by Ken Turner | Jul 5, 2016 | Ministry Update
High Impact Mentoring is a NEW outreach launched in May 2016 with the help of the Christian Association of Youth Mentoring (CAYM).
With the help of CAYM and the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, we are moving forward and creating a mentoring ministry model through church partnerships across the state of Tennessee.
In May 2016 the first CORE Mentor Leader Training was held at First Baptist Church of Kingston, TN with mentor leaders attending the sixteen hour training from three churches. The churches receiving the first initial CORE Training were First Baptist of Kingston, Eternal Life Harvest Center of Knoxville and First Church of Dayton.
Our next step is to recruit and train mentors from the three church congregations to start mentoring as a part of their church ministry. We are in the process of identifying mentors as well as students who are in need of a mentor in Roane County, Knox County and Rhea County.
The High Impact Mentoring Initiative has plans to expand across the state over the next few years.
If you have questions or would like to learn more about the High Impact Mentoring Initiative please contact:
Ken Turner, High Impact Teens, 423-381-0018, kenturner@highimpactteens.org
or
Michael Leach, TN Department of Children’s Services
https://www.tn.gov/dcs/article/dcs-staff-directory listed under “Child Programs.”
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by Ken Turner | Jul 1, 2016 | Ministry Update
GTI stands for Gateway To Independence. GTI is the former Woodland Hills Youth Development Center in Nashville, TN and the home of one of our weekly youth outreach ministries of High Impact Teens.
In the fall of 2015 we started the first ever All Pro Dad Chapter in a juvenile facility as an outreach to teen fathers. The sad reality is that sometimes fatherless teens become parents themselves before they are even out of their teen years. I wish it weren’t so… but it is.
In the past seven months I have taught 15-20 young men how to be a “real dad” using the All Pro Dad materials as well as other resources and the Bible. It’s amazing to see these guys start to understand “fatherhood” for the first time.
Our weekly outreach to GTI is every Wednesday so keep this in your prayers in the middle of the week!
As much as anything taught in the class, I’ve sensed a unique development among these young men. I find myself interacting with them as a father would with his own sons. At times I have to be a little tougher when they distract or misbehave, and at times I get to just dig deep into heart issues we all face and I also get to enjoy laughing with them and just connecting… kind of like “fathers and sons.” There are days we laugh a lot, there are days I have to be all business and there are some days when tears are shed. It’s like a “laboratory of life” when I’m there.
So keep these guys in your prayers! And their children as well. They need all the support and guidance we can give.
Ken Turner
kenturner@highimpactteens.org
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by Ken Turner | Jul 1, 2016 | Ministry Update
Mountain View Juvenile Development Center in Dandridge, TN (east of Knoxville) is one of three state juvenile development centers in the state of Tennessee.
Every Sunday morning I travel over to Mountain View JDC to provide a Sunday morning worship service. I go early enough to teach an All Pro Dad study to boys who are teen fathers and afterward lead a worship service for all who want to attend.
Please pray for these young men who are seeking to know and understand God’s ways in their life!
On Sunday, June 26, 2016 I spoke on “God Is A Father To The Fatherless.”
When you understand that 85-90% of these young men are fatherless… you can expect some interesting responses to a message on God as a father figure.
I was surprised at the number of young men who responded with positiver attributes of God when I asked them to give me a word that describes God. The guys described God with words like loving, faithful, powerful, guide and all knowing.
But after digging deeper into the Bible they began to raise other questions like, “Why is God mean? Why does He punish people? Why did He create Hell?”
Young me who grow up without a loving and nurturing father often struggle with a feeling that God has forgotten them or maybe He knows all about them but just chooses not to care.
Last Sunday almost half the guys in the service requested prayer that they would personally be able to connect with God as a father figure.
Keep these young men in your prayers and I’ll keep you posted!
Ken Turner
kenturner@highimpactteens.org
423-381-0018
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by Ken Turner | Jul 1, 2016 | Ministry Update
On Saturday mornings around 10:00 AM a group of teen guys are receiving the hope that comes from God’s word through the High Impact Teen youth outreach led by Brian Weiss and Wally Anderson.
Recently I received a text message from Wally saying, “Hey, just wanted to let you know that over the past two weekends 10-12 guys have prayed to receive Christ as Savior! Now we want to get going on good follow up with them.”
Brian Weiss and Wally Anderson are faithfully reaching out to these young men weekly so please pray for them and for the young men they are connecting with regularly.
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by Ken Turner | Jun 16, 2015 | Ministry Update, Outreach, Spiritual Growth, Youth Ministry
According to Fatherhood.org, one out of every three children in the US live in “biological father-absent” homes.
Children in father-absent homes are almost four times more likely to be poor.
71% of high school dropouts are fatherless.
85-90% of youth in juvenile detention are fatherless.
According to 72.2% of the US population, fatherlessness is the most significant family or social problem facing America. (National Center for Fathering poll)
Here is what we are doing in a small way to make an impact. Our High Impact Teen youth outreach ministry visits teens in juvenile detention centers across Tennessee, Georgia and Indiana. We spend time with youth who are disconnected from their fathers.
We visit them, we do Bible studies with them and we pray with them.
During this “Father’s Day Week” we are providing a special Father’s Day card for several hundred of these youth to send to their dad. For those who have lost all connection to their dad, they will be sending the card to a “father figure” who has deeply impacted their life such as a grandfather, teacher, pastor, coach, mentor, etc…
We are asking our friends to join us this “father’s day week” in the DAD Project. Here’s how you can help:
1. Take a moment each day from now through Sunday to pray for the fatherless among us. Pray especially for those who are sending theses cards and pray for the men who receive the to be moved to re-engage with their teen.
2. Share this page via email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN or any other social media platform asking your friends to commit to pray once per day through this Sunday for the fatherless. Share the photo of the DAD Project.
3. Prayerfully ask God how you might connect with a fatherless young person. James 1:27 charges believers to engage with the fatherless. Here are the specific words of Jesus, “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.”
4. Consider a donation to help with this project. The ministry of High Impact Teens is a ministry to the fatherless. We are supported by individuals and churches who believe that a deep investment in the fatherless among us is a priority that Jesus called us to do.
The DAD Project: James 1:27
Give $27.00
Give $127.00
Give $1270.00
Give any amount.
2. Mail your gift to: Ken Turner Ministries, PO Box 1325, Dayton, TN 37321.
*Ken Turner Ministries is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) religious non-profit organization. Your gifts are tax-deductible.
______________________________________________________________
THE FIVE DAYS OF THE DAD PROJECT
______________________________________________________________
Wednesday, June 17, 2015 – DAY ONE OF THE DAD PROJECT
- Pray for Dads who have a strained relationship with a son or daughter. Pray for God to heal and restore.
Thursday, June 18, 2015 – DAY TWO OF THE DAD PROJECT
- Pray for several hundred youth today that will be mailing a father’s day card from the juvenile detention facilities in Tennessee, Indiana and Georgia. High Impact Teens provided the cards and in some cases the postage. Teens who don’t have a father will be sending their card to a grandfather, uncle, mentor, pastor, teacher, etc… Pray that God will use this connection to forge stronger bonds between youth and their father or father/figure.
Friday, June 19, 2015 – DAY THREE OF THE DAD PROJECT
- Pray for children and adults who have been hurt by their dads. Pray for them to turn to God for healing from pain, bitterness and discouragement. Pray for them to begin to understand who God is as a Heavenly Father and understand His love for His children. He is a Father to the fatherless.
Saturday, June 20, 2015 – DAY FOUR OF THE DAD PROJECT
- Pray for men who are struggling to lead and protect their family. Pray for them to find courage and become courageous men of God who will stand in the gap for the spiritual, physical and emotional care of their families. Pray for God to connect them to Himself and one other man to be accountable to.
Sunday, June 21, 2015 – DAY FIVE OF THE DAD PROJECT
- Pray to God today, thanking Him for being a loving heavenly father. Ask Him to work miracles today in the hearts of dads and children to reconnect and start a new foundation of love and trust. Be sure to thank Him today for your own family. Also, ask Him how you might invest in a fatherless child moving forward.
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by Ken Turner | Dec 2, 2014 | Ministry Update
*Randy was so mad! He slipped in to our Bible study after a last minute decision to come. He was mad at another guy who was controlling the TV in their room that evening in the detention center. He heard there was a Bible study that was about to start and he thought maybe there would be food. So he came… only for the food. He walked in to the room and it was obvious that he would be disappointed because there was no food. He sat down right next to me. We quickly jumped in to the Word and had a very lively study of the scripture and moment by moment his countenance changed. By the end of the study Randy was talking, asking questions and sharing insights about the text. He wanted to get something off his chest at the end. He said, “I came tonight because I was really mad at a guy in our unit and I thought this would be a way to get out and cool off… and I thought there would be food. But I have been fed spiritually and God has made it so clear that everything we studied tonight from the Bible was exactly what I needed. I’m so thankful God brought me here tonight.
In Christ,
Ken Turner
*Names are changed to protect the privacy of the youth we serve.
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_content_boxes layout=”icon-with-title” columns=”1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_content_box title=”Give a Gift and Help Change The Life of a Teen” backgroundcolor=”#d8d8d8″ icon=”fa-comment” iconcolor=”” circlecolor=”” circlebordercolor=”” iconflip=”” iconrotate=”” iconspin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” linktext=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″]PS. Eighty-five to ninety percent of the youth we minister to are fatherless. This year we have been able to reach more youth than ever before and new ministry doors continue to open in youth facilities to provide Bible studies and discipleship. Approximately 60 donors make up our “ministry team” of partners that makes it all possible. Their gifts range from $25 up to several hundred dollars per month. Most of our supporters give monthly but some choose to give annually or quarterly. We’ve been blessed this year and with the expanded growth in to several states and every financial gift has made a big difference! Words can’t describe the gratitude we have for donors like you that stand in the gap to bring the hope of the gospel of Christ to the youth we serve. Please consider a year end gift to help reach high-risk and fatherless youth into the coming year! You can mail your gift to Ken Turner Ministries, PO Box 1325, Dayton, TN 37321 or give online at www.kenturnerministries.org/give
Click here to print out a giving card to fill out and return by mail. GIVING CARD[/fusion_content_box][/fusion_content_boxes][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
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