The first week we started our City Life Ministry on the Hilltop (called Sozo) in October of 2006, we met two middle school aged brothers named Justin and Patrick.
Their life was rough. At that time the Hilltop Crips still had a huge presence in their neighborhood and Justin was close to joining. Dealing with a lot of rage, he fought people almost every day and sometimes stole cars. Patrick stole things every day just for fun.
They gave their lives to Christ at Sozo the third week after it launched at the People’s Community Center. They were discipled well that first year by the same volunteer leader, Jess, their track coach from Jason Lee Middle School, who had invited them to Sozo in the first place, and left those parts of their lives behind. Justin and Patrick stuck with Sozo, moving from just attending to volunteering at clubs and camps, until they graduated from high school, being mentored by volunteer leaders like Jess the whole time.
“Jess showed us the love of God by displaying unconditional love daily. He showed and taught us things we wouldn’t have learned otherwise about being adults and Christians,” Patrick says. “We grew up in both life and Christ with YFC.”
Quickly after graduation they became volunteer leaders themselves and even began working in the schools. Veteran volunteers at Giaudrone Campus Life, site leader Lindsey calls them “superstars” and “a huge blessing to me and the team!” She says, “They just have an uncanny ability to connect with a bunch of students, and because they’ve been committed to the school and surrounding area for so long, are able to know entire families of students…they are aware of the dynamics and hardships before the kid has to explain them.”
Jesus has so transformed their lives that they have committed to being invested in the lives of middle schoolers at Giaudrone and the Hilltop for nearly 8 years now. At YFC Camp this summer, they bonded with a boy named Ryker. His family situation is complicated and Ryker was indignant and disappointed that camp cost so much. It took multiple days of convincing for him to believe he could truly come with what he had, even if it was a single dollar. Ryker had such a good time at camp that he is now constantly working to convince his friends to join him this summer.
Because 13 years ago YFC volunteer leaders like Jess were able to share Jesus with Patrick and Justin, Patrick and Justin now get to share the hope of Jesus with students like Ryker, who has transformed since camp into a talkative, more confident, excited young man. He is still experiencing the same hardships, but something changed in his perspective. Once abrupt and quite often frustrated, Ryker now talks for as long as he can with Justin and Patrick about football, sports, and sometimes even life.
We don’t know where Ryker will be when he’s grown up, but we know Justin and Patrick are committed to walk alongside him, offering the same mentorship and support they received when they were his age.
And they’re not alone. There are nearly 100 volunteer leaders at Giaudrone and ministry sites all across Pierce County devoted to the exact same thing: bringing the hope of Jesus to the youth of our area.
You can make a difference in the life of a young person like Justin, Patrick, and Ryker. There is a way for anyone to be involved in the work and mission of YFC. Click below for more information!
