They Keep Coming Back!

“I'm going to stay in MYC Club until high School!” “Me too, I wish we could come every day!” This was part of a conversation between a couple of our MYC Primary Club kids as we were getting out of the van and walking into MYC. I took what I heard as a show of enthusiasm and not a warning! We enjoy their smiles and displays of excitement, and we're glad that they want to be with us. Most of our kids come to Club or Camp year after year, unless the family moves out of town. Why do they keep coming back? Is it the food? The games in the gym? The social time? Lessons about God's love? Is it homework time? (Probably not!) While most of these are reasons our kids come back, we believe that the relationships with the MYC staff and volunteers has a lot to do with it. We try to make sure they know that we love them and that we want them to be here. MYC is not just a job where we watch the clock and can't wait until we can go home. (Although honestly, with at-risk kids there are days when we are tempted to do this!)

One of the many ways God has blessed MYC is that we have staff and volunteers who stay here for years. Another way we are blessed is to have married couples working together here. I'm especially blessed to get to work closely with my wife, Debbie. Relationships are built when the kids come year after year and get to spend time with the same adults every year. Relationships are key to what we do here, and there is no substitute for time in developing them. This is clear to us and may be so obvious to you that you may be wondering why I am wasting space and your time by writing about it. The sad reality, however, is that many of the parents of these kids don't seem to understand this truth. Dads or even moms are sometimes completely missing from the lives of our kids. Some see their dad for only a few days in the summer. Many live with a grandma or another relative instead of with parents. Many move around often, in and out of the homes of various relatives or friends. It's not uncommon for our kids to have to make calls after Club to ask where we need to drop them off, or for us to drive to more than one house in order to find an adult who is available to supervise them. Moms will have various “men” in and out of the home, which confuses the kids and can put them in danger. These kinds of choices by the parents are the reasons why these kids are at-risk. Parents who can't commit often raise kids who can't cope.

This is why we are here. This is why we have both men and women serving here. This is why it's so great to have married couples spending time with these kids. The kids see that we love each other and that we love them. When they know that they will see the same faces year after year, they keep coming back.