Teen Pathways
Hi! come and join us! We're talking today about
youth ministries and about, I always thought when I
was younger, I always thought that to make any impact on
on anybody around me that I had to be at a certain age
and I had to be this or I had to be that,
before I can make an impact and now that I started
the "True step", I've been around people that are from 14 years
old and older, what I'm realizing is you, guys
have a powerful ministry. And each individual, I mean,
each and in such a different way, and I wanted to talk about
that and a little bit let people know what "True step" is
and who we are. And as a group and then individual ministries
because as a group, we're doing "True steps", but individually
you guys are doing a tons of other stuff. And so first I want
"True step" ministries is nothing that I've ever thought
of doing, I never thought of doing. Somebody asked me to
talk about my experience, my background and I was
homeless for ten years and I was on the streets and I
met God and came out of that whole kind of lifestyle that was
so destructed, I was heronatic and a lot of my lost issues
and then all the sudden God found me, or I found God,
or however it happened, I'm not sure, I'm not sure how
I got through it, I fell in love with God and realized that
I cannot go back to a normal life, I have to tell someone
else what God did. I have to tell somebody on the street
or somebody in the homeless shelter, or somebody, something
that we can be different, that God gives us new life and
new hearts and new soul and all that kind of, all those
promises that I had to hold on to change my life.
And so now when I started to do that, somebody said: Oh, you
have to start a ministry. And I thought: what is that?
It's when you have to start a ministry and you have to
think about it and so I got to think about all that,
and again, I thought of adults being in ministry and doing
ministry. And when I started to reach out and when I started
to meet you guys, what I realized is you guys, have
a powerful ministry and so I want to talk about youth
ministry and you guys actually make a difference,
and can you reach people that I can reach?
Joe, about you and I know that you came into this programme
as a peermentor. Can you talk a little bit about that in youth
ministries?
Yeah. I remember when you called me and you told me
that you wanted me to join the team and you told me how I can
help out by telling my story, how I got in my accident,
and everything, basically just be myself and you know,
That was fun, because you've done that really well.
Yeah, I represent just who I am. I don't give like sermons
or anything like that, I just be myself and include, you know,
I went out and spoke to persons so you know, I like to talk
a lot and I like to give my opinions and basically just...
Do you know what I like about when you say you like to give
your opinions, you are so honest with what you believe and
and even, if you are so honest and so, it's easy for you
to share that. You know, this is what I believe and this is why
you know the insight that you got from your accident,
because I mean, you broke your neck, you should have never
walked again and that is like really serious talk and when you
talk to somebody that emotionally is having pain, you
can understand somewhat, because of your, when you went through
this serious accident and was unable to move and having
to deal and looking to all that kind of stuff, so I think that
to me I think that your mentoring, your ability to
to reach people in the ministry sense is so incredible.
Is so incredible.
Oh, really, anybody can do it. I think you know like
it says in the Scriptures that one of the best ministries
is just to be your testimony and to show an example of
Chhrist, you know, I'm not a perfect example, Christ
can only claim that, but I think that the way we live,
as Christians, can be a representation of what Christ
wants in our lives.
Exactly. When you say, even when you say: I'm not a perfect
example, that's your honesty that I love. That's the
mentoring part that you do that I love. Is that you know, some,
I think that sometimes we try to pretend, it's like: oh I do
everything right all the time and I've got it all together,
and I know God and I never have doubts and that I never do
anything wrong. You don't say that at all, you say
that oh, you know, I am glad that God loves me, because
I don't have it together all the time. And I think that
as a witness, that's an honest, I mean, you give such
an honest quality to your ministry.
And people respect that, because you can't go to
a person and say: I am perfect and respect that and
believe that, you're human and we see that with faith,
especially teenagers, we see with faith
things like that, so you say: Oh, you can do this, but
you have to be perfect, you have to be like me.
That's exactly what you don't have to be doing
and this is the way you shut it off, but when you go to say:
we aren't perfect and we don't expect people, but we're going
to try through Christ, and then they'll say: well, trying is the
best we can do and we're trying to do that.
And people respond to that. And it makes a lot more sense.
Through personal ministries, I also think are maybe the most
simple, but the easiest way to minister to other people
because it's first hand. You know the story yourself,
and it comes across, it comes across natural, to get up
in front of people and to tell your own story, is always a lot
easier than to get up and do a sermon or to tell somebody
else's story.
Someone told me and I can't remember who it was,
but the other day someone told me that if my head, if I talk to
my head, if I talk to my intellectual knowlege to you,
than your head kind of hears it. But if I talk to my story or
my heart, your heart hears it. You know what I mean,
it's a whole different, the whitness is a totally different
thing. And when you said that about telling your story and
being confortable with your own story that made me think of
that saying is that then you're talking to someone's heart,
or someone's core, more than just a head.
You have been involved in a number of different ministries,
besides this one. Can you talk a little bit about that?
I was a selfconfessed big mouth, seriously and I loved to act
and the loved the group of and for as much as I can remember,
I've alweays won these kids and stuff like that, talking about
God's love, and it's the only way I know how to show God,
because when I'm myself, I'm like: uhm, God loves you
and when I'm chatacterlike: God loves you.
You know it. It's easier to go through a mask, and be yourself,
but through another character and say that God is love and that
He'll hear and is real. And it seems that some people,
especially teens can really grasp what you're saying
when you're, in your character you're just trying to be this
perfect somebody and then preaching it to them,
Through skits, I get the same sense, it's like through music
it gets the same kind of thing that we hear differently when
we're involved in like music or drama, or things like that. You
just got back from a drama camp. Right?
Well, it was an enrichment camp, but I took drama classes,
yeah,
Speaking of drama, last year when our school, we left to
Nicholia, Idaho, it was for a group called: "Lift",
which stands for: lifestyle improvement for teens
and we did a bunch of skits there and we devided into
groups and our group did a skit on self esteem,
You know when I was a speaker during that trip,
on that trip and what surprized me, when you guys got together
and put together that skit on self esteem, as soon as you got
in the carachter, it was like this character is kind of for
you, what was she about again? She was like a...
She was someone who liked to eat.
She liked to eat and she was kind of, a little bit loud and
and funny and so soon as, that's a kind of character was like:
she was this character and it was incredible, it was so fun.
It was very fun.
Wasn't it fun? It looked fun. And you guys were not,
you guys were midgets, right?
Yeah, it took, 2 people being midget.
They were midgets and they had little feet sticking up
and somebody else's hands were your hands.
Somebody else had doing with, your hands or feet
it was just very funny.
And so the hands were somebody else's that you had and that
someone else is feeding her, like putting in stuff and
missing her mouth, it was like, it always cracked out, because
they were trying to do this when they were like
putting in their mouth, and they missed.
oh, so funny!
Got to all the places except for the mouth.
That was funny.
Yeah. And you know, you were there, too. Right?
Uhm. Do you remember the guy, that was a guy,
that was the father of the kitchen crew, and he had,
do you remember him? He was down with emphysema?
Yeah, and he had taken all these drugs, he, I mean, he's like
Oh, man, I don't want to take drugs.
So he looked at us and he was watching us for a long time,
and he was so touched by the ministry that was happening
in the youth, that he said: can I come and talk to you, guys?
And so he came out of the kitchen and this guy that got
it's time and was accidenting, he could hardly believe,
he was hooked up and he walked to the front of the group,
and he said: wow! I wish I would have known about health issues
when I was young, because I'm dying right now and I
can't even walk across the room. And we just thought, because
this is lifestyle improvement for teens, we were talking about
health and health issues, and he was just saying:
I'm so sad that nobody told me that, because...
It's always touching when...
Wasn't it touching? I was so overwhelmed.
And I think that your ministey there, you guys touched him.
Incredible things.
I know, last summer at the Olympic games at Atlanta,
I was there working with the ministry that I'm in,
"Youth for the mission",
You were there?
Yeah. It was really cool. But there was a lot of ministries
that went there, to work, because the whole world came to Atlanta,
and we had that opportunity to reach out and there was
this particular ministry called: "The Lightbearers",
and there was these young kids like, I think they started at
even as young as propably 6 years old, and they went up
to 18 and stuff, but there was these kids and they had this,
like this dance drama put together and they had singing
there and they were set up in this neighbourhood,
and there had been a gang that had lined up around the
back, kind of behind the audience and they were
just kind of standing in the back, crossing their arms and
their intentions were to intimidate these little kids,
and not to let them do what they were there to do.
And by the time, but they were silent through the whole thing,
and by the time they were done with their programme,
these guys, like they were, 16/17/18 year old guys,
went up in the front, just on their knees and they were crying
and like it wasn't that dogs that were shouting around these
kids, they came and you know, sort of talking to them,
but these little kids went up and put their arms around them
and they were just praying for these guys and they were totally
were crying and that you could tell God really ministered to
them and it was through these little kids and they, it was
incredible.
So, you know, that's so incredible, because you think
that we have to know the effect we have on people, regardless
of anything, you know, regardless of our position in life, or who
we are and...
That's definitely our perception that I think a lot of these kids
get that you have to become an adult to make an influence,
and I don't think age, there's definitely something that keeps
a lot of kids back but it shouldn't restrict you at all.
You know when this "Youth for mission" came to our school
and there were like teenagers nursing and playing the guitar
I totally got into it, that was propably the most exciting when
the groups of speakers that came because there's a bunch of
old people, I mean they are good, but it just didn't
definitely...
If you want to make a difference, if you want
to influence other kids like you, just a personal feeling in
myself, I would take more of a message from another kid,
age or peer my age, than an adult coming and talking about
it, mainly because you relate to that person, you've gone
through the same things at the same time.
Which is really cool, because we can go out and go all out
and help kids of our own age.
I think, something, too, just I've been and seen,
happen at the bay I live, at a base in Texas,
"Youth for the mission" and something that God has been
speaking to us as a generation, and this young people,
is that He's rising up a generation of warriors,
and He's bringing definition to who that is, and it's like
I mean, it's us, you know, it's kids that have been
on the streets, it's kids that have been in gangs,
it's kids that have been sick, and supposed to be dead,
you know that's a generation and that's who God is looking
for, these kids and people that are going to be willing to
step out of what they've been and where they've been
and not forget about it, but use that towards our advantage,
use that for the kingdom of God and so it's really cool, like
you can totally see even in our group here
where we're making a change and and where we're stepping out
and not forgetting where we've come from, not forgetting our
past, but using that for the kingdom of God.
Isn't that so powerful?
Yeah.
That is so far when I'm watching you guys do that,
when something happens and you minister to me because
of some insight like just that, I am amazed that there is no
limit, that there is no agelimit to who God uses in the grace
you work at a radiostation, right?
Yeah, yeah.
And so by the way, we don't know how old you are.
Yeah. A lot of times I actually work with what we call
requesting dedication hours where I do have a lot of
people who call in and many times I've had people call
and try to to guess how old I am, and just couple of weeks
ago, a lady guessed I was 35, I had a lady ask me if I was
married, and...
which is interesting, because the age barrier, our station is
almost completely run by kids of my age and younger.
We do have only 2 adults helping, our general manager,
and our programme manager, are adults, one of them actually
graduated a couple of years before me from the same
highschool. So, and it's, to have a station like this,
is not something to laugh at, we've actually through
auditorium ratings, we've actually varied in percentage,
we were number 5, number 6, number 7, 7 area of all
Christian radiostations in the US.
In the United States?
Yeah, the way they measure that, is by per capital what
percentage of the population in the area listen to you.
And in this case I think it's like 13 or 14% of all the
people in our area listening to KTSY
That's so neat. I got invited to come on the KTSY
we were doing a fund raising and so they said: oh, come on,
and tell our viewers about the fund raiser, and in my mind
I didn't know what I expected or who I expected to reach,
but I knew you guys have a large audience and it was fun,
I went on and I did the fundraiser, and on the way
home almost my entire neighbourhood: hey, I heard
you on the radio. And I was amazed, like you were saying,
is that it's a lot of people listening to that and it's
run by people from a highschool. I think it's amazing.
People are amazed when they hear that it's teenagers, that it's
us running this station. I mean because they say:
oh, you guys sound so proffessional. And the reason
why I think we put our hearts into it.
did you have edition for that, right?
We do, They go through quite a few people, you have to have
the right personality, and the right type of voice to go
on, I mean, they are looking for people to sound proffessional,
but it's incredible what people think of this station.
Yeah. And the ministry. I laugh, because I was listening to
KTSY, I just turned it on and I recognize now,
Matt, when you came on and Sharon, she comes on,
and many, you know recognize people that I worked with through
the school and it's fun, because I, it's like I know them.
So, ministry, team ministry, can I say, you know what I
it is not even, I think in our minds is set first,
teen mninstry, youth ministry, adult ministry, and I think
sometimes you've got to totally get away from that,
do you know what I mean, it's like getting away from that
whole concept of somehow there's an age bracket
an age thing or a situation or thing that makes us
I don't think it should be that way because with the energy I
have today I realize, I'm going to have time in the future
to do ministry, too, but to put my word in now, as a teenager,
influences a lot, a lot of people. I've actually gone in
my church and done a couple of sermons from my church,
and people are just amazed by it, but it's not a feeling of
I want to go up there to show that I can actually do it,
it's I wamt to show that anybody can do it.
I mean, all you have to do, is put your heart into it,
and you don't have to worry about what age you are,
you're going to start when you feel like starting.
What if somebody says, what if somebody says: but I don't know
what to say. I don't know what to say, what will I say?
what will you say that I'm anybody?
God will give you the words.
Yeah.
You can't just go there and just sigh and make up something,
and expect to be blessed by God, He will use you the way He wants
to and will bless it. You just have to go through Him.
And say: use me.
Can I? I just think, it's so important number 2, because I
deal with that, too a lot, like getting up in front of people
and talking like: Oh, My God, shall I have anything to say,
I mean, know the exact words and God so, I mean all the time says:
Karen, this isn't about you, this isn't about what you have
to give to these people, it's what I want to say.
And it's what I have to say to these people in it's all,
you know, it's about God, the whole thing is about God using
you, because you've made yourself available.
And so...
Exactly. Can I tell you a really funny story about that?
I went, I was going to get rebaptized, and I was going to
tell my story and my testimony was what God did in my life,
and I was so nervous that I thought: oh, and I got up and
I was really nervous and I started to fix my hair,
and it was perfect. I started to get dressed and everything
fit perfect and everything was great and I started thinking:
that's good, it's good, because I was nervous anyway and
everything was like perfect and then I got to church,
and my pastor knew that I wanted to be rebaptized and
so he said: you know what? As a special thing before
your talk, we're going to be baptized you, and so he
came in and dumped me, he dumped me in the water,
I had no hairdryer, I had no make up, and this really loving
voice, I could hear the smile that said: Cheri, this is not
about you or your hair, this is about Me and the fact
that I am powerful and I love you. And I just laughed at,
and even in our void to try to present ourself and trying to
figure out what words to say, God says: no, no, no.
I'll do it. I'll do it.
It's better, I mean, it's always better that way.
It's better. And you laugh, because there was 2
videocameras inside the room, and I was this drowned rat,
You know can I say one thing to you Beth? I saw you
give a presentation on television, the self esteem
presentation, you were on a local cable station,
remember when you came down and did the skit with a group
from "Lift"? And so one of the things that was so powerful
to me, because I was on the seven, I was like watching
the teenagers that went to the lifestyle improvement,
do this skit on self esteem, an who was on the camera
were teens from a homeless shelter. And so they were
talking about self esteem, and how to get it and why it's
important and the people from this shelter who were not even
in recovery yet, in the very beginnig stages of the recovery,
were during the camera and to watch the Holy Spirit
work with these 2 groups, and I realized that there wasn't
about the show at all, it was about 2 groups talking to each
other and, oh, it's so powerful. It's so powerful.
The very thing, saying, like the kids that were in front of the
cameras or did you have the opportunity to talk with
them? Did they say anything?
Afterwards they started, I mean going together and people
started talking and that was the healing thing,
It wasn't anything like somebody would say: oh you know, life
went on, but in my heart I could feel the energy change
and the trust change and everything in me,
I cried, I literally just sit there and tears ran down my face,
because I have been really damaged, too, like some of the
people around the cameras and I looked at like Beth, and it was
she was having so much fun, and it was such a cool thing,
and then somebody starts putting on a nose like they
had missed her mouth, so everybody laughed,
but it was just a, it was a very cool, it was so cool to watch
this whole thing being happening with kids from, I think it was
from like 11/13 to 15?
Yes.
How was your group?
I think a big thing that through youth ministries, the hardest
barrier to get back by, is all of us surround a point that
we hate to get up and do things, ourselves, I mean, I hate to
make a fool of myself. And a lot of times I do. But...
I've seen you.
I wouldn't be surprised. But you know, to get past that barrier,
is the first step. You've got to step out a little bit,
you know, be bold to go out and do something, you know,
to get into youth ministries is quite a step, definitely.
It's quite a step we went, and this was Winter, Matt
out of this group, Winter and Matt. Do you remember
when I got to go with you, guys to Los Angeles?
It was fun, it was so much fun.
Can you talk a little bit about that? Because we had
I know, the story about when we watched the parade and
what happened the next morning?
Ok, we stayed up all night, for the New Year's Eve,
for the parade, the rose parade, and we grooved up
the whole night, we were seriously retarded
it was embarassing.
Yes. We made a fool of ourselves, nevertheless it was a perfect
ending.
It was a lot of fun.
Yeah. And then after it goes over, we were like: oh,
the places are wracked, there was like, there was everything
on the ground. And anything that could be on the ground,
was on the ground. So we're like: we get trash bags and
and so do it. So we came up and we're just like picked up
everything we could, some dust, this stuff, but, you know,
we picked it up and when people met us, they were like:
what are you doing there? What was going on?
Wait, wait, wait! They picked up 88 bags of trash.
on the streets of...
But it wasn't necessarily, it was all in all block
Yeah, just a block,
one block
that's right, that's right.
And there was like walking in this eve, you can imagine
thousands of people spending the night on the street,
imagine how much trash get in one block, that's the difference.
And so we had got our lot and then we were like: ok, here
we go! Because the clean up crew from the city came and we were
like: ok, here's the trash.
Would you do that for it? Why are you cleaning up and
doing our job? And we were like: because there's something to do.
And they were why? We said: because we are Christians and we
do that. You know, and these looks on their face were just
like: ok.
And you had also the looks on your face was just, you know,
in realitiy we're Christians and that's what we do.
It was just the most powerful thing.
I was so proud to be with that group.
It was definitely worth it. It was so worth it.
I got a lot of comments from people who had been staying
there that evening right after the rose parade we were picking
up trash and they said: do you realize they pay people to do
this. and I said: yeah, but we're doing that ourselves.
We're going to do our ministry and show that we're going
to go out and do it. And we picked up that block,
you could move down the street and see all the trash and
looking at that block.
It's gone, one block.
Yeah, one block and it was clean.
It was like clean.
I don't even think that it matters a lot: who cares
when you go and fool yourself. It's so what? Who cares what
people think? It's us and our relationship with God.
And when we're doing good stuff, we're not being or fooling Him,
so why not act a little crazy, you know, it's like you
took this job
And you'd be surprized how many people admire you for stepping
out and being yourself.
You know, I'm so impressed with this group, and that
I saw somebody talk to me about what you guys, the impression
you, guys made on them, and what they are saying is, that I came
and joined you guys on your trip when your project
because I knew that I could find God here.
And when I looked at you, to find God and to find out
how to act and be normal and all that kind of stuff,
And I thought: what a powerful thing! What a powerful thing
and what Joe was saying: I just have to be myself.
I want to say thanks for joining us on "Teen Pathways",
and remember: just be yourself. God can use anybody
and does. Thanks. Bye-bye!