The 'Come Up'

Transformed PEOPLE transform neighborhoods.

This is our core belief. 

New buildings won’t produce lasting change around here.   A stronger police presence alone won’t all together eliminate the crime.   Parenting classes by themselves can’t retool families that are stacked densely into apartments.  Even doubling the amount of UrbanLife activities to the calendar won’t remake the realities for some of my neighborhood friends. 

God still holds the patent on life transformation.   Only He can generate the kind of transformation we are longing for around here.

That’s why we are committed to leadership development of youth.  Christian leadership development necessarily involves God in the transformation of people.

We believe transformed youth will grow up to be different kinds of moms and dads, employees and neighbors.  Better ones.  It took only 12 people (disciples- see New Testament), relentlessly committed to following Christ, to change the course of history. So I am pretty sure our neighborhood will look different with a band of transformed youth, driven to love God and neighbor.

Yesterday we interviewed 15 youth for “The Come Up,” a year-long leadership development internship.   In this internship, we look critically at the challenges facing our neighborhood and push the interns to engage in positive ways.  We coach them to be Jesus-style leaders, serving rather than wielding power.   And we pay them $100 monthly stipends.   This allows us to prepare them for employment and to train them to be professional and productive.  Additionally it allows a portion of them to help their families and turn from dishonest methods of making money in the ‘hood.  Unfortunately, we are seeing startling numbers of youth turn to different versions of a ‘hustle’ in efforts to meet basic needs (see tomorrow’s post for more).

Help me develop more students.  Although 10 of the 15 students, who interviewed, are ready for this kind of rigor and development, our current budget allows for only 5 hires.  While we have capacity to train more students, we just don’t have the capital.  With only a few new financial partners, we will be able to hire more emerging leaders this Thursday. More specifically, one new partner giving $100 a month will allow us to include an additional student in the cohort.  Four financial partners, giving $25 dollars a month will also allow us to include an additional student in the cohort.  

Would you pray and consider giving generously to see youth in our city, ‘Come Up?’

LINK to give online.

LINK to UrbanLife homepage