At the end of each of our Arise programs in the local juvenile detention centers we give the youth the opportunity to write out their prayer requests. In Wyandotte County Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) in Kansas City, KS the volunteers have also started offering in-person prayer in a quiet corner for any youth that would like to pray together. Almost all the youth take time to pray with the volunteers.
After their time in the JDC, our Wednesday afternoon Arise volunteers go down the street to volunteer with Low Riding 2 Success, a lowriders bicycle club that serves youth on probation. Recently, a youth came up to one of our Arise volunteers, Morgan, after the meeting and said, “Hey, you’re that pastor from JDC.” He told Morgan he was having a hard time and asked Morgan to pray with him. Together they pleaded with God to make a way in the midst of so many struggles.
As we think of Club Arise, our emerging aftercare ministry for teens as they leave detention, stories like this demonstrate the hunger for youth to engage in Christian community. The knowledge that they gained of God’s love and the decisions that they made for change while incarcerated, need nurturing and support as they re-engage with their families and friends.
As part of our Teen Parent Connect monthly rhythm, we take the teen parents and their kids on a community outing. The purpose of these events are twofold. First, we want the youth to interact with each other and the mentors as we seek to build a strong Christ-centered community. Second, we want to empower the young families to engage in seasonal rhythms and start considering what traditions they want to build for their own families. We model tradition-building throughout the year. Each fall we go on a hayride and enjoy hotdogs and smores over a campfire. We have a potluck Thanksgiving Dinner where the youth provide the side dishes and desserts. At our Teen Parent Connect Christmas party we decorate cookies. The families know we will do a Parents’ Night Out in the spring and have a cookout pool party to kick off the summer.
For many of these teens, life is hard. They have to juggle school or work and childcare. Housing is difficult with inflated home and rent prices and many do not have relatives around to support them. These community activities provide a sense of play and fun for our Teen Parent Connect families and often provide a foundation of stability in the midst of a lot of unknowns. Tina, a TPC mom said her favorite tradition is decorating Christmas cookies. “I’ve done this for four years and I am so excited to do it again!” she said.
