“Tonight, about 40 percent of American children will go to sleep in homes in which their fathers do not live…” David Blankenhorn in his book “Fatherless America.”
Dear Friend,
First of all, thank you for taking a few minutes to visit our website and learn more about our ministry. We are an outreach ministry to youth and we have a special focus on high-risk youth, youth from broken homes and the fatherless.
I began developing this ministry in 2008 and have been in full-time youth ministry since 1987. Until 2008 most of my youth ministry experience was in the church, serving as a full-time youth pastor and eventually developing some key ministries focused on training parents and youth leaders. If you are want to know more about my ministry experience, here is a link to my Linked In business profile.
All those experiences were very rewarding but when God redirected my path into this new world of ministry, things changed drastically… ministry took on a whole new meaning. James 1:27 says it in a pretty unique way, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” After connecting with very high-risk youth in our community, I realized quickly that what I was doing was a ministry that was very close to the heart of God. Ministry to the fatherless.
If you visit the pages of our website you will see a lot of activity from 2008 until now. The needs are so great in the communities we serve, we get asked to do a lot of ministry partnering with others. You will notice my involvement as a speaker in All Pro Dad Father and Kids events, juvenile detention center chaplain ministry including major events as well as Bible studies and mentoring, and partnerships with local public schools. The simplest understanding of our scope of ministry is on a personal level I provide specialized ministry as a youth ministry chaplain to high-risk youth in the communities we serve and we provide mentoring, mentor training and discipleship. Our outreach into the public schools focuses on positive peer pressure, anti-drug and anti-bullying. We can make a big difference with your help.
The outreach we provide is funded by individuals, businesses and churches. Our goal is to have 100 individuals, 10 business partners and 10 churches supporting our ministry.
Would you join us as one of our partners in this mission? We would be excited to have you on our ministry team. Our monthly supporters can support what we do on a monthly basis for any amount from $15 per month on up to several hundred dollars per month.
Why not start today, investing in youth that need the message of the gospel, those who need a caring adult to walk with them side by side?
On a Monday night during our “Man Up” Bible study 6 teenage boys accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior! I was asked to bring the Bible study in to a different unit from what was scheduled. This Bible study is something I started about at the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center in Indianapolis. When I walked in to the room, one boy was kind of upset and let it be known that he was not interested in listening to a Bible study. So I opened in prayer and jumped right in. His countenance changed almost instantly and he started listening, asking questions and became very engaged. Other guys followed with that same desire to hear. It was one of the most amazing evidences of seeing the Holy Spirit work I have ever experienced. At the end 6 teenage boys asked to be saved. One boy walked up to me after we finished, he grabbed my hand and leaned toward my ear and said, “My name is Michael. I need you to remember my name a please continue to pray for me. Remember… it’s Michael.”
It kind of made me wonder if Michael has people in his life who really care for him, who pray for him and are willing to take his name to the throne of God.
When the Bible study ended the guys started applauding, thanking me and asking me to come back as soon as possible to share more. The applause was started by the guy who was so angry when I walked in to the room.
Oh, and the guy that was angry when we started… he’s a brother in Christ now too!
If you ever wonder if God really knows who you are and what is happening in your life right now… read Psalm 139. You will be amazed at what He has to say about the subject.
High Impact Teens was invited to be the official provider of mentors at the All Pro Dad Father and Kids NFL Experience held at the Indianapolis Colts training facility. The event was held on August 25. A limited number of fathers and kids were invited to attend and High Impact Teens was there to provide mentors for a group of young people who attended from Indianapolis without dads.
This special event was filmed for TV simulcast to be aired on January 13, 2013 at 1:00 PM.
Our ministry is blessed to have some great ministry partners! They are people who volunteer in various capacities throughout the year and those who make the commitment to support the ministry to make it all possible. Without our volunteers and donors we wouldn’t exist.
On a personal note, my weekend in Indianapolis was filled with a lot of “behind the scenes” experiences. I travelled from Tennessee up to Indy on Friday, August 24 to join Darrin Gray. Darrin is the National Development Director for All Pro Dad and one of my best friends. We met after I started our outreach ministry in Indianapolis a few years ago and we have chosen to share our “ministry platforms” together ever since. The weekend of events included me picking up Darrin at his house north of Indianapolis, loading up all kinds of books, displays and giveaways for a whirlwind of activities.
We headed over to the Colts Training Facility to meet with Derrick Boles of Leadership 1st and Lorenzo Neal. These guys were awesome to spend time with. We discussed some of our ministry goals, shared ideas about outreach and brainstormed about some ministry plans for the future. Derrick and Lorenzo are great guys and have a great vision for youth. And they are funny! We had a lot of laughs over the weekend.
We picked up Tony Dungy and Mark Merrill at the airport and headed straight to Riley Hospital for some visits with kids who are battling illness. Clark Kellogg met us at the hospital and our group got bigger and bigger. We were walking the halls with Tony Dungy, Clark Kellogg, Darrin Gray, Mark Merrill, Derrick Boles, Lorenzo Neal and key hospital staff members visiting kids.
We left the hospital and headed over the the Lucas Oil Mansion. Tony Dungy and Clark Kellogg spoke to a group of invited guests to raise money for Kids Voice.
Jersey Effect – High Impact Teen Weekend In South Carolina
David McEntire lives in my hometown of Blacksburg, SC. He has a big part in running the little league football programs in the community there. We connected through Facebook a few months ago and started discussing The Jersey Effect book. David invited me to come “home” for a few days and speak to the football players in our community. All my family still lives in the area and my parents still live at the same place where I grew up. It was a unique privilege to go home and connect with the community. I was in South Carolina Thursday, August 16 through Monday, August 20. Thursday evening I spoke to a stadium full of football players, parents, band members, cheerleaders and fans at the “Restore The Roar” event at Blacksburg High School. I was asked to speak and challenge the students and their families on the message of The Jersey Effect. The football field was not intended to be a field of selfishness and the jersey was not intended to bring glory to one who wears it so that it destroys his life. We all wear a jersey of influence and we are to be making a positive impact on those around us. A few area business leaders committed to sponsor giving a Jersey Effect book to all the Blacksburg Football players from JH through Varsity. Our youth outreach will continue a connection with these 90-100 youth throughout the school year. We are seeking only $250 more to complete the sponsorship of these youth.
On Friday evening I was invited over to Gaffney, SC which is the other high school in our county (Cherokee County.) I did a pre-game chapel service for the Gaffney Indians Football team. They are starting the season ranked #3 and have been one of the stronger programs Nationally for several years. God was clearly at work and it was an honor to have this sm
all ministry with them.
On Saturday the Cherokee County Little League Football program had their little league combine where the youth try out and get recruited and placed on the various teams. During the lunch hour, David McEntire met me there to introduce me to a lot of the coaches and volunteers that run the programs for the entire county.
Sunday morning I was with my friend Pastor Chip Coleman at Bishop Branch Baptist Church near Clemson, SC. We had a great service. Chip had me teach the high school and college students Sunday school class and present our ministry in the Sunday morning service. Later on Sunday evening I connected with Walt and Diane Sirmans in Greenville, SC. They are on our ministry board of directors and we spent time meeting a lot of their friends who have a heart for our ministry.
The Gaffney High School Football coaches would like to place the Jersey Effect book in the hands of all their players for this season. We are finding this to be a great tool to link our youth outreach to athletes. If you are interested in this project and would like to have a part in the investment in these young men, please contact me to discuss how you can help.
