Posted by John Burgin on December 10, 2007 at 7:48pm
It is amazing how God works in our lives. I have been blessed to be a part of a great ministry in the city where I live called Urban Restoration. Urban Restoration houses a variety of ministries, all geared towards reaching out to the inner-city.This past spring a friend of mine who new that I had been working on a comic called Frogboy invited me down to Urban to meet a guy there. He told me they were looking for a mascot to use for the ministry and had been looking for some time. After talking with him I said I wanted to be a part of this ministry and I would do anything that they needed me to. I was excited because I thought this was going to be my big break. This place has connections, I mean big local churches, and professional Christian athletes, and Billy Graham for goodness sake. I could see it all taking shape. Frogboy would be bigger than Veggie Tales. I couldn't wait for them to get back with me.I didn't hear from anybody for months. The entire summer went by and I thought that maybe it just wasn't meant to be. I began to get discouraged. I prayed and prayed and prayed some more. Then one day about the middle of September I got a call from a guy named Johnny D. He wanted me to come down to Urban to meet with him about the upcoming fall session of Outreach Kids Club. Awesome I thought. So I met him and told him of all of these great ideas that I had and he just gave me a schedule of events. It was the outline for the 10 week kids club at Urban Restoration. He told me that the Ten Commandments would be the lessons. I would need to make a new two page comic every week Illustrating each of the first five Commandments.Johnny called me and asked me to come to Urban Restoration on a Saturday one week before the first kids club was to start. I thought he wanted to talk some more and hear a few more of my great ideas, but when I got there a few more folks were there too and he was handing each of us a stack of fliers promoting the next weeks kids club. There was an old school bus running in the parking lot and we all got on. There were 5 adults and 4 teenage kids. The bus took us into a pretty scary neighborhood called Tuckaseegee and we just kept on going further and further into that neighborhood until we came to the Bahamas neighborhood. Just to look at this place you would think that no one would possibly live here.Then Johnny said to get off the bus. He wanted us to take the fliers he had given us and go door to door shouting OUTREACH KIDS CLUB! OUTREACH KIDS CLUB! So I went door to door and would you believe it, that among the broken glass, and the boarded up windows, and the mean barking dogs that CHILDREN lived here and a bunch of them too.They came running outside to take the fliers and they didn't want to wait until the next Saturday, they wanted to get on that bus right then and go to kids club. These children were hungry for affection and hungry for attention, and I began to realize that God's plan for me to be involved was much different than I had previously thought. I even had the chance to share with a 17 year old boy who prayed to receive Christ right there on the sidewalk.We are just about to finish up this fall session of kids club and so much more has happened since that first bus ride back in early October. I did make the comics and they are posted here, but just wait until I tell you what the big news is with Frogboy. You won't believe it.Until next time,John
Thank you for your encouragement Strad. This experience has been an incredible growth opportunity for my faith.
I have so much more to share about this first ten weeks. I can't wait for the spring session.
Wow - man, this is incredible. I'd like to encourage you as much as possible. I know where you're coming from as far as sometimes wanting to have your own ideas or plans for this stuff, but a lot of times it's just making yourself available to be utilized in whatever way. This is such an important lesson to learn (I'm still learning it!). I love artwork and being creative, but I know that God just wants me to be His willing servant and if that happens, He'll use me the best way He knows. I really got tingles when I read about going into that neighborhood and kids wanting to get on the bus right then and there. Powerful stuff. People desperate for Christ - gives a whole new meaning to the fields being white with harvest, but the workers are few. I'll pray for you - pray for me as well that I can be bold too!
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I have so much more to share about this first ten weeks. I can't wait for the spring session.