March 31, 2003
Youth mission trip leads back home
___By George Henson
___Staff Writer
___AMARILLO--Youth from two Amarillo churches learned that no matter where they go, people need to know Jesus--even when that place is their own backyard.
___Rather than traveling far away for spring break, Second Baptist Church and Lifeway Fellowship Baptist Church teamed up toconduct a sports camp for inner-city children in their own community.
A STUDENT from Lifeway Fellowsip Baptist Church of Amarillo gives a lift to a child.
___About 70 youth from the two churches taught soccer and basketball to about 75 children. After canvassing area neighborhoods, the youth led the clinic Monday through Wednesday mornings. They began each session with a time of music and drama and a gospel presentation. They held a recognition program Wednesday night.
___Youth Minister Matt Dietz of Second Baptist said Lifeway's help was crucial to the camp's success.
___"It would all have been much more difficult without their help," Dietz said. "With the number of kids they brought, we could keep the ratio of the kids to counselors down, so that they could really get to know each other."
___The ministry destination came as a shock for youth at Lifeway Fellowship.
___Chris Hurt, their minister of youth, kept their destination a mystery. He loaded them in a bus, took them to a nearby encampment and then revealed the location for the mystery ministry trip.
___At first, many of the young people were less than thrilled with Hurt's plan.
___"Our kids were a little shell-shocked when they found out we were staying in Amarillo," he conceded. "Last year's trip also was a mystery, and that one was to St. Louis, Mo., so some of them were not too happy with me at first."
___But as they began to minister, perspectives began to change.
___"It was good for them to see there was a need for ministry here in Amarillo, and by the end of the week, they were glad we stayed," he reported. "This way, many of them can follow up on the kids they met during the week and have a Coke with them or something."
___"The two things they are going to take from the week are that God can use them in whatever way he wants to use them and that he can use them right where they are," Hurt added.
___While Lifeway is uniquely aligned with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and Second is a Baptist General Convention of Texas congregation, both youth ministers agreed convention politics never was a consideration. The 39 children who gave their lives to Christ were most important, they said.
___"When you get into ministering to little kids, that becomes your focus," Dietz said. "We know that there is only one way to heaven, and if we somehow lose our focus about what's really important, it might mean that some little kid doesn't hear about that one way to heaven.
___"When you really get down to ministering to people, that stuff all just falls away," he added.
___Hurt agreed. "A lot of the stuff that has happened in our state is just sad. And a lot of it really just doesn't matter. It's all about Jesus and leading people to come to know him."
___
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
