Triple Shot Summer Series: Kids, Churches, and Super Power Grandmas
By Shane Bennett
Editor’s note: We know you’re busy, maybe traveling this summer, or maybe getting some good catch-up time with the kids. We are, too. But we don’t want to stop getting helpful stuff into your hands.
Here, as in the June and July editions of Practical Mobilization, Shane shares three quick ideas you’ll want to think about and then pass along to your friends and family.
I. What’s the Matter with Kids These Days?
You’ve seen the reports: Kids graduate from high school, bail out of the church, and don’t come back. We can stand idly by (but for the occasional whining) or we can try to do something. My friend Tony Sheng is doing something. Tony heads up an intensive mentoring effort with high school students called The Ember Cast. I know it works because I just returned from spending a week with them Sicily and facilitating their connection with Muslim migrants and refugees there.
These kids rocked. They would talk to anyone about Jesus. They walked miles in the Mediterranean sun. And they never complained!
Tony is doing a great job with the kids he’s discipling. They finish high school with a deep love for Jesus and the nations and a sense that they’re made to make a difference. If you’d like that for some kids you know, get in touch with Tony. The Ember Cast has a story to share. I’d love to see their catalytic effort multiplied across the US and beyond.
II. Three Ways Your Church Can Focus
I love it when a church dials in on a particular vision or calling for the nations. Some of the most invigorating conversations of my life have been with churches looking to make a difference and kind enough to invite me to the chat. If your church, or one you love, is looking for a focus or a fresh blossoming of global involvement, can I recommend three friends?
- Mike Bell is the USA National Director for Hungry For Life. Mike helps churches begin multi-year partnerships with vetted mission situations throughout the world. These partnerships build a 3-5 year plan to carry out community-designed relief and development projects. After helping a church choose a partner, Hungry For Life handles all the logistics for teams and manages ongoing projects at no cost to the church. Watch this video for a snapshot of how it works. If your church has a vision for justice, for eliminating needless suffering, and you’re looking for a direction, get in touch with Mike.
- If your church wants to make a difference in the world, but you’re not really even sure how to start scheming and dreaming, connect with Matthew Ellison of Sixteen:Fifteen. Matthew’s coaching will help your church discover its unique vision for the nations. He’ll then guide you through designing a strategic plan and then deploying the resources and people to execute the plan.
- If your church knows its vision, and if that vision looks like big-time love and commitment to Muslim peoples, let me invite you to link arms with my tribe. Frontiers is seeing more and more churches jump on board with an idea that’s intrigued us for years: church-based teams to unengaged Muslim peoples. This approach combines the God-given vision of a local church with the field experience of Frontiers to see God’s kingdom flourish where it’s not right now. Churches stay in the driver’s seat. Frontiers provides some road maps and a “heads up” for hazards in the road. If you’d like to see your church consider sending a team, shoot me an email. I’ll introduce to the right guys.
III. The Granny Factor
Grandmas, are you listening to me? This, the last of the summer triple shots, is for you: The globe is facing the single greatest refugee crisis ever, and you might just be the answer. Before you get all humble, hear me out.
A hefty percentage of the refugee population are young people without their parents. Their moms are dead or a world away. They are in over their heads with “nobody told me it would be like this.” Evil people are taking advantage of them. And as tough as they want to look, a kind gaze or a maternal hug would sure be nice right about now.
I saw this happen a few months ago. The refugee was a friend from Liberia in his early twenties. The woman who brought the Granny Factor was Kenyan. She looked across the table and right into the young man’s soul. She ministered the kingdom of God to him with wisdom and kindness. I was honored just to sit there and watch it happen.
I saw it again a few weeks ago. This friend was a twenty-something Gambian. The Granny Factor oozed from a saint from Louisville, Kentucky. She looked at him and asked, “Tell me your story. I love to hear people’s stories.” He proceeded to trust her with the pain of betrayal, beatings, and a journey he shouldn’t have survived. She absorbed just a bit of the pain. And again, the kingdom of God was manifest.
You can imagine this, can’t you? Maybe you’ve experienced it. It’s your superpower! Too many of us think you don’t count any longer and maybe you’ve come to agree with that. Simply not true. If you’re tired and need to rest, that’s cool. If you have too many babies to hold and teenagers to scold in your own family right now, no worries. But if you’ve got some love to go around, I’m here to invite you to unleash your Granny Factor on five, fifty, or a thousand refugees, in your own country, someplace like Sicily, or beyond. You will make a difference.
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Image: 1871 proof three-cent nickel piece, Wikimedia Commons