In Their World

by Todd Bowman
Program Director

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment.

The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Laws and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22: 36-40)

This week, I reflect on the fourth portion of the Impact Learning Center’s vision statement – in their world.

Young people using their God-given strengths to make a positive and powerful difference IN THEIR WORLD.

I committed my heart to Christ in high school during a work camp in Spring Canyon, Colorado. It was a difficult week of painting, building, and fixing things. I had never been known as a hard worker, so the week was a stretch for me. I shouldn’t admit this, but I nearly passed out one afternoon in the heat after a particularly strenuous session of clearing brush to prep a camp site. My lunch that day consisted of two Snickers bars because I wasn’t digging the salad and vegetables being served. Following lunch, I was a bundle energy, for about two hours. The remainder of the day found me light headed and dizzy under the shade of a tree.

While the work wasn’t very fun, it was meaningful. I thought about the kids who would be visiting the camp during the summer. I imagined their smiles as they fished on the dock I helped paint. I imagined the ghost stories that would be told late into the evening as they sat around the campfire I helped dig. I imagined the awe in their minds and hearts as they slept under the stars in the camping area I helped clear.

Each evening during that week, our youth group would gather together for a time of praise, worship, prayer, reflection, sharing, and Scripture reading. During that week, God was real. Jesus, through his Word, was alive. The Holy Spirit was transforming my soul.

There are many different ways to help young people grow in their faith and in their knowledge of God. Entertaining Bible lessons, mentoring relationships, and developmentally appropriate praise and worship are all traditionally effective standbys. But one of the most powerful methods is also probably one of the least utilized – service. Service gives legs to our faith.

Each week at Bible Club, City Impact youth learn about Jesus in His word. And each day at the Impact Learning Center, City Impact youth are challenged to live out their faith by making a positive impact in the world around them.

While exhorting youth to impact their world seems rather broad, it really comes down to following Christ’s second great commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. Young people have many neighbors. At home, a young person can help out mom by looking after a younger brother or sister. At school, youth can speak kindly to a classmate who is routinely rejected. In the neighborhood, a young person can organize other youth to clean up a blighted alley.

For urban youth in particular, the message of transforming one’s community is a powerful one. Many of them view their community through the lens of despair and lack of opportunity. The reality that God has powerfully gifted them, and that those gifts can be used to transform the people and places they love allows youth to experience a sense of purpose in the midst of hopelessness.

I’m not certain exactly how Impact Learning Center youth will be transforming their communities in the coming months and years, but I do know God is at work and it will be exciting to watch. These are fun times at City Impact.

One-on-One Lesson

by Bethany Larson

A few days ago, I was startled by pounding in one of the activity rooms where the elementary school students can be found during relax time. I walked in to find our very own Miss Anna and a couple of students pounding on a toy drum. Even in the midst of pandemonium, one specific student’s interest in drumming was obvious. Pounding away, third grader Quincy was focused and kept a beat in spite of the chaos of other students drumming around him.

Miss Anna also noticed Quincy’s interest and drumming ability. The next day her husband, the drummer from the Christian rock band Remedy Drive, came during relax time to give Quincy a one-on-one drumming lesson. For about half an hour, Quincy got to pound on the snare drum and learn a few cadences. He even got to keep some drum sticks that were used by the drummer!

Quincy prized those drumsticks and his face gleamed the rest of the day. This was a great example of how something which most people would identify as noise, was not only music but an opportunity for one student to explore a talent.

To Make A Positive And Powerful Difference

by Todd Bowman
Program Director

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. (Philippians 3:10)

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12)

This week, I reflect on the third portion of the Impact Learning Center’s vision statement:

Young people using their God-given strengths TO MAKE A POSITIVE AND POWERFUL DIFFERENCE in their world.

When I committed my life to Christ as a sophomore in high school, the verses above were instrumental to my growth as a follower of Christ. My high school mentor, John Matzke, told me it didn’t matter that I was young in my faith. He told me I was created for a purpose, which was to know Christ and to be transformed into His likeness. He challenged me to be an example, a role model, and a light for Christ in the places God had put me. I took that exhortation seriously and it was important to me to know that God thought highly of me as a young person.

Young people tend to get a bad rap, oftentimes deservedly so. They can be reckless, self-centered and materialistic. Urban youth, in particular, can be apathetic, angry and violent.

But I wonder if young people often struggle with finding their way simply because the bar is set so low for them. As adults, we often don’t trust youth, so we withhold power and the opportunity for them to have a legitimate voice. In turn, youth become alienated and frustrated. They act out. Many urban youth turn to the streets.

The streets are a powerful lure for urban young people. The streets are open 24 hours a day, accept everyone as they are, provide love and security, and give young people a feeling that they are in control, that they have power.

At the Impact Learning Center, our desire is to offer youth an alternative to the streets. Not a wimpy alternative, but a powerful one – Young people using their God-given strengths TO MAKE A POSITIVE AND POWERFUL DIFFERENCE in their world.

Traditional thinking says young people won’t respond to this vision. Young people are too self-consumed to respond to such a calling. It is too big and demands too much sacrifice. The reality, however, is that many young people are just waiting for adults to expect big things from them, to believe in them, and to trust them. They are waiting for someone to challenge them to build God’s kingdom, to be an IMPACTER, and to transform their world.

Strengths Exposed

by Anna Zach

A month ago there was a big buzz in the Read Room, Miss Anna was going to have a baby. The children were so excited and eager to share their own experiences with new babies. One little girl even told me, “Miss Anna, my mom had a baby and let me tell you, it was not pretty.”

A week or so later the Lord decided to take that little baby home. I was gone for a week and when I returned several of the children came rushing up to me asking me how the baby was and how big it was now and if I knew if it was a boy or a girl yet. I explained to them the baby had died. One of the girls, Tabitha, immediately became very concerned for me. She took me aside and explained to me that my baby was in heaven with God and that he could see me and that he knew that I was his mom. Then she paused a minute and assured me that I could always have another baby. Later that day in class she quietly asked me if we should all talk about what happened together.

Each day that week she did that same thing if there was a child, who had not been there earlier in the week, she wanted to make sure everyone knew. She did this in such a manner as if to insure everyone would be sensitive toward me. Every day that week she asked how I was doing, hugged me and continued to reassure me that my baby was in heaven. At the end of the week she sent me a Stamp letting me know she was sorry that the baby had died.

It should be no surprise to know that one of Tabitha’s strengths is caring. Perhaps in a strange way I was thankful to get to be a part of her having the opportunity to be a blessing by utilizing the very strength God created her with. The traditional relationship between a child and an adult was no obstacle for her, she saw the need for comfort and she was compelled to be a comforter. I was genuinely blessed and comforted by this little girl. I was equally as amazed by her effort to gently lead her peers to have the same attitude of compassion. God has given strengths to each of us, and I have no doubt that He fully intended them to be used as tools of blessing --- regardless of age.

Using Their God-Given Strengths

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

This week, I reflect on the second portion of the Impact Learning Center’s vision statement – using their God-given strengths.

Young people USING THEIR GOD-GIVEN STRENGTHS to make a positive and powerful difference in their world.

Max Lucado, in his book Cure For The Common Life, wonders if historically the church has misinterpreted the verse at the top of this post. As adults, many of us believe if we put kids on the right path, they will never leave it. If we fill them full of Scripture and Bible lessons and sermons, they may rebel, but they will eventually return.

Under this model, young people are empty vessels. From birth through adolescence, it is the responsibility of adults to fill youth with all the right stuff so when they reach adulthood, they are ready to fulfill their destiny in the world.

While adult-driven teaching and training of young people is certainly a piece of the puzzle, I’m not certain it is the entire puzzle. I also like this verse:

I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born.

(Isaiah 44:2)

Do young people have strengths? A better question is, do young people have spiritual gifts? Answer carefully, because if the answer is yes, it may revolutionize the field of youth ministry.

Getting back to Max Lucado, here is his interpretation of Proverbs 22:6, again taken from his book Cure For The Common Life:

The phrase “train up” descends from a root word that means to develop a thirst. Hebrew midwives awakened the thirst of a newborn by dipping a finger in the bowl of crushed dates and placing it in the baby’s mouth. To “train up,” then, means to awaken thirst.

Parents awaken thirst “in the way [the child] should go.” The small word “in” means “in keeping with” or “in cooperation with,” suggesting that babies come with preprogrammed hard drives. The American Standard Bible margins this verse with the phrase “according to his way.”

“Way” refers to a unique capacity or characteristic, whether of an eagle, a serpent, a ship, or a person. If you raise your child “in the way he should go,” you attune yourself to your child’s inherent characteristics and inborn distinctives.

God prewired your infant. He scripted your toddler’s strengths. He set your teen on a trajectory. God gave you an eighteen-year research project. Ask yourself, your spouse, and your friends: what sets this child apart? Childhood tendencies forecast adult abilities. Read them. Discern them. Affirm them. Cheerlead them. (P. 121-123)

At the Impact Learning Center, we believe that God has uniquely gifted every young person. We use this language repeatedly during our many interactions with them each day. The repetition is necessary because for many of them, the language of giftedness is a foreign language.

Many urban youth hear daily what they don’t know or can’t do. They don’t read well. They have bad attitudes. They lack social skills. They engage in destructive behaviors.

At the Impact Learning Center, they have strengths. They are gifted. God gifted them. God gifted them for a purpose. See you next week.

A Sibling Bond

by Ondrea Goranson

“Ok everybody—yo!” I thrust my fist in the air and Team Prints, the third through fifth grade students, followed suite. As soon as the children settled in their seats, I posed a question. “I would like you to raise your hand if you have the strength of ‘Relating’.” Savannah and Quincy, sister and brother, each shot their hands in the air with enthusiasm. I couldn’t help but smile, thankful that we had established something else these two had in common other than their last name.

As many siblings do, Savannah and Quincy have their…disagreements. (How vividly do I recall my younger years of sisterly humiliation, the constant concern for copycatting, and the name calling that typically involved inappropriate bodily functions!) These two are no exception to candid arguments and quick-witted insults. They aren’t quick to show camaraderie, especially when peers are watching. But the moment they discovered that their strengths in “Relating” set them apart from teammates, together, the surprise and unspoken camaraderie was irrefutable.

Savannah and Quincy, along with the rest of the students, listened closely as I explained the power of friendship and importance of close relationships to those who held “Relating” as a strength. I was elated to have their undivided attention as I described the value of loyalty to relaters.

Naturally, these two are still corrected for the occasional tease, tiff or insult. But the quiet connection they made that day was undeniable. Despite their distinct personalities and other differences, the discovery of a common strength (specifically one emphasizing the significance of relationships) brought Savannah and Quincy together in a short, but powerful moment I won’t soon forget.

Young People

by Todd Bowman
ILC Director

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12)

This week, I reflect on the first portion of the Impact Learning Center’s vision statement – young people.

YOUNG PEOPLE using their God-given strengths to make a positive and powerful difference in their world.

In many, if not most youth programs, adults drive the decision making. Adults decide what topics to study. Adults decide what games to play. Adults research the difficulties associated with being an adolescent and adults develop programs based on what they believe youth need.

However, an interesting tenant of positive youth development, also known as strengths-based youth development, is that it does not demand waiting for youth to become old enough and mature enough to trust them with important decisions. It is an approach which does not demand waiting for a young person to grow into leadership.

Instead it is an approach which trusts young people and gives them a powerful voice in shaping their future. It is a philosophy which recognizes that all young people have the capacity to lead, regardless of whether they are in preschool, elementary school, middle school, or high school. It is a set of principles which recognizes that all youth, regardless of the difficult issues or circumstances in their lives, have the capacity to use the assets they currently have to make a positive difference in their community.

I am reminded of a quote by John Perkins, the co-founder and chairman of the Christian Community Development Association and a man who has faithfully ministered to the poor for the past forty years, who said the following at the 2006 CCDA Conference:

Everybody has beauty to unveil. Everybody. Because we bear the image of God.

My favorite definition of this strengths-based approach to youth work is taken from the book More Than Just a Place to Go by Yvonne Pearson:

Positive youth development views youth as resources to be engaged rather as problems to be fixed. P. viii

If one truly believes the statement above, it can’t help but transform your approach to working with youth. In the field of urban youth ministry, where young people are often labeled, categorized, and described with such words as poverty, violence, drugs, and many other negative associations, this approach is even radical.

Is the Impact Learning Center perfect in this endeavor of engaging all young people as leaders rather than trying to fix them? No. But mentally, our organization has made the shift. We are asking different questions. We are considering new possibilities. We are open to a new path.

What will the Impact Learning Center and City Impact look like a year from now? While I can’t answer that question with any certainty, I do know that young people will assist in leading the way.

Lt. Governor Helps Reveal Grant

by Bethany Larson

This morning a press conference at Central Church was held to reveal and inform the public of the $1,703,598 grant awarded to City Impact of Lincoln and Hope Center for Kids of Omaha. The grant, from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation out of Battle Creek, Michigan, will fund strength-based programs and developments of these two programs to empower urban youth and families for three years.

Executive Director Brad Bryan presented and described the grant, as well as the goals for engaging and strengthening Lincoln and Omaha youth. Another honored guest was present to give his support of the grant and the effects it will have in both Lincoln and Omaha youth. Lt. Governor Rick Sheehy pictured with City Impact’s Executive Director Brad Bryan above helped reveal check made out to City Impact and Hope Center for Kids.

Sheehy stated, “…we must define children with what they have and not what they don’t have,” referring to the strengths-based programs being used to help students identify their strengths and build on them to impact their communities.

For more information on the grant or programs visit City Impact’s website www.cityimpact.org. To learn more about Hope Center for Kids in Omaha visit www.hopecenterforkids.org. Also to receive further information on the W.K Kellogg’s Foundation visit their website at www.wkkf.org.

Tune into 10/11 News at 6 or 10 tonight for coverage on the press conference!

Please Share!

Got something to share? Don’t keep it a secret. If you have a comment, question or inspiring story of your own relating to the Impact Learning Center, we want it here on the blog. It was brought to my attention that everybody looking at the blog may not be aware that they comment on the posts. If you wish to make an appropriate comment, than you can click on the envelope symbol below the posting and type your comment.

Remember that we are all about encouraging one another, but I do hope that all viewers, supporters, and volunteers will feel free to share their thoughts.

Youth Impacters

by Todd Bowman
ILC Director

Youth Vision

Youth Empowerment

Youth Engagement

Youth Mobilization

Youth Leadership

Youth Change Agents

Youth Community Builders

Youth Impacters

All of these statements are different ways of communicating the vision of the Impact Learning Center:

Young people using their God-given strengths to make a positive and powerful difference in their world.

When I first arrived at City Impact in December of 2005, I never would have imagined that the statement above would capture the vision for the Impact Learning Center. Having spent twenty years in the field of youth work and twelve years in education, with the past six years being in an urban school setting, the paradigm through which I viewed urban was filled with images of need.

At-Risk

Achievement Gap

Illiteracy

Failure

Poverty

Violence

Drugs

Hopelessness

I reasonably assumed that reaching urban young people involved solving or addressing the myriad of problems these youth faced on a daily basis.

However, an alternative approach to youth development theorizes that the most effective way to positively affect the life of a child is through their strengths. This field of study is known as positive youth development.

While my posts will likely hit on a variety of topics over time, the topic of urban youth as community builders will be a common theme. I invite everyone to join me each week as I explore this powerful new paradigm and its impact on City Impact programs.