Finding team unity in Christ

If we took a poll of American adults, how many of us would choose to go back to High School for even an hour? With the exception of playing a particular sport, most of us would pass on that every day and twice on Sunday. But if we are going to reach students for Christ, "going back" is exactly what we need to do. But now, as a post 30 year old without hair, how in the world do I find an "in"? How does our ministry find a way to get inside the doors of a public high school and stay inside long enough to make an impact? The answer is God. That's the only real answer to the question.

God has opened the doors of one of the local high schools in my home town. He has made it possible for our ministry team to begin to build significant relationships with that school's basketball team. Whether it is shagging balls at practice, sitting on the bench during games, or talking to the team before a game, our youth leaders have become part of the team. A few of our youth kids had supported "the guys" at games, and a number of them had come to our Sunday night worship.

This fall, after many hours spent with the high school guys on the team, our youth group was able to invite the team to our fall retreat. This voluntary opportunity was backed by coaches, parents, and the students themselves. What an opportunity to combine to very different groups of people under the common umbrella of God's love! We knew it was crazy, but God made it happen.

On a cool Friday night, we left the church and headed to camp. Our youth group traveled in borrowed Suburbans and the team followed us on their big white activity bus. It was a little awkward to have them travel separately, but we knew the team had their own family of comfort with one another. To this point, the team and our group had not interacted on any intimate level. Our concern as a leader team was that this could be two worlds colliding, and based on my driving history, collisions are rarely pretty. So, we had been praying for weeks and as we planned, we were concerned about how to quickly bring these two groups together. Our time together was limited. Relationships had to be built.

By the time we arrived at camp, it was dark and stormy. Our city kids we were as far from civilization as they had ever been. "The sticks" or "the boonies," call it what you want...there were no bathrooms and no electricity. Quickly, the kids named the cabins "the chicken coops," as they were made of only wood, screen and aluminum. The youth group kids, who had been on retreats with us before, were not quite as shocked as the team by our accommodations. All the kids were surprised when we unloaded our vehicles with help from our only source of light, the headlights. The basketball kids were freaked out. I have never seen so many 6 foot plus macho guys so scared.

Once we settled in, it was time to bring all the campers together for worship and games. There was a five minute walk down a dark and wooded road to our open air meeting space. We began to walk down the path and my personal space was quickly invaded. They were all afraid of the dark! With a point guard at my elbow, the center at my shoulder, and the guard at my back, it was my once chance to make the team! ... Lions and tigers and bears?....oh my!

It was really that first hour or so at camp that set the foundation for these two groups of people to collide in a beautiful way. Everyone was outside their own personal comfort zone. All were a bit afraid of the dark. God had gone before us and designed a fantastic weekend of fun and challenges; He made himself available through His word and through the experience He had designed for us.

Now, there is not a distinction between the team and our youth group. The guys, although not all of them, are coming to church and are a part of the Sunday morning worship. They are becoming consistently involved in our Sunday night student meeting, and some are now in Bible studies. God has allowed this funny, messy, stretching camp weekend to be a spring board for our kids, leaders, families, and church. None of this would have been possible had we not had the support of our church, the "buy in" of the coaches, relationship with the kids, and a team of leaders that were willing to try something different and get involved.

Curt Solomon is director of youth at The Church of the Apostles in Raleigh, North Carolina. "Fun for me is spending time in the woods with my dogs. In the "Old Days," a horse would have accompanied me, but more recently, I'm as pleased as pie swinging in my backyard in a big hammock."