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| A Change of PlansDear Friends,
After almost 8 years with the ministry of Ground Zero, God has made it clear that He has something new in store. As of May 24th, I will no longer be working with Ground Zero.
Within 8 days of agreeing with God that it was time to move on, and without telling anyone besides Kelly about that decision, I was offered a job with the ministry of First Priority of America. After much prayer and consideration, I accepted a position with First Priority of America and received training for my new role as a Regional Consultant.
An answer to prayer, my new job allows our family to remain in Johnson City. I am the first of 40 Regional Consultants to be hired across the country, which allows me to define my region. Covering parts of 5 states, the Blue Ridge Region contains more than 1,000,000 teenagers. This map shows the new region and the eleven sub-regions that I will work to develop First Priority ministries in. (Note: if you live within my region, I would love to help you and your community establish a First Priority ministry to reach the teenagers of your community!)
First Priority of America was established in 1982 by Founder Benny Proffitt. It's mission is: Raising Leaders, Reaching a Generation and Restoring our Nation.
First Priority of America exists to resource, mentor, and guide cities and communities as they implement the First Priority ministry strategy. Each regional network is uniquely designed to reach the culture around them. First Priority has been effectively established in urban, suburban, and rural cities and communities.
For more information on First Priority, check out their website: www.firstpriority.org
As the new position gets up and running, God has provided a "filler" position. Starting next week, I will be the Interim Children's Pastor at our church, Heritage Baptist Church of Johnson City. This part time job will help to pay some of our bills as the budget for my new position is raised.
I will continue to work with the churches and youth pastors in our area, maintaining Grab The Grub, helping churches adopt schools for ministry and training students for campus ministry. Events such as Winter Jam, other Christian concerts, Impact Worship and the Four Course Meal should continue on as well, as individuals and other area ministries take on those projects (I'll work with them, too).
Thank you for your prayers and support!! My family is excited about God's new direction in our lives!
Please note my new email address: haley@firstpriority.org.
In His Service,
Haley | | |
| Up and DownHappy Valentine's Day!
Wow, the past few weeks have been an exciting and stressful time. Many ups and downs...the ups that confirm we are doing what God has called us to do, and the downs that cause us to doubt and worry.
Because we value your prayer and support, I want to share with you our roller coaster ride.
UP!
Kelly and I attended Conclave 2008. Conclave is a youth worker convention of the Baptist Associations from 6 southern states. Not only was the conference encouraging and exciting as volunteer youth workers from our church, but it confirmed what God is doing in the ministry of Ground Zero. For instance: I attended a seminar on how churches can impact schools. The vision cast was what GZ is already doing through our Impact Church strategy. The seminar leader ended up asking me many questions about what churches in our area are already doing for the schools.
Down.
My Grandmother (my father's mom) became very ill with a kidney and blood infection. After several days in the hospital, she returned home only to suffer a stroke a few days later. She is currently still in the hospital undergoing rehab.
UP!
I was accepted by Group Workcamps as an MC (camp speaker) to speak at two of their missions camps this summer. I'll be working a camp in Pennsylvania in June and one in Oklahoma in July! I've always been interested in being a camp speaker and God has provided that opportunity!
Down.
Year-end gifts towards our support were at the lowest level we've experienced since becoming missionaries. Add to that the fact that Kelly hasn't had a house to sell in about 5 months and we are struggling financially. It is a HUGE burden on both of us as we wonder how we'll pay the house note this month (As I do right now as I type...house note is due tomorrow and not enough in our checking account to cover it). The issue of finances is the most consistent burden and the biggest source of doubt and worry that we have.
UP!
A 19 year old male student emailed me anonymously sharing that he is battling homosexual desires and asking for advice. It was encouraging to have a student open up to me, even if it was anonymous. I replied to his message, asking God to speak to him through me.
Down.
This 19 year old guy's struggle is just a sample of what this young generation is going through. As I see our country slowly sinking into immorality, I have a huge burden for these kids and the uphill battle they face every day.
More UPs!
- Milligan College asked me to train a class of their students for evangelism.
- God provided an overnight stay and concert tickets for Kelly and I on Valentine's night.
More Downs.
- Brock did not make the school's 8th grade baseball team. He was very discouraged, but he has been a trooper and stayed positive.
- Kelly has been battling high blood pressure and has had a problem finding medication that will control it but have no side effects. Her first medication made her cough 24 hours a day. The next one made her violently ill. Her current medication is showing promise.
Please keep our family in your prayers!! Without your prayers and support, we couldn't be making differences in the lives of teenagers!
In His Service,
Haley | | |
| Here's a different empowering story from GZ...The local band, Say You Will (formerly known as First At Last), won Ground Zero's Battle of the Bands in August (as part of the Johnson City Parks & Rec Summer Concert Series).
In September, members of the band volunteered at our Shoutfest event. During the event, members of the band were able to give out samples of their music to the artists and directors of Shoutfest as well as talk with several Christian bands for advice on taking their ministry to the next level.
Because Say You Will won our Battle of the Bands, they opened for EleventySeven at our November Impact Event. They struck up a great relationship with EleventySeven, who "put in a good word" for them in the Christian music industry.
All of this had a part in getting Say You Will a chance to compete as a "wild card" band in the national Shoutfest Battle of the Bands. The winner of which would be signed with INO Record label in Nashville and tour with Shoutfest in 2008.
They won the competition!
Say You Will's heart is for sharing Christ with their generation.
I don't know all the details, but I'm excited at how God has used GZ to be a part of their story.
Check out their website:
sayyouwillband.com
and their MySpace page: myspace.com/sayyouwillband
Empowering the Christian community to reach and disciple teenagers for Jesus Christ!
In His Service,
Haley | | |
| “If you hadn’t come to me, I would be in jail or dead now.”It was one of those moments that we live for! It’s why we got involved in youth ministry in the first place! It’s a taste of the sweet spiritual fruit that results from our calling and our passion for students!!
It all started yesterday morning, when my cell phone rang. It was Alfredo. Alfredo is a 27 year-old Mexican immigrant. Although I had been communicating with him through email and the occasional phone call, I had not seen him in over 8 years. He was one of the first students who accepted Christ as their Savior during my first youth pastor job. He was on his way through Tennessee and wanted to know if I had time to meet him for a couple of hours. Of course, I said yes, and we met at Cracker Barrel for lunch.
I tell his story often. He’s the one example I have witnessed of God TOTALLY changing someone in the blink of an eye. At 6 feet – 4 inches, he was an intimidating teenager. He was well known in his school as a punk and a bully, and by local law enforcement as a juvenile delinquent.
I’m not sure of the time of place that we first met, but I know it was through one of the students in my youth group. His reputation had preceded him, and when I shook his hand, I knew why he was feared by many. I’m a pretty big guy, but he made me feel like a child as I looked up at him and introduced myself.
I invited him to church, but at first, he didn’t accept. Yesterday, he told me why he finally took me up on my offer…”Because the church had a pool table.” he said. Turns out he was making money in the local pool halls betting on games and had run into a guy he couldn’t beat. Instead of paying 50 cents a game to practice, he wanted to use the “free” pool table at the church. (What Satan means for evil, God uses for good!!)
It didn’t take long before he became a regular at our youth activities. At church, he was calm and quiet, mixing well with the other students, participating in discussions and listening to my talks. However, at school and in the community, his attitude and behavior didn’t change.
That spring, I convinced him and a couple of his friends to attend an Acquire the Fire conference with our youth group. 36 of us loaded up the vans and headed to Winston Salem, NC.
I remember asking God, as I drove down I-77, if I was making any serious difference in the lives of the students that He had placed into my care. Like Alfredo, they were coming to church, but not one of them had even asked me a serious spiritual question, much less made a decision for Christ. That night, God answered my question.
Alfredo and 7 other students made first time confessions of faith in Jesus Christ that night at the alter call. It was a night of conviction, brokenness and healing. We were up until the AM that night, ministering and loving on kids as they confessed, cried and rejoiced in their new found lives.
Alfredo was not only broken, he was heavily convicted and burdened for all of the people he had bullied, cheated and lied to. It’s not often you see a 6’-4”, 300+ pound man break down in tears, sobbing uncontrollably, but Alfredo was devastated at the thought of all the people he had harmed. That night and throughout the remainder of the weekend, that conviction turned into a determination to make things right, to apologize to everyone he had ever hurt and do whatever it would take to make things right.
In the blink of an eye he was a totally different person! Not only in his thinking, but in his appearance, his demeanor and his attitude. He had gone from a hardened punk to a peaceful child. From an intimidating figure to a soft spoken, tender man. From someone who sought to harm to someone who sought to heal.
He was such a different person that most people did not believe him when he returned home. It crushed him that people distrusted him so much that they refused to believe what was obviously different about him. It took him more than a year to convince the community that he was a changed person.
He’s now happily married with two young daughters, living in Arkansas. He’s a fire fighter, volunteer youth minister and small group leader. He and his wife want to build a ranch for at-risk children. He’s living life to the fullest, loving every minute of what God has given him.
“If you hadn’t come to me, I would be in jail or dead now.” he said as he looked me in the eyes yesterday. God was using his voice to say, “This is why I called you!”
Despite the kid who ignored me last week at the mall in front of his friends, and all the kids who never gave me another thought or never said “Thanks” for anything I have done for them, and all the parents who have done squat to back me up…it’s all been worth it for what Alfredo has done with his life.
So, for all of you youth workers who never hear “thank you”….for all of you who give to missionaries and your church and wonder, “Is it making a difference?”...and for all of you who wonder “Why has God called me to this?”...GOD IS USING YOU WETHER YOU SEE THE FRUITS OF YOUR LABOR OR NOT!
I’m praying that God will give you a glimpse of His work through you as he did for me yesterday!! Remember, you will hear it from His mouth eventually, “Well done my good and faithful servant!”
In His Service,
Haley
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| 180 Day Mission TripWhen Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick. Matthew 14:14
I have never been on a mission trip outside of the United States. Well, actually I did venture into Mexico during a mission trip to Texas, once, but it was for food and shopping, not for ministry purposes. The mission trips I have been on have all been within the USA. For some people, those trips were not considered “real” missions trips.
In order to be “real” a missions trip seems to require three things:
1) The location for ministry must be far away. The further, the better.
2) The people we minister to must be different from us. They must look, sound and act differently than we do.
3) A specific time or special occasion. Preferably during the summer.
This seems odd to me, especially when I take a look at how Jesus did His three-year “mission trip”.
Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He didn’t seem to have the same requirements for missions as we do. For instance, He didn’t travel any further than He could walk. He didn’t limit His outreach to people unlike Himself. Nor did he wait for a specific time or special occasion to minister.
I would like to propose three new requirements for “missions” following Jesus’ example:
1) Wherever you are.
2) Whoever you are with.
3) Whenever you see a need.
180 days a year, your students take a “trip” to one of the largest mission fields in the entire world, their schools. Check this out…
• There are over 20,000,000 teenagers in the United States.
• Approximately 90% of these kids attend public schools.
• That’s 18 million students in our public schools.
• According to Teen Mania, only 4% of them are born again Christians.
• 17 million American teenagers do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
• There are 166 countries in the world with populations less than 17 million.
What are you teaching your students about missions? Do you communicate that missions only happens in foreign countries, to people of different cultures and only during the second week of July? Or, are you teaching them that missions is wherever they are (their schools), to whoever they are with (their peers), and whenever they see a need?
That’s all it takes! You, as their youth leader, only have to encourage them in one of those three areas. After all, the government requires them to attend school, and they hang out with their peers anyway. What you have to help them do is identify needs.
How? By helping them to look, and teaching them to listen.
We must help them to look! They must open their eyes to those around them. Seeing people as Jesus sees them. They must look beyond the façade, and into the hearts, minds and souls of their classmates. Once they learn to look, their eyes will be open to the needs of those around them.
We must help them to listen! They must learn to listen for, and to understand, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will help them to see even deeper into the lives of their classmates. God will reveal to them needs they have not seen, and could not see, with their physical eyes.
As a youth worker, you understand this concept! You are constantly observing your students, watching for signs of trouble and need. At the same time, you rely heavily on the Holy Spirit to reveal to you their needs that your physical eyes cannot see. We must teach our students to do the same.
This is where I need your input! I would love for you to respond to this blog by telling me two things:
1) What have you been doing to help open the eyes and ears of your students?
2) What needs have your students identified at their school and how have they met them?
Thanks for your time, and for your input!! I look forward to hearing what God is doing in the lives of your students.
In His Service,
Haley
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