our Snowblast retreat. Twenty some inner city kids from high school and middle school as well as some suburban kids were ministered to by these two gals who are following hard after Jesus. Ebony, herself just baptized a month ago, and Domonica roomed with teens and served as small group leaders. What a blessing to hear the reports of the opportunities they had to share with kids younger than themselves. God has his hand on all three of these gals in a very special and discernable way. Please pray that they would go ahead and grow ahead for God.

PATIENCE

I recognize the communication coming from Ruth and me is not as regular and consistent as it once was. Please be patient with us as we work out the demands of our jobs and raising two foster children. Domonica lives at school five days a week so we have full responsibility for her little one, Zanaiya, and it is sometimes difficult to balance all the things in our lives. Ruth is being paid on the basis of a twenty hour a week position but routinely puts in close to thirty hours. There is the possibility that she could be compensated for the additional time if we can raise the funds. When the needs are great it is difficult for her to just stop and be a clock watcher. With our teen parents director resigning as of March 13, please pray for wisdom for us. Thank you for your patience. We could not do what we do without your gifts and prayers. Please know of our deep and profound love for all who serve with us in this ministry.

For Christ and the Kids,



Ray and Ruth

LOOKING FOR HOPE IN A HOPELESS WORLD


Jae is twenty years old and has three children ages 4, 3, and one month old. At a recent group meeting where we were sharing the Christmas story, she told us that she had never heard the story before and did not know who Mary and Joseph were. What an opportunity God has opened up for us to share the story of God’s love with this young mom. I met with Jae a few days later and gave her a Bible story book that depicted the birth of Jesus. She read it to her boys that very night. She shared her story and told me that her current boyfriend was in jail and would Ray consider visiting him. She also wanted to talk to Ray about baptizing her baby.

A week or so later, Ray and I met with Jae together. We discovered then that although she was interested in talking with us, her openness to things of God were not what we had first thought. My initial reaction was to be very discouraged but then I realized that this was all part of the process. As we continue to show Jae God’s amazing love we are confident that she will respond in God’s time, not ours.

Thank you for praying and please continue to pray as we continue to share God’s story and intertwine it with her story. Pray that she will soon respond to the gentle tug.

CHRISTMAS IN THE STABLE


In a scene reminiscent of West Side Story, the teen parents and their children began to drift into the room. Body posture and language are not so much a matter of ethnic background as they are of geography. Most of the teens in our program come from the city. They walk, talk, and act in accordance with their culture. The ten teen dads each walked in, surveyed the room with a glare and quickly sat down talking to no one. The moms huddled together according to ethnicity while the children clung very close to their moms, hugging legs and sitting on laps. In accordance with the culture each adult staked out his or her territory.
On a dark night in Bethlehem a light broke forth in the sky alerting shepherds to the arrival of the Light of the World. 2008 years later, in a church basement, the Light would shine again, startling teen parents rather than shepherds. Greeters fanned out in the room, a local church group busily prepared a meal fit for a king and faces in the room began to change. Games, conversation, Christmas music in the background and a sumptuous feast, all in the name of Jesus, melted the cold December hearts of 17 moms and 10 dads. They watched, transfixed as a video clip portrayed in beautiful detail the harsh entry into the world of our loving God and Savior. A brief Gospel message was delivered over the voices and restless stirrings of 21 infants and children. At the end of the evening gifts were distributed but the greatest Gift of all had already touched lives.
As the evening wound down teen fathers talked to each other and to volunteer leaders, moms encouraged each other and racial lines were blurred. The difference between the group’s coming and going was discernible. THEY HAD SEEN THE LIGHT! “Oh God, please let them receive the light.”
Thank you so much for being a part of this evening through your prayers and gifts. Please help us continue to do this work. In frightening times we face staff cuts or salary cuts. Please help us to believe in a God who is larger than the sum of all our fears.