I love Youngstown, Ohio. More specifically, I love Heart Reach ministries and the 5 years we were so fortunate to lead the youth there. The experiences and stories we have are as numerous as the marks on the buses but I want to share one story in particular.
Growing up a preachers kid, there were very few weeks in a year that were more anticipated that summer camp. From daily matching and wearing the Umbro short sets to the silk shirts sweated out nightly during a powerful rendition of “Look What the Lord Has Done”, nothing could top those weeks. It was expected and understood that Jesus would be at camp.
As the years progressed and we began our ministry lives, Angela and I knew that no matter where we pastored and what programs we created, summer camp had to be a part of it.
Which brings me to Heart Reach. Let me tell you about the city of Youngstown. It’s a beautiful city that unfortunately has been over run in recent decades with drugs, crime and poverty. The people of the city have fought the good fight and empowered organizations like Heart Reach to lead the charge in restoring the original destiny of that city.
It was year 3 of our time in Youngstown and we found ourselves at a wonderful campground a few hours outside of town. Although the ages of our kids were diverse (12-17), the life experiences were not. Many, if not most came from dysfunctional homes that no child should experience. Some had parents in prison while others had no parents at all. Some were just babies and a couple had babies of their own. But at the end of the day, I believe all youth (really people) regardless of race, gender, background and worldview, have the same basic desires: to be loved, to be wanted and to serve a purpose. That’s it. Every thing we do in life is in a effort to accomplish one of those internal desires. And those desires were highlighted in those kids.
It was the final day of camp and the greatest challenge of the week was waiting in the woods. It’s called the “Leap of Faith”. All you do is climb to the top of a telephone pole, turn around without any help and jump out far enough to hit the ball hanging several feet away. No big deal. The kids begin to arrive and immediately begin to lay out all of the excuses as to why they can’t AND won’t do it. You have to understand, these kids have seen and lived through more horrific experiences than most of us could imagine and yet this simple, safe, controlled challenge had them shaking in fear. To prove it could be done, I went first. I made it to the top, turned around, jumped and totally missed the ball. But before you cast judgement, it was because the wind was blowing, I jumped too high and as I was flipping and turning, I missed. Apparently I was just too athletic. (True story but we don’t have time to divulge into it.)
Malcolm decided to go first. He witnessed his own father’s murder so how hard could this be? Yeah, I know. I can’t even fathom that. But I watched him the night before cry out to God pleading for forgiveness, begging Him to remove the hate in his heart for his father’s murderer. He became one of my heroes that night and what he did next proved he was being changed from the inside out.
The pole was 50+ feet and swayed a good 4-6 inches whether there was wind or not. You begin facing the ball but climbed in such a way that once you arrived at the top, you’d completed a 180. You had to push yourself up with only your legs, turn around on the top of this pole that felt like standing on a pencil eraser and if you could maintain your balance, jump with all your might and free fall until the camp worker caught the slack and lowered you down. Piece of cake.
He began to cry. Right there in front of everyone. I mean sob and tremble. He was scared out of his mind. He pleaded with me, explaining why he can’t do it wiping the snot from his nose and clearing the tears rushing from his eyes. So I made a deal with him. I said, “here’s what you do. Take one step. And then I’ll be right here if you want to get down. Just take one step. We won’t worry about the top. Deal?” He reluctantly agreed and took 2 steps! But then froze. Literally hands stuck on the rings and would not move. At this point he’s weeping to the point of shaking and telling me he just can’t do it. He was ready to quit. And many leaders would’ve said, ‘Good job. You did your best. Come on down and let’s be proud of all that you accomplished’ and no one would’ve thought twice about it. But not me. I refused to let him quit just because it got hard. Just because it pushed him physically and mentally to go further. I refused to let all of the built in excuses push their way to the front of his mind and justify why he couldn’t do this. I said to him, “Malcolm, you are more than this! You were created by God and are fearfully and wonderfully made. I know you can do more than what you think so here’s what I’m asking. Can you do just a little bit more? Can you take one more step? Can your heart negotiate with your mind and push yourself harder than want and go a little further?” He wiped the tears away, took another step-and froze. I’d like to say that he made it to the top and all of the kids followed suit and we have a movie coming out next Summer with the Rock set to play the role of the shredded, handsome, comedic, youth director leading this rag tag group of kids. But that’s not realistic. He made it 3 more steps. Only one teen made it to the top but most importantly, each of them did a little bit more than they believed they could. We left that campground with a newfound sense of accomplishment and for the next 2 years, many of those teens became my student leaders and are to this day serving in Youngstown as leaders in their churches, community and homes.
This long story is my challenge to you. What areas of your life are fearful? What dreams have you quit on because it became difficult and the haters came out in full force? You thought marriage was going to be easy and now you want to quit because it’s hard? Well, go a little bit further and do a little more. Your job is strenuous and you want to quit? Do a little bit more . School is tough, kids are acting out, treatments aren’t working. Go a little further and do a little bit more. When were faced with challenges we have to do a little more than we expect we can. Take one more step and climb that pole! I can’t promise you a thing other than that quitting too soon will create a habit of failure. Success and failure are both habits created by thoughts then action. It’s up to you to develop the habits that breed success that will empower you to go a little bit further than you thought.
By the way, our last Summer in Youngstown, 12 of my leaders trained and ran the Emmaus 7 mile run with me. Some didn’t run the whole way and had to be picked up. But in the dark, coming down the hill with sweat pouring down his face, resolve pumping through his heart, 3 years older and a whole lot stronger, Malcolm went just a little bit further-and finished.