A Place to “Go”: Foster Park Outreach

[intro] Here and there around Riv lately, we’ve been promoting a challenge, an invitation to join us by intentionally sharing Jesus with our city.[/intro]

One place, one person, once a month.

The strategy is simple: choose one place to go, go there at least one time a month, and connect with one person while there.  The goal is to narrow the focus from all the things we could do and become friends with one person over time, in which sharing Jesus is a natural part of the relationship.  We think that this is something completely doable for anyone – no matter your age, gender, health or coffee snobbishness level.  We also believe that when we meet genuine physical, emotional and spiritual needs of real people, we are an active part of God’s rescue plan.

Take the outreach program that Crossroads Church organizes at Foster Park as an example.  Every Monday evening at just about six o’clock, a slew of kids come charging into the park, ready for fun.  And every Monday night, a committed group of volunteers meets them with stories about Jesus, crafts, games, smiles, pizza… and a whole lot of wet wipes.

Recently, I sat down and listened to some of the volunteers talking about what God is doing in Foster Park.  It got me pretty excited about Riv’s involvement there, both now and in the future.  It all started about eight years ago, when the folks at Crossroads decided that instead of only sending resources to foreign mission work, they would also invest in their own neighborhood.  So they started working with kids in the park one night a week, and it became something special. Riv jumped in to help in 2009.

Long-term Investments

Noah, pastor at Crossroads, says that this work isn’t a five second, five minute or even five year investment.  His guess is that we might be seeing the effects fifty years down the road.  On Monday nights, seeds of God’s truth and love are being planted in children whose home lives are often a wreck.  And they’re responding.  Yet one of the toughest things about working with these kids is that young, innocent little ones move from learning of and loving God to a life riddled with destruction within a few short years.  They often end up living a life of addiction, violence and teen pregnancy.  But we aren’t designed to rescue people ourselves.  We’re conduits through which God chooses to work.  And we believe that some of those seeds will grow.  Some we’ll see grow in the short term, and some in the long.

David works with youth both at Foster Park and at Crossroads, where he’s the youth pastor.  He had a rough childhood himself.  He often heard about Jesus from Christians in his life, and although he smiled and agreed to what they were saying, the message went in one ear and out the other.  But one day, God grabbed David’s heart and changed him – and the seeds that had been planted began to grow.  From his own experience, David knows that these kids need to be heard. They sometimes come from homes where abuse or neglect is routine.  They don’t need a lecture.  They need someone to listen and love them – maybe for the first time ever. When they experience that, they often begin to have questions about the One behind all this love.

So… want to find that one person with whom you can share Jesus?  I guarantee you can find what you’re looking for at Foster Park. Monday nights.  All summer long.

Image credit: Rich Wyllis (Riv member)