after-school solution, The

Group, May/Jun 2001 by Parker, Matt

The best way to reach kids who'll never show up for a church youth group meeting is to start an after-school club in your community. Youth leaders around the world are already doing it-here's how.

Do you have hopeless teenagers in your community-kids who are more isolated from the church and the gospel than natives in Papua New Guinea? Whether or not you know about them, the answer is almost certainly yes.

That's why, four decades ago, a small group of Oxford graduates decided to plant a ministry base in the poorest section of northwest London, England. They recruited a deep-pockets donor to help them buy an old church hall and a couple of terraced houses, and they moved in.

Today 11 young Christians live in this inner city outpost as an outreach-focused community called the OK Club. The team is made up of part- and full-time volunteers, and two professional youth workers. We offer poor inner city kids a range of age-focused clubs and activities throughout the week, including soccer games, art and cooking classes, academic and personal support groups, loud music, and billiards.

These activities are fairly chaotic, mostly organized, and usually good fun. They're all a means to an end-building relationships between our adult leaders and young people.

Of course, "relational ministry" has long been a widely promoted youth ministry strategy, but where to start?

showing up big in the small things

Our neighborhood is one of the most deprived in London. The housing is poor, school achievement is low, crime and substance abuse are high. The young people living here have little or no connection to the church or faith. They're generally excluded from the government systemseducation, employment, and health care-that could help lift them out of this quagmire. Respect is earned; it's not tied to position or authority.

The teenagers we're trying to reach will swear at you to your face if they think you deserve it, so small-group discussions about serious issues often don't work. One young man summed it up: "I'm not good at meetings; I don't have good table manners." So how do we reach them with the good news of Christ's love for them? We think the key is to get involved in the little things--joining in, not just supervising. So we try to enter into the play rather than referee, to get our hands dirty cooking or painting, and to play a role in a drama rather than direct it.

In every club session, we plan a 30-minute segment for our kids to stop playing/fighting/eating/creating so they can think about the choices they're making. And we tell them about our life choices-how and why our faith has had such an impact on our lives. We do this through thoughtful activities, not a stand-at-the-front-and-talk approach.

For example, we recently used a "case study" approach to get kids thinking about Justice.1 We fed them information about two people recently in trouble with the police. After each piece of information, we asked kids to discuss whether the people described deserved their punishments, and why.

We know our message won't get in if we haven't taken the time to build relationships and trust. These attentiongrabbing case studies hook kids into discussion and help us make natural connections with them-and that's when the Holy Spirit can go to work.

just being there is half the battle

We've discovered that our most impactful ministry strategy is simply our commitment to live among these struggling young people. Because we live in tbe-.neighborhood, we're always around-even if the club is closed. We go to the same shops, greet them on the streets, and meet their parents in the eateries. If they're bored, they might pop over for a chat. More important-when they're in crisis they know we'll take the time to help them.

One of our workers, Joanna, was building a relationship with a girl who'd started showing up at the club to chat and simply hang out. Over time, Joanna learned the girl had a very difficult home situation. The whole thing came to a head one night when she turned up at our house crying and scared to her core about her father's violent outbursts. Joanna first invited her in and calmed her down. She then spent the next couple of days looking after the girl, talking with Social Services, her school, and her parents. After considerable follow-up work, the situation is now much bettershe's doing well at home and school.

Though we shut up the club at 10 p.m., we never really close. We're committed to sharing our space, ourselves, and our spiritual leadership with these young people. And we're committed to getting involved with them long term-an outreach that lasts years, not weeks. We believe that today's broken young people need great stretches of time to open their hearts to trusting God and others.

what does success look like?

Is it working? The honest answer is as real as our hurdles-yes, but it's not easy.

Three years ago Patrick and Damien were tyro of the hardest 12year-olds we were working with. When they got mad about something, the pool balls flew and fights exploded. Today they've just started helping out at one of our clubs for children.2 At first, we put them in charge of the gym. But last week they asked Natasha, the club leader, if they could lead a discussion session in the club:Damien has been coming early for the staff prayers before the club starts. As far as we know, they haven't yet made a commitment to Christ, but they're closer than I would've thought possible three years ago.