We’re excited that Stan Elder has joined our NYWC Cincinnati Host Committee! He’s helping set the stage for all youth workers coming to NYWC 2016 and we wanted to share one of his posts to introduce him to you. Join Stan and thousands of other youth workers at NYWC in Cincinnati!
“Only the churches are willing to help…”
The counselor at Dohn Community School told me. Dohn is called a “last chance” school. This means that the students who go to Dohn have been kicked out of other schools. This counselor was responding to a question about why only Christians were volunteering to help the students at Dohn Community School.
Yes, there are a lot of good people who are not Christians and who are doing great things in their community. As followers of Christ this should be in our DNA. To show the image of Christ, we should passionately love and care for the broken, hurting, and outcast. Matthew 40:31-46 gave a parable of how important it is for those who follow Him to serve the outcast. Jesus presses this point so much that he said,
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
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The organization Heathy Visions started working with Dohn Community School and they quickly saw the desperate need for mentoring. They and the leadership at Dohn put the word out that they need mentors for students who need hope, and someone to champion them. A number of churches and godly people throughout Cincinnati stepped up to the plate.
Mentors from all over Cincinnati receive training and encourage one another. They pray for each other, for their student, and the school. These mentors not only want to help their students, but they want to champion them. Because of their great work, a lot of these students and the school personnel are starting to believe that their story could change.
The picture above is from an end of school year pizza party for the students and mentors in late May. Since that time, a number of mentors are still meeting with their students. These churches truly represent the image of Jesus to these students, and changed the atmosphere of the school.
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STAN ELDER is a passionate follower of Jesus, husband to Nicole, and father of three wonderful children. Stan has been in youth ministry since 1994 and has served in church, para-church and multicultural ministries. As the Southwest Ohio Area Coordinator for NNYM, he has a passion to see churches uniting, communities being healed, schools being reached, and students come to know Jesus. We are Better Together!
The post When People Come Together to Reach a School appeared first on Youth Specialties.
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