It's Not Your Ordinary Church Plant

It didn't happen much. But, when it did...

...well...

...I'd been in youth ministry long-enough to know that I'd better be paying attention.

See, I met this teenager who attended the church I worked for but didn't come to any of the student ministry functions. It was a tiny group of five and they were all disinterested and their parents made them come. She wanted to be at church and liked to be there so she really didn't fit the dynamic of the ministry at that time.

But when I met this high school junior, I got that little whisper in my brain that I'd been in youth ministry long-enough to pay attention to that little whisper. It more or less said, "Build into the life of this teen, man. You will NOT regret it." Sure, she had eyes as big as Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" and a great sense of humor and it looked like somebody spilled about 3 cups of cuteness on her, but this was beyond all that. There was something pushing me to build a relationship with her because I thought it would be time well-spent.

So, I tried. Several times. She was very polite. Polite and charming are how she operates. But still, she wouldn't attend any ministry things on Wednesday or Sunday night...or even Sunday School.

Then it hit me: I was her youth pastor. Since when did I care about whether or not they fit the convention of my scheduled events? So, I told her, right at Baseball Bob's Sports Memorabilia Store (the other part-time job that got me through seminary), that I'd be happy to start a Bible study just for her and her friends.

"When?" she asked.

"Well, I can probably commit to every Friday morning at 6AM," I replied.

"That's early...but okay!"

She invited her friends, too. About 8 showed up to the church, which was right next to the high school. I had to buy the donuts and orange juice out of my paycheck. I figure I worked three hours at the mall to make this Friday Morning Breakfast Club thing work. It worked, too. It wasn't long before I was working about 5 hours at the mall to pay for the donuts and juice before I wised up and got them to sign up. Oh yeah, and for some reason, Starburst candies were a big deal. I have no idea why they thought it was so funny for me to stand up front and ask if anyone wanted a "fruit chew" but they did. It became the offical candy of the Breakfast Club.

One of the friends she invited was Keith. For some reason he gave me instant credibility and trust and it was like we'd been friends forever. I'm not sure if they were officially dating at that time, but I'd always known them as more or less a couple, but Keith was far from there because she was there. He was enjoying the growth thing, too.

Keith & Barie.
Megan. Dana. Tiffany. Kenny. Joshua & Mandy. Jarrod. Carissa came later. Brian. Jennifer. There were others and I'll forget somebody and make them mad so I'd better stop. Blake & Jen and Jerry & Sally got involved.

They all rocket-launched spiritually. All of them. Rocket launch is precisely the right term, too.

There was roller hockey on Sunday afternoons between services. My roller blades cost about 10 hours at the mall.
There were Bible studies...lots of them.
There were fruit chews...tons...so much so that Keith's first question (somehow he was going to lead Bible study on the band trip because they left Friday morning and woudn't have Breakfast club) asked me when I met the leaving band bus was, "Yeah, I'm prepared. But where are the fruit chews?"
There were times when they all got involved in the church services...all the band kids played their instruments as needed, which was often in our little church.
They were guinea pigs on the first True Love Waits, which was only a year-old case study at that time.
On "pack the pew" Sunday they did just that, which led to a meeting where this was actually said, "Next time the teens make up 1/3 of our service could you please make sure they spread out more because some of our older members couldn't get their regular seats?"
There were tons of laughs at the duplex we shared with Jerry and Sally as this group spent hours at our house.
They learned exactly what it was that God blesses...much to their playful laughs and incredulous faces ("Did he really just say THAT about THAT?")
They showed up to help me move across town to another church about the same time the youth group from the new church across town showed up...and they loaded boxes with broken hearts and I overheard one of the teen tell the new group, "You have no idea how blessed your ministry is going to be. You really don't. You think you do, but you don't. Trust me about that." Wow.

There was an unforgetable time on a beach trip to Gulf Shores where two tires blew out (and if I've ever entertained an angel unaware, that was it), that time we lost caused us to avoid a major travel accident (it would take to long to explain), it was the last time I ever "hand checked" a van, and we did a study on The Mind of Christ where I watched a group of teens yell at the ocean (well, everybody buy hair-dyed Leslie, who just put her hand up in a "talk to the hand" gesture) and tell it that they were not of this world. I washed their feet. Literally and figuratively.

And I don't know that I've ever seen a bigger return, per capita, on an investment in ministry as I did with those original 8 or 10. They're all in ministries of some kind even to this day. The Kingdom is more populated and more rewarded because of their time here on Earth.

And it all started with a Belle-eyed, 3-cup-of-cuteness kid that was dating (maybe?) a boy who was wise enough to know that he should stay close to the Belle-eyed, 3-cup-of-cuteness kid that would challenge him spiritually and love him dearly. I know this to be true because I gladly took their True Love Waits rings back on their wedding day during their ceremony.

Yes. They grew more in the next four years after they left my ministry than they did in the year and a half they were in it. That's the way youth ministry works, folks. You plant seeds. Others harvest. Bully for the way it works.

Keith went to Dallas Seminary and did youth ministry for a while, too. In Ovilla. Barie did accounting. Now she moms.

And, tomorrow, I was going to surprise them because their current ministry involves church planting. I was just going to pop in to their first service of Hill Country Bible Church Round Rock-North. It's been a couple of years in the planning so I know they're excited. But, my own job has a lot cooking tomorrow and I can't make it. A true regret, too. Man, I really wanted to be there. Such is life.

They've been chartered.

And, tomorrow, they're off and running.

And, I'm saying a little prayer of thanks for Hill Country Bible Church Round Rock-North. I'm glad they exist. I hope the Kingdom will be more populated and more rewarded because it exists.

And, I'm saying a little prayer of thanks for a Belle-eyed, 3-cup-of-cuteness mom and her husband who was smart enough to keep a Belle-eyed, 3-cup-of-cuteness girl who would challenge him spiritually and encourage him and love him dearly as he does his thing for His Kingdom. I'm thankful I could watch the rocket launch then. I'm thankful I can hear about the rocket launch now.

And I'm thankful for our continuing friendship.

Godspeed on this new adventure, Barie and Keith.

Godspeed, my friends.