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Urban Youth Ministry: Long-Term Invasions versus Drive-by Outreaches

By Kevin Ramsby

His voice still echoes loud and clear in my mind a year and a half after the news report flashed on the local television station. "I love this neighborhood," the 15-year-old proudly stated as I drove him home after a youth drama outreach. "It’s mine and my boys." He was referring to his local gang, the Cash Flow Posse. The tragic story of Jeff has led me to ask hard questions, especially concerning the overwhelming need for urban youth pastors and the ineffectiveness of short-term outreach—drive-by evangelism (John 15:13).

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JEFF

Jeff’s life was cut short by a bullet to the back of his head.

His life changed direction between the ages of 11 and 13 when he and two friends decided to get "jumped-in" to one of the PeeWee’s—gangs for 10- to 16-year-olds. As he distanced himself from the church, Jeff’s appetite for money, power, position, and a new family led him to work his way up through the gang.

As one of the top three leaders, Jeff recruited young gang members, some as young as 10 years old. Jeff knew about God through children’s outreaches and the testimony of several born-again brothers and sisters. He would occasionally come to the youth meetings to check things out. His visits became more frequent in his final 2 months. At the last youth service Jeff attended, he bowed his head and accepted Christ as his Savior. His last words at the altar were that he needed to take care of some things next week, but he would be back to church, "for sure," in 2 weeks. Jeff never had a chance to come back to church.

Jeff went back to his gang, wanting to change his life. A disagreement erupted while talking with one of the leaders. Witnesses said that Jeff finally turned to walk away from the disagreement when a 13-year-old coleader grabbed a .25-caliber pistol from a friend’s pocket and shot Jeff. Jeff’s choice to leave the gang resulted in his body being dumped on the train tracks.

Although over 35 people raised their heads in recognition of the need to change their lives for Christ at Jeff’s funeral, none of his gang family bothered to come and pay their last respects. Gangs are fiercely loyal to their own, and they didn’t come for a reason—Jeff was making a break for life.

Disciplemakers are needed to help these 35 young people grow in their faith. But where are the disciplemakers, the ones who will go into the large inner cities of America and provide long-term, life-producing ministry to urban youth?

WHERE ARE THE URBAN YOUTH PASTORS?

As Jesus looked over Jerusalem, He wept. He saw people as sheep without a shepherd. Things haven’t changed much in cities in 2,000 years. In youth ministry, the youth of urban America are like sheep without a shepherd. Seventy-five percent of the churches in the inner cities of America do not have a youth pastor or anyone with formal training in youth ministry. Not all Bible colleges offer classes or a course of study in urban youth ministry, although most Bible colleges offer internships. Regardless, we still need to be proactive in recruiting and training young ministers for the over 50 percent of America’s population who live in the cities.

Urban youth ministry presents many challenges, but challenges should not create a detour to putting our hand to the plow and not looking back (Luke 9:62). God’s Spirit is calling anointed youth pastors to trust Him for salaries, budgets, and staff who can change a city. In Detroit, we have open doors to 33 recreational centers to impact thousands of youth and children, but few people respond to the call to long-term ministry and mentoring of urban youth.

LONG-TERM INVASIONS VERSUS DRIVE-BY OUTREACHES

The difference between an invasion and a drive-by outreach is that an invasion results in possession and rulership. A one-time outreach or a drive-by event may create awareness, but not relationships. When Jesus called His disciples to be witnesses, He called them to be life-sacrificing relationship builders, not simply announcers-and-leavers (John 15:16). If we want to reach and change urban youth—and we want them to change as a result of what they see and hear from us—we must invade and possess their territory for Christ, and teach them to rule for themselves (Joshua 1:1–9).

The best form of discipleship is to teach people to be disciples where they are. City kids see outreaches come and go. City kids are taken out of the city and trained in environments where the challenges needed to survive in the city are not present. Continued life in the city needs to be mentored from the city outward. Our erroneous drive-by, drive-through ministry approach is: What is best for our ministry is best for the city. Instead, we need to ask: What should we do that is best for the city?

HOW TO DEVELOP AN INNER-CITY YOUTH MINISTRY

There are few models for long-term effectiveness in inner-city youth ministry. Though effective models exist for inner-city children’s ministries, substance abuse programs, and community outreaches such as Adopt-a-Block, this is not the case with inner-city youth ministries. Several key elements are crucial for inner-city youth ministry—not only for developing a ministry for long-term, life-building effectiveness, but for maximizing the instant impact that can be made in a field that is ripe for harvest (John 4:35).

Find a leader and develop a team.

One of the main assumptions in Scripture is found in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20). Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all nations."* The assumption is there are believers who are already trained to make disciples of those who have been taught God’s commandments. Urban ministry needs youth leaders who are able to make disciples of others, who in turn can make more disciples.

The leader is the key to reaching inner-city youth. The leader must be strong spiritually and emotionally to stay on the roller coaster of urban youth ministry. A youth pastor or youth director must possess vision to launch out into the youth masses of the city for long-term results. He also needs a team of dedicated workers who will help him or her. A ministry’s effectiveness drastically declines when it exceeds the ratio of 1 leader for every 10 youth. A youth-ministry team will not only make the difference in the lives of hundreds of youth, but in the longevity and effectiveness of the urban youth pastor.

Establish an identity.

Typically every youth group, suburban and urban, has a name for its group. Identity comes in a variety of ways, but identity is never more important than in reaching the masses in inner-city youth ministry. The youth in the city are constantly looking for something to be part of that can impart purpose and vision. Though relationship development will serve as the stream that leads to long-term discipleship, an identity will serve as a magnet to quickly draw youth into the group.

In an urban environment, colors, hand-signs, names, graffiti, and street names identify youth, show their creativity, and mark their territory. They are extremely loyal to the things with which they identify. In Detroit, our youth group, which averaged 20 to 30 for 2 years, increased to over 100 in 1 week as a result of giving new points of identification in displaying Christ’s love and power. When we expanded from "Streetside Youth Night" to "Double Dare Nite," our impact level in the school system went from 4 schools to over 30 in 1 month. After 6 months, we wanted the youth to identify more radically in their relationship and commitment with Christ, so we changed our name from Streetside to Club 24.Seven. Since identifying ourselves with the 24/7s of Scripture, we have seen a 50- to 75-percent increase in youth who come with their Bibles, attend church weekly, and who have approached leaders, parents, and friends for forgiveness.

Start with a neighborhood but have a vision for the city.

Define a target area where you will begin, even if it’s just one street. To think about ministering to a whole city can be overwhelming, especially if its population is over 1 million. But you can pray, strategize, and walk in faith. Target schools by having students in your group pass out flyers or special materials to other students at their schools. Establish relationships within your target area and partner with other ministries. Don’t be a lone ranger by thinking God is going to send everybody to your thing.

Provide transportation.

Whether by bus, van, or car, transportation will inevitably play an important role in your ministry to inner-city youth. In some places, youth may walk or ride their bikes to youth service. But in cities like Detroit, we would reach 10 percent fewer youth on a weekly basis if we didn’t provide transportation. In the inner city, many families have only one car, and it is usually not available to the young people.

The target area provides realistic boundary lines for picking up youth. Maximize the amount of youth you can pick up in the least amount of time. At Club 24.Seven, we can pick up 100 to 200 youth within 1 hour and after the service take them home within 30 minutes. By having detailed routes with names, addresses, phone numbers, parents’ names, and detailed driving instructions, you can establish a team that focuses only on transportation. The key in transportation is consistency, detailed instructions for substitute drivers, and adequate vehicles to bring in the maximum number of youth.

Build a bridge from your youth ministry to the children’s ministry.

Be aware of the drop-out factor in your children’s ministry. Traditionally, youth groups begin at the junior high level (7th and 8th grade), but in the city the drop-out factor in children’s ministry dramatically increases between the ages of 10 and 12. To retain your children, organize a junior varsity group made up of junior high students.

Structure your group around age instead of grades.

Due to a breakdown in the educational system in the inner city (42- to 65-percent student drop-out rate), around half of the teens in our group have failed or have been held back at least 1 year. Students in 7th and 8th grades are sometimes 14 or 15 years old and are peer leaders in their grades because of their age.

Compete with the culture.

If gangs are targeting 10- and 11-year-olds, then so should the church. The culture puts pressure on kids to grow up at an earlier age. This should cause the church to reach out to children and youth to help keep their innocence while equipping them in spiritual things.

Develop creative programming that focuses on the Cross.

Programming is what takes place in the youth meetings. Though creativity will create excitement, ownership, and increased attendance, it is not the key in changing lives. Jesus said, "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself" (John 12:32). Paul wrote, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe" (1 Corinthians 1:18,21). The simplicity of our role in youth ministry is that once we have done the going (Matthew 28:19), Jesus will do the drawing through our preaching and proclamation of the message of the Cross. Many creative techniques can be used to portray the gospel: human videos, mime, dramas, guest speakers. They are all excellent, but unfortunately time plays a role in programming.

Use your time wisely. Jeanne Mayo’s philosophy: "Pray much…love much…and work much" becomes the cornerstone of reaching inner-city youth.

PRAYING IN THE MISSING PIECES

Youth are waiting for you to bring them the message of Jesus Christ. Whether or not you have a ministry team, vehicles for transport, a worship team to lead in worship, or a building in which to meet—don’t quit. Pray, believe, and continue casting the vision. Our urban ministry began with my wife and me, one bus route, 25 youth, no worship team, and no building. God has taken what little we had and multiplied it. By establishing a vision and trusting the Lord with the resources we had, God expanded our leadership team to over 12 adults and 10 students. After we targeted a certain area in our city, three additional bus routes were created—each running 25 to 60 young people a week. For 5 months we were without a worship team. Now God has given us not only a worship team but a youth choir as well. Finally, God has given Club 24.Seven a 3-story warehouse that has become the Good News Gang Metro Club 24.Seven Youth Development Center with dunk basketball cages, activity areas, and even laser tag. No matter what happens, you can do everything through Him who gives you strength (Philippians 4:13) to reach the inner-city youth of America.

*Scripture quotations are from the New International Version.

Kevin Ramsby is the senior associate pastor at Metropolitan World Outreach Center, Detroit, Michigan.