In August 2010, Chris began working with Youth Villages and we have been so blessed by this Amazing Ministry!! Our campus of Youth Villages is a residential program for At-Risk troubled kids. From their website:
Youth Villages’ residential treatment programs serve boys and girls with serious to severe emotional and behavioral problems combined with other needs. Although placement criteria vary for each campus, the programs accept adolescents and teens with IQ scores of 45 or above. Almost 95% of those admitted have multiple presenting issues.
Our goal is to return children to a less restrictive environment to continue their progress through intensive in-home services, with their family when possible, or therapeutic foster care when it is not. Based on outcomes from July 2002 to March 2010, 79% of youth exited residential treatment successfully either through step-down to foster care or in-home services or through discharge with family.
Youth Villages is not a "Christian" organization... however, they have documented the Amazing success that a "Religious Program" can have on the kids in their care! They have a "Spiritual Life" program headed by our friend Hilda, an Incredible lady of Great Faith!
Chris started with just volunteering in the Cottages (where the boys live) and having a small Bible study with some of the younger boys there. We also began to get involved with the Mentor program. We were so blessed to be able to build a relationship with our Mentee. We would pick him up and take him to church and out to eat for lunch... as well as other outings. Negash even called our fella "his best friend" one time!! What a Blessing! Chris was even able to lead him to a Personal Relationship with Jesus!! Praise the LORD!! He left Youth Villages last spring to go to a new foster family who were very interested in adopting him! We pray for him often!
We were still interested in what other areas we could help out... LONGING for a way to have a 'SMASH'-type Ministry again. Hilda told us about a ministry which had pretty much died out... It was called Blaze. It was a Large Group meeting time on Sunday afternoons for corporate worship!
WELL THERE YA GO!!! THAT IS WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR!!
We started having BLAZE on Sunday afternoons 2-3 times a month! We love it!! Youth Villages and Hilda have been so great to work with our family and allow us to take the boys and Sarah-Bethany with us during Blaze. They sit in the back and color or read or LISTEN TO DADDY as he preaches THE WORD to these boys! We've had pizza parties, game shows, and given out LOTS of candy! We have seen SEVERAL of these boys pray to ask Jesus to be LORD of their LIFE at our Blaze event! Chris has prayed with these boys and taught them more about Jesus than they have ever heard!! Some of these boys have NEVER heard words of LIFE.... Some have grown up in the church and made very poor choices... and Some of these boys are very confused and have very mixed up ideas of who Jesus really is! We LOVE the opportunity the Lord has given us to meet them where they are!
