Posts Tagged ‘homeless youth ministry’
Last week, we sent out an email letting our supporters know that we were running extremely low on food and socks. Within a week, our pantry and sock crates were overflowing!
This picture is the food from just one church, Eastern Hills Community Church in Aurora, who donated.
In addition to Eastern Hills, we would also like to thank Englewood Fist Assembly of God, Grace Community Church, Boulder County Community Church, Kevin and Carol Bohren, and all the individuals who gave so generously to help meet our needs to help the homeless and at-risk youth of Denver!
It is rare that homeless kids get brand new clothes to wear, but thanks to Shane and Patty Rose of Utah, they will! Take a look at all these new clothes for the homeless youth of Denver!
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far it is possible to go.” — T.S. Eliot
For all of us, it is often easy in life not to take risks. Easier to stand by and watch than to put our necks on the line in an attempt to change a certain situation. Or maybe some of us are great “dreamers” but we have a hard time, when it comes time, to step up and follow through with our dreams because of fear. No matter how great or miniscule, we deal with risk, everyday all of the time. There are statistics that can be looked at to evaluate the amount of risk involved in any given situation to either encourage people or deter people from doing things.
Sox Place is an environment all about taking risks. The only reason Sox Place even exists today is because of some very monumental risk taking. If Doyle had not taken a HUGE risk, over a decade ago now, and moved his family and entire life to Denver, Sox Place would not be here. If the people who continuously donate their time, money, and prayer, Sox Place would not survive the way it does today. If our staff members did not step out and decide that they would rather work with the kids at Sox Place, doing this ministry, rather than any number of career choices, Sox Place would not be what it is today.
People will often tell you that working with the type of kids that come to Sox Place is a risk that is just not worth taking. People will say that the risk is so much greater than the reward. However, isn’t this what is so amazing about Jesus and his ministry? Whether it is the story of the woman at the well or Jesus choosing to use fishermen as the men who will forever change history through his ministry, he leads a great example of what it means for us to be risk takers.
Lately, this is an issue that God has been laying on my heart in a huge way. One thing we always say at Sox Place is “We need to give them the best we’ve got.” We may not always have the best food for the kids or the sweetest new clothes but we always give them the best we have. It is so important for our ministry that this is also the case in all of our interactions with our kids, because they are worth the risk. God doesn’t call us to be complacent or to just try to meet the needs of the kids that walk through our door. God calls us to daily take risks and put our necks on the line for the people we serve.
As Jesus showed us how to be risk takers through his ministry, so can we show our kids how to be risk takers through ours.
- Sam
One of the major goals of my job is to “connect” with the street youth that walk through the door. That being said, some youth are easier to connect with than others, and some days are easier than others. One thing that I have realized is that the more we get out of the “norm” with the youth, the easier it is to have a true conversation with them. If we fall into the same everyday pattern, it can be hard for the youth to come in expecting anything other than the basic resources that we try to provide.
Lately, I’ve had the opportunity to do some manual labor with one of our kids who regularly comes into Sox Place when the drop in center is closed. Being in a different setting with this youth has been awesome. We have the ability to talk about real life whether that is relationship problems, money problems, or just the everyday issues of being young and on the streets. While our youth have different struggles, I realize that they are regular people, just like anyone else dealing with the same types of issues – their struggles may just look a little different.
See, no matter where we are in life, we have some type of relational or monetary struggle. It can be easy for people to point a finger at the street youth and to say that they are lazy or strung out; however, in reality, we are dealing with many of the same problems, no matter how much we do or don’t have. We need to start looking at one another at a basic human level, and it will probably be much easier for us to connect with the people we encounter each day in a genuine way.
-Sam
Cigarette smoke swirled and mingled with the cool night air as it drifted upwards into the evening sky against a backdrop of city lights. I sat on the front porch, enjoying a conversation and sharing laughs with Ziggy and several other guys as we shared stories from our week. We had just driven back from the shops at Northfield Stapleton, where some of the staff from Sox Place and I had been able to purchase some new clothes for Ziggy in celebration of him being released from jail. It was only his second day out, and he loved every minute of it.
It was a Thursday evening, and we had met for a Bible study at Sam’s place to read and discuss a few chapters out of 1 Samuel. We all sat and listened as Sam read the first several passages. We talked about the birth of Samuel, his dedication to the Lord by his mother Hannah, and his interaction with Eli as he learns to hear the voice of God. As we talked, Ziggy began asking questions about the life of a Christ-follower. It was easy to tell that he was fully enveloped in the conversation, eager to learn and seek encouragement in the faith.
Though he was in prison for eight years, Sox Place has had the opportunity to radically change the direction of Ziggy’s life. Ziggy isn’t the same person that he was even a few years ago, all thanks to the people that make up this organization. The low number of evident “success stories” that come out of Sox Place can be reason enough to be discouraged at times, but we are here for every single street kid that walks through the doors of Sox Place, praying for them; supporting and providing for them; and growing a meaningful relationship with them, even if it is only to plant a seed.
As I rode home that night, the streetlights casting a golden glow on the city streets, I realized that all it takes to initiate transformation in someone’s life is to plant a seed. We truly love and believe in the street youth of Denver, and we hope to continue planting seeds that will eventually blossom into something much greater.
Written by Benten Woodring
From the darkness of his troubled adolescence in Arkansas, Doyle Robinson found the light: He would draw upon his own pain to help troubled teens. From his early days handing out tube socks to homeless kids on the 16th Street Mall, Robinson’s vision has grown to include Sox Place, a converted downtown auto shop that’s now Denver’s only daytime drop-in youth center, where kids can find a warm bowl of soup, a quiet place to crash, easy camaraderie and the occasional punk concert. And if they’re seeking spiritual guidance, Robinson — an ordained minister with the Assembly of God — can offer that, too. But he prefers action to words, showing the power of faith rather than preaching it.
Doyle believes in making a difference where you are, to those God brings into your path. He feels that to do nothing for those around him, with all that God has given him, is to fail miserably in life. Doyle would like people to say at his funeral: “Doyle added value to people around him.”
- What are your five favorite songs of all time? – “Long Cool Woman,” “Carry On Wayward Son,” “It Is Well With My Soul,” “Amazing Grace,” “The Messiah Will Come Again”
- What is a book you recently read and a quote or lesson learned from it? -Success Kills by Wayde Goodall, “The preoccupation of the day and our choice not to hear those around us can cause us to miss some very special people – and opportunities.”
- Who is your favorite fictional character?- Foghorn Leghorn
- What chore do you absolutely hate doing?- Filing
- What is your favorite summertime treat?- Sugar Free Popsicle
- What are your five favorite songs of all time? – “Much too young”- Garth Brooks, “Folsom Prison Blues”- Johnny Cash, “When the stars go blue”- Ryan Adams, “Thick and Thin”- Seventh Star, “The funeral”- Band of Horses
- What is a book you recently read and a quote or lesson learned from it? – Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle. Everyone deserves a second chance no matter what they’ve done or what they’ve been through.
- Who is your favorite fictional character?- Tom Sawyer
- What chore do you absolutely hate doing?- Cleaning my Garage
- What is your favorite summertime treat?- Otter Pops
To Kara, being truly Christ-like means to demonstrate love and compassion to everyone, no matter who they are, what they’ve done, or what their plans are. She hopes she is able to convey a Christ-like love at Sox Place both behind the scenes and face-to-face with the kids.
- What are your five favorite songs of all time? – “In Christ Alone” (Townend/Getty version), “When I Fall in Love” by Nat King Cole, “When the Last Tear Falls” by Andrew Peterson, “Hands and Feet” by Audio Adrenaline, “Loose Change” by Andrew Peterson.
- What is a book you recently read and a quote or lesson learned from it? – Through a Screen Darkly by Jeffrey Overstreet: [Speaking of Jesus] “And He did not set conditions for the needy, saying that He would walk away if they spoke profanity, behaved inappropriately or had the wrong sexual orientation. No, as a good shepherd, He went out to find them and loved the sick, the weak, the appalling, the offensive, the reckless, the foul-mouthed, the addicted.”
- Who is your favorite fictional character?- Neville Longbottom
- What chore do you absolutely hate doing?- Dishes
- What is your favorite summertime treat?- Ice cold watermelon!
You’re the one who let people believe in others again.
You’re the one that helped people realize that not everyone wants to screw us.
You’re the one that encourages us to believe in ourselves again.
You’re the one that wants to show us there is still some good out in the world.
You’re the one that wants us to realize that we can do whatever we want.
You’re the one that wants us to shine in a world full of darkness.
You’re the one that wants us to believe that there are people who don’t feel we should starve just because this is the only way of life we know.
You’re the one that provides us with a shoulder to cry on, a confidant, a friend, and the truth we need.
You’re the one that wants us to believe in God again and remember He’s there for us.
So you’re the one that deserves a very big hug!
Thank you!
- Written by street kids to thank Sox Place
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