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.

"You Don't Make Eye Contact!"

I love being married to Ruth. There is an innocence about her that is engaging and the source of a few laughs in our family. Recently she told me of her first encounter witnessing a drug deal in one of the projects where we work. This project is one of the worst in our city and is home to five of our teen moms. As Ruth was sitting in her car waiting for one of the mothers and her kids she noticed a car and driver behaving strangely. The car circled the parking area three times and then stopped. Someone came out of one of the apartments and an exchange took place. Another time around the lot and then there was another delivery at the car's window. Once more the scene played out. Just like your mailman stops at your house, so does your local drug dealer.

As Ruth was telling me about what she saw, I became concerned since there have been numerous shootings at this location. I asked her "Did he see you?" "Oh yeah," she responded, "I gave HER a dirty look." "What? You made eye contact?!" "YOU NEVER MAKE EYE CONTACT!" You see it's dangerous to see and be seen in some settings. Even a 64 year old grandmother isn't safe.

Please pray for Ruth, Becky, Andy and Kate, and Ray V. as they go into some troublesome areas. We don't feel unsafe but know that we need the protection of God and the prayers of His people. Thank you for standing by us in prayer and supporting us in giving. Our finances at YFC are very much impacted by fear of the economy. Giving is down considerably for Ruth and I as well as for Andy and the City Life program. If you could make a sacrificial year end gift we would be deeply appreciative. Thank you for partnering with us to reach what some regard as the "least and the lost."

For Christ and the kids.


Ray and Ruth

Welcome to my blog!

We want you to know that we are changing how we communicate with our partners and friends of Youth for Christ. Instead of receiving a monthly prayer letter from each specific ministry area or staff members that you are connected with, we will be publishing this newly designed Youth Matters. We’ll keep you updated with a calendar of events, prayer requests, teen testimonies, ways you can get involved and we will honor a special volunteer each month. You will be directed to each ministry’s website and prayer blog, to read more frequently updated news, prayer requests, praise reports, family news, etc. on any of the ministries you are interested in. (see inside – Meet Our Team). We will be able to mail this new version of Youth Matters at bulk rate postage and save time and $$ each month – in printing and postage costs.

We hope you will welcome this change and frequently check out the websites/prayer blogs for the specific ministry area that you are most connected with. AND we hope you’ll visit the others as well, to learn more about the scope of our ministry and how we all are working together to reach kids throughout the whole Capital Region.

Thanks for standing with us… helping us love kids in Jesus’ name. Your partnership is making a difference.


--Ray