"And who are you, miss?"
"Soccer coach. I am the boys' soccer coach."
A few weeks ago, I had the frightening experience of discovering two of the children in our soccer league were under the care of DEFACS (department of family and children services). I called their mom and asked what happened. She told me that she left her four children with her sister to watch while she ran to a birthday party. When she returned the police immediately hand-cuffed her and took her to jail. Her sister went down the street to get her make-up done and in effort to keep out of jail, she didn't take responsibility for leaving the children home alone.
I knew the kids had to be frightened and distraught as they had been in DEFACS for nearly a week before their mom got a court hearing. I took the mom, who is without transportation to the court date. (I had been praying for opportunities to spend time with the parents, but I never thought it would happen like this!) As I walked into the children's playroom at the courthouse the kids' faces were very surprised to see me. "Hey bud, you doing okay..." Silence. There really wasn't anything to talk about. Although, I may be a familiar face, these children want their mother.
Long story short, they are in foster care now and unable to return home until the mom gets a job. They have re-enrolled into a brand new school and are only able to have two supervised visits with their mom/ week. At the family team meeting (which included the mom, myself, and seven social workers), they asked if I would maintain regular contact with the kids by continuing to take them to church.
This is really a blessing in disguise, if the mom will reach the guidelines the state has required of her, the whole family will have a better life. I encouraged the mom, "do not just work the system. do not do the bare minimum to get your kids back. you take advantage of every opportunity and resource they provide for you so that you can get out of this cycle (she grew up in the same community they are living)."
Support system.
I never understood the importance of it. This mom has no family or support system to help her raise 4 children, one which has cerebral paulsy. Can you imagine living off of $600/month? A 2-bedroom apartment for 6 children and 2 adults. Something's gotta give!
We do soccer. But it doesn't stop there. Christ call's us to serve. And service is messy! Messier and less predictable than writing a check to help someone out. FCA is in a community like Allen Hills to minister to the athlete but also to the families. We best serve by meeting a need. And by helping those families to become self-sufficient.
Thank you for your support. Without you, this family would have no one at the 'Family Team Meeting'. Because of your investment, this family has much more. They have me and they have you. Let's intercede on the Bell family's behalf to our Father God who will meet all of our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus! Philippians 4:19
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Vision Leaks
Vision leaks. Therefore, I like to remind myself what the vision is.
My
role is the urban soccer representative. My vision is to develop a urban soccer
league as a tool to reach the low income families, by focusing on the children
ages 7-12. Our ministry philosophy is to and through coaches. My current role
as the league director of Allen Hills Soccer Academy is to recruit and train
volunteer coaches to love on their players, which live in government housing.
Our
ultimate goal is to see life change and transformation through Jesus Christ in
these coaches and athletes. We have been doing clinics in Allen Hills for a
year and half, which allowed us to raise interest for the sport in the
community and also accumulate volunteers from Atlanta. As of January 2012, we
launched the first season in Allen Hills. I have 6 volunteer coaches that will
coach 12 hours a month until mid-May this Spring season. I will be responsible
for conducting summer camps and other activities with the children and
preparing for the second and third soccer season during the 2012-13 school
year. At this point, I am not concerned about the number of teams or players
involved in our academy as much as I am working to create a positive
environment for these kids to be proud to belong to. The idea is to perfect
this model and replicate it in other low-income communities.
Goals
over the next 5-10 years is to see these children to enter into a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ, break the poverty cycle in their life, go to
college, and then seek to give back to the communities in which they were raised.
HOW EXCITING!
First Month Gone - AHSA
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