Mike King

This is it...

Thinking about the end of another year always leads to a time of reflection.  As I was contemplating the wonderful year of youth ministry at Youthfront my heart was filled with gratitude.  I can honestly declare that 2009 has been one of the best years I’ve experienced in my 34 years at Youthfront.

 

There were so many ministry highlights, such as the numerous Youth worker training events; the Youthfront Alumni Celebration which was an enchanted weekend; the successful launch of two new ministry initiatives – the Parents Network and Feed the Hunger; the brilliant summer ministries at Youthfront Camps and Croc, Mexico; the establishment of Youthfront Missional Institute in the Argentine District of our city; Retreats; Serve Day and much more.

 

There is so much to celebrate and be thankful for.  And then it came to me.  Right in the middle of my reflection I received an e-mail from a youth worker from Texas who I have been dialoguing with over the content in my book Presence Centered Youth Ministry.  Youthfront is involved in training their staff on the Christian Formation of adolescents.  This youth pastor is bringing a large group of young people to Youthfront Camp this summer.  He works with many teenagers who are orphans and those who are facing difficult problems in life.  One 15-year-old girl named Lizzy wrote this…

 

I want to go to Youthfront Camp so I can learn to be loved.

 

I want to go to Youthfront because I want to know what it feels like without this great empty space in my heart.

I want to be told how beautiful I am, I want to be held and I am tired of looking for that in the wrong places.

I am tired of putting my hope and trust into the hands of one boy after another and being let down each and every time.

I want to learn how to look in the mirror and not find something wrong with myself.

I want to learn how to stop comparing myself to those I think are better than me.

I want to learn how to be confident, I want to learn how to stop saying if only, I want to learn how to stop saying I am not good enough, I want to learn how to stop wishing I was anybody else but me.

I want to learn how to smile from the inside. 

I want to learn how to stop hating myself.

I want to go to Youthfront Camp because I want to learn how to see myself through my Creator's eyes.

This is it.  This is why we exist.  This is what we are about, to bring youth into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.  We bear witness to the Great Good News of Jesus who came two thousand years ago, was born in a manger and lived a sinless amazing life.  We bear witness to Lizzy and all the other thousands of young people we minister to – that our triune God through Jesus Christ entered into the pain, brokenness and despair of life and bore the full weight of it on the cross to bring redemption.  We bear witness to the reality that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead as the first fruits of resurrection for us and eternal life through the ages to come.  Youthfront is about transformation from a narrative of death and hopelessness to a narrative of “Life to the Full” through Christ Jesus. 

 

 

 

 

Progress on Cabin 16

2009 was an amazing breakthrough year for Youthfront

In an economy where 75% of Non-Profit Organizations are in trouble financially, 2009 may be remembered as a pivotal year of renewal and rediscovery for Youthfront.

We finished our fiscal year in such a positive position to move forward financially.  All our bills are paid and Youthfront is extraordinarily expanding its reach and impact. 

Our sincere heart’s desire is to be used by God and see more students come into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.  Here’s just a partial list of Youthfront ministries you can remember in your prayers:

•  Youthfront Missional Institute

•  After school programs in Croc, Mexico

•  Retreats at Camp West and Camp South

•  Engage Parenting Events

•  Youth Worker Training Days

•  Camp planning and curriculum development

•  Staff recruitment trips to college campuses

•  Local Youth Worker Networks

•  Stuck in the Middle Conferences for Middle School students (we are a co-sponsor of these events)

•  Feed the Hunger Initiatives

•  Youth Ministry Resource Development

•  Leadership Development Initiatives

•  Teaching and Training at National Youth Ministry Conferences

As we head into the holiday season and the end of 2009 I want to share with you two very important projects – Camp Expansion and Feed the Hunger - that will catapult us into 2010 with compelling momentum.

Project One – Camp Expansion (Completion of Cabin 16)

For the last several years we have painfully had to turn away young people, disappointing them and their parents because we have been overbooked at YouthFront Camp West.    This is a problem that we want to turn into an opportunity.  YouthFront West is designed for early adolescents.

Now is the time.  We feel compelled to move forward with this phase of the YouthFront Camp West Expansion Project by completing Cabin 16.  This is a wonderful opportunity to provide the transformational experience of camp for hundreds more young people. 

We have dedicated ourselves to providing a Christian Camping opportunity for young people that is truly unique – where kids feel loved, accepted and understood; where they are treated as truly unique human beings created in the Imago Dei (image of God) and where the Gospel is passionately proclaimed both verbally and behaviorally.

So far, we've received $118,000.00 toward Cabin 16 and need $32,000 more to complete this project by our spring retreats!

Completing cabin 16 will continue to create more space for young people to be transformed by the Gospel for decades to come.

Project Two – Complete Feed the Hunger Start-up phase.

Last summer we launched a new program called Feed the Hunger at Youthfront camps.  In six months nearly 100,000 meals have been packaged and shipped to those in need.  Young people and youth workers are so excited about Feed the Hunger that we are continuing it as a year-round program.

Feed the Hunger focuses on helping young people understand the importance of proclaiming the Gospel along with embodying the Gospel, not only “over there” but also where they live, here and now.

Feed the Hunger is engaging thousands of young people to address the issue of world hunger and the reality that this year more than 10 million people will die of starvation, more than half of this number will be children.

We did not know that Feed the Hunger would involve teenagers from all across the USA in less than six months.  We have received some generous funding to complete the “start-up phase” of the Feed the Hunger program including purchase of assembly lines and equipment to package meals, develop curriculum, buy a trailer for shipping and hire a staff person to take this initiative to the next level of growth and development.  We have received $45,000 and need another $15,000 to finish the start-up phase.

Completing the start-up phase for the Feed the Hunger will provide an infrastructure for young people to be formed as disciples and an operation that will provide tens of thousands of nutritional meals for those who are suffering from the effects of starvation.

I am so impressed with the generation of young people whom God is raising up.  They are eager to make a difference in their world.  They are sharing the story of Jesus with their friends.  They are stepping into service and leadership in their schools and churches.  They are saying no to the world’s agenda of materialism and immorality.  They are feeding the poor.  They are engaging in the pursuit of God’s Will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven!

Youthfront’s fund-raising goal before January 1, 2010 to complete Cabin 16 in the Camp Expansion project and the Start-up Phase of the Feed the Hunger program is $47,000. 

What is truly exciting is the feeling that we are moving forward boldly with positive and healthy growth instead of trying to keep our heads above the waters of economic uncertainties.  Please keep us in your prayers and I will update you on our progress.

 

New Cabin at Youthfront Camp West

We recently received a significant gift that will move the completion of a new cabin to the front burner at Youthfront Camp West.  If you are interested here are a few pictures and a progress report.

*  The basement floor was poured last week and it looks really great.

*  The main I-beam should be delivered soon! We got it for less than 1/2 price!

*  We've been getting bids on roofing, electrical, drywall, and carpet installation while looking for folks who would be willing to donate their time and expertise.

*  The walls of the cabin have already been built and are presently being squared up to be delivered next week.

*  We have been getting bids on the remaining lumber needed as well as insulation, paint, shingles, drywall, etc.  We are also connecting with Team Home Depot's volunteer labor program!

*  We are hoping to beat the bad weather which is sure to come.  We need teams of volunteers to help with construction.  Maybe you're small group at church could plan to spend a weekend doing some work on the Cabin.  Installing insulation, drywall, painting, etc.

We are praying that our year end giving will be strong.  Here is a copy of the Year End Appeal that I just finished.    Download Year End Appeal 2009

Monday at Youthfront

There is so much going on this week in the world of Youthfront and the King Family.  We have been in a real growth and synergistic phase in our ministry.  Lot's of great things are going on.  We (King Family) are also getting ready for a big wedding this week.  Our daughter Jessica is getting married to Micah Thomas (who works at Youthfront).  So the two worlds mix it up.  It all makes for great times.

Youthfront hosted Ed Dobson on Monday to speak to ministry leaders and staff.  We've know Ed and Lorna Dobson for thirty years.  It was very fulfilling, given Ed's and my past history of fundamentalism, to find ourselves where we are today.  It was also cool to have my friend Zack Exley (an architect of MoveOn.org) who has become a Christian and Ed Dobson (an architect of Moral Majority) in the same room and have now met (I wanted to say in the middle but it is more beautiful than that) at the table of the Lord Jesus.

Anyway, this was a great day.  Part of our Youthfront Rhythm of Life is to eat together as a staff at least once a month.  Since the weather was in the mid-seventies we fired up the grill and ate outside.  Jimmy Dodd and Roy Bilyeu from PastorServe came to present the PastorServe Founder's Award to Youthfront.  Youthfront was integral in launching this ministry to serve Pastors.  On their 10th Anniversary they honored Youthfront.  I accepted the award at a citywide banquet of pastors a month ago but they came to present it to our entire staff and honor them.  It was a sweet time.

Vicki and me with Ed and Lorna, Micah our son and Micah our soon to be son-in-law.

Jimmy Dodd and Roy Bilyeu presenting PastorServe Founder's Award.

Still Time to Come Learn from Andy Root

My friend Andy Root is spending the next couple of days with us here in Kansas City.

Andy Root, PhD (Princeton Theological Seminary) is Assistant Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary. He is the author of Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry: From a Strategy of Influence to a Theology of Incarnation (IVP, 2007) and Relationships Unfiltered (Zondervan/YS, 2009).

We are expecting around 100 youth workers to spend the day with Andy tomorrow (Thursday, November 5th from 9:00 to 2:30 at Youthfront.

 

Andy is making a huge impact on the theological thinking of youth workers.  It's not too late to come if you are in the Midwest.  More information here.

God's Love...

video reports

I get two video reports each day, one from each camp.   I love it because it keeps me feeling connected even when I'm stuck in the office.

Croc

Our staff in Mexico are enduring the heat, avoiding the hyped-up Swine Flu, hosting a steady stream of youth groups coming to participate in the manifestation of God's mission and faithfully striving to live missionally within the little village of Croc.  Here are a few pictures from Katie Jarmer... the first one is a picture of our staff.

video