It takes a village to raise a kid
Posted on Monday, October 12, 2015 by
9 years ago we started Sozo and Sozo Late Night. Every Friday night the People’s Center gym in Hilltop was jam-packed with teenagers for two hours. We soon had a really good problem…there were so many elementary-aged kids coming that we were forced to start a special Late Night program for kids aged 5-10 called “Sozo Kids”. At that same time, we started an afterschool ministry at Jason Lee Middle School called Float Friday and almost every kid at Jason Lee had attended Float Friday at some point. We were amazed!
Without meaning to, we had created a pipeline from elementary through high school, of sharing the gospel with youth and getting to know their stories.
One of my favorite families from Hilltop was involved in every one of these ministries, at the same time. It was the Banks family. Michael and Matthew attended Sozo and Late Night, Keyshaun and Savannah attended Sozo Kids, and Malik attended Float Friday at Jason Lee Middle School. Malik started at Sozo Kids, and then got really involved in Float Friday and Late Night. He started to develop relationships with many YFC volunteers and staff. As a middle schooler, he never really opened up much. In fact, he was more of a kid on the fringe that came for the friends, food, and basketball. But he knew many leaders, and was known by many leaders. And whether he wanted to or not, he started learning about God, and heard the Gospel being proclaimed. As a middle schooler, he started coming to camp with us, and continued into high school.
In high school, he started coming to Sozo regularly, but was still one of those kids that was disruptive and never let any leaders get too close.
The Summer 2012, Malik came to Canyons YFC Camp. Our cabin of high school boys was a great group of guys that we had been walking with since middle school, and had known for years. At first it was a typical City Life cabin—lots of drama, volatile personalities, and a lot of laughter. But in our cabin times, our boys started opening up in the realest, most unpolished way I’d ever experienced. In particular, Malik bared his soul in a way that forever changed me, and forever changed the way I understood our kids. He shared things about his life and shared some of the most profound insights that I’ve ever heard, but in such a raw, uncut way. And through it all, he expressed a deep, earnest desire to follow God, and repent of some the ways he was living back home.
On his way home from camp, he asked to borrow my phone. Unbeknownst to me, he texted his mom a very contrite, heartfelt apology to his mom for the specific ways he had mistreated her, and expressed so much love and affirmation to her.
When we got off the bus, she was waiting for us—and she was glowing! This woman had been transformed from the last time I had ever talked to her (and I had usually avoided her). She was so thankful for the work that God had done in Malik’s life and for our investment in her, and his text messages meant so much to him. She told me in-depth about how she had just recommitted her life to God, and had been intensely praying for him. His text messages to her were like a gift from God. From that moment on, our relationship with Malik’s mom, Glenda, had been permanently altered, and she has become one of the dearest people to me on this planet. She regularly comes to our office to visit and work on papers (she’s now enrolled in a Bible college).
Now, three years later, Malik has graduated from high school. He has a very sincere desire for God, and has made many intentional decisions along the way to avoid destructive patterns that have derailed so many youth living in the Hilltop.
He has also made so many intentional, positive decisions because he is not only determined to be a positive role model in his community, but he truly wants to be a follower of Jesus Christ. He has joined a group called Young Business Men and Women (YBMW), and is actively demonstrating to his peers and the next generation what it means to live with great character and not be a victim of your circumstances. He served with us at Canyons YFC Camp last summer—this time as an adult—and my words cannot express how proud I am of Malik, and I praise God for the transformation in his life.