Compiled by Luci Miller
Photography supplied by Emily Yutzy and Angela Yoder
one or in small groups, and
that’s hard to accomplish in
kids’ church.”
To try to fill that need, RISE
has more recently begun a
mentoring program. “For
a person who is willing to
mentor, we pick out a child
who has a need for more
attention, or a child who
shows extra spiritual hunger.
Some children just open
their hearts up to God, and
there is so much potential
there. We ask a mentor to
commit to meeting with the
child twice a month, at least
two hours per time.”
H E TR E
NCHES
PART I
in a two-part series highlighting
the Hutchinson Kansas children’s ministry called
RISE, through the stories four young women
who serve on staff. These are the stories of
ordinary people leaving an extraordinary impact
on their city’s youth.
therapist. I honestly feel like I have the
world’s best job.”
How she got involved: “I started with
RISE in August 2012, and it had been
running for probably a year before that. It
was started by a core group of teenagers,
and God just exploded the growth. They
couldn’t do it by themselves.
“I’ve always felt convicted about trying to
follow the great commission and go and
tell.
And kids are more accepting and a lot
less scary than a college professor. I was
thrilled to be able to come in and join.”
A special journey:
The stated
vision of RISE is to lead kids to spiritual
maturity. “We would love to see our
kids turn into spiritual leaders in our
community,” Angela says. “We’ve heard
from others involved in kids’ ministries
that the kids who grow up and actually
stick around as Christians are those who
have had someone take a personal interest
in them. Discipleship happens one on
“When I first got to know
Yazmin, the girl I mentor,
she was eight, one of the
most challenging kids at
kids’ church. Her mom
left her dad when
she was three. He
was an angry person, hottempered, and had addiction
problems. He was here
illegally and was deported
back to Mexico, so Yazmin
hadn’t seen him since she
was four or five. She really
hated him. I think she felt
significant rejection from
him.
“She was a controlling child,
and also very articulate. She
would monopolize staff ’s time talking
about her daddy pain, and we would tell
her, ‘The answer to this is forgiveness,’ but
she resisted. Then I believe a neighbor or
cousin had their dad get murdered in
prison, and they told her, ‘You know, your
dad could die, too, and you’re cheating
yourself.’
“It was after that she came to me and said,
‘I decided to forgive my dad.’ After that
she was more open to spiritual things.
When she got a letter from him, she read
it and put his picture up on her wall. It’s
been an amazing journey watching her
change.
“Looking back, it’s hard to believe an
eight year old was that bitter and angry,
but she was.
“Another little story with a lot of
significance happened this past summer
when she found out I had been sponsoring
a Compassion child for over a year. She
was upset and acted as though it was a
big deal that I had not told her, like I had
been hiding information from her. “I kept
asking questions to try to understand why
this bothered her so much, and finally
she said, ‘I’m afraid you’re gonna like her
better than you like me.’
“I looked at her and said, ‘Yazmin, do you
remember the time you rubbed mud all
over my car?’ And I named some other
hard stuff we had gone through. ‘What
did I do?’
“She said, ‘You waited and were patient
and prayed for me.’
“’I didn’t leave you, did I? I’m committed
to you. You’re not gonna do something so
bad that I would give up on you.’
“And just thinking about all the hard
times we’ve been through helped her to
realize that yeah, whatever happens, I’m
committed to her. Our relationship went
to another level after that.”
An answer to prayer: “I’m on the
committee in charge of the 8-12 year
olds,” Angela told me, “and with the 12
and under age group we came to have
so much chaos, it was difficult for the
speakers to be heard. The children just
would not be quiet or stay in their chairs.
“One of the committee members
suggested we really crack down. He
said the staff was not being consistent
in handing out strikes--our method of
discipline--and that we would need to
stand together and get hard on kids, with
extra drivers to take the kids with three
strikes home early.
“I didn’t feel good about cracking down.
I didn’t want the kids to feel like they
weren’t good enough for the Christians,
and some others felt the same way. We
decided to pray and think about it, and
after our month-long summer break, we
would make a decision.
“I shared that need with my Sunday
school class, and they all prayed. One of
the ladies, Betty, is a real prayer warrior,
and the next time we had kids’ church,
Betty was praying. It was the difference
of night and day. The kids were quiet
and respectful. It was the most peaceful
kids’ church we’ve ever had. God clearly
showed us what decision to make.
“It really made me realize that this work
is God’s, not ours. We thought we needed
to crack down with strikes, and what we
really needed to do was cry out to the
Lord for help.”
To learn more about RISE, you can visit their
Facebook page.
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