If you played in the NFL and won a Super Bowl… then coached in the NFL and won a Super Bowl… then became a best selling author and NFL TV analyst among many other successes… how would you define the happiest moment of your life? While working as a co-author on the book “The Jersey Effect”, I had the opportunity to ask Tony Dungy the question, “What was one of the happiest moments of your life?” And for the next four minutes he answered. The answer he gave me had a lot less to do with football, success, money or fame.
It was revealing and it might help you understand why you are happy today… or why you are not. Listen here:
By the way, if you haven’t read “The Jersey Effect”, click here to get your copy. For a $15 suggested donation I will send you one… shipping included (inside the USA).
Ken Turner
Ken Turner Ministries
PO Box 1325
Dayton, TN 37321 kenturner@highimpactteens.org
Learn more at http://jerseyeffect.org[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
You can make a difference that will last for eternity by giving to bring the gospel to hundreds of youth.
90% of the youth we serve are fatherless.
70% of youth in juvenile detention have committed “crimes of survival” meaning they are in trouble for choosing to do something to help them survive. Things such as stealing food because they are hungry or skipping school to try to support their family in poverty are common.
Over 300 teens have accepted Christ as Savior since our ministry started.
Your gift will fund a gift of a student Bible and my spiritual journal which teaches teens how engage with God through His word and really develop a personal relationship with Him. Our goal is to provide the gospel to 29 youth facilities in Tennessee and in Indiana.
$15 provides 1 Bible and 1 Spiritual Journal.
$75 provides 5 teens with a Bible and Spiritual Journal.
$150 provides for 10 teens, $300 provides for 20 teens, $1500 funds an entire detention facility of 100 youth! Click here to make your tax deductible gift today. Click here to set up a monthly donation to provide the gospel month after month to fatherless youth and become a part of our ministry support team!
Last week I had the opportunity to take a trip to French Camp, Mississippi to speak to the students at French Camp Academy. This was my second trip in about six months to be with these amazing people. I first learned of French Camp Academy by plopping down at a breakfast table while attending a ministry conference last winter and meeting Todd Marion. We were all focused on our stomachs and talking around the table about who we are, where we are from and what we do. Todd asked me what I do in Tennessee and I told him I work with high-risk and fatherless youth. We talked briefly about teens and Todd said, “You would love our place and you should come visit.” I asked him what kind of place he was talking about and he went on to tell me about French Camp Academy, a Christian boarding school tucked away in this little town of French Camp, Mississippi. The boarding school ministry has been there since 1885! Following that conversation was an invitation to come speak in chapel at the school last spring and another invitation to come back last week to speak in the Wednesday evening service and Thursday morning chapel. I was able to bring a good friend with me on this trip to share the ministry with him. Hoss Johnson lives up to his name because he’s a “Hoss” of a guy who played football at Alabama from ’82-’86 and had a short NFL career. Just five weeks ago Hoss left his job to go in to full-time sports ministry. Hoss shared his heart with these students and how God has worked in his life through the unfortunate death of his wife ten years ago and how God has been so faithful as he raised his son and daughter as a single dad.
My time at French Camp was amazing and refreshing. If you can imagine immersing yourself in a ministry surrounded by hundreds of students who are coming from extremely difficult family situations. Some of them can’t go home… it’s just not possible because home has become French Camp. Not all students that attend French Camp Academy come from broken homes but the heart and purpose of their existence is to glorify God and impact young people while providing a safe, stable, Christ centered place to heal and grow.
Here are some things I observed while being immersed in the ministry of 200-300 students and staff at the French Camp Academy Boarding School.
God is good. I can only imagine the turmoil that could overtake a child’s emotions when the family falls apart but yet there is incredible hope in that God is good and He provided a new place and new people to provide love and care. One student told me with a huge smile that God is really good and he feels so incredibly blessed that God provided this family for him. Have you noticed that God often replaces things you’ve lost in life with something new? Have you thanked Him lately for that?
There is a tremendous joy in serving. The staff that serve the youth at French Camp have a joyful spirit… there is a sense of value in what they are investing in with their life and it shows. Have you noticed that when you invest in others, there is a renewed spirit of joy?
The harder things bring the greater rewards. I noticed the staff working long hours, the house parents that have chosen to live with 10-15 teenagers and be “mom and dad” and I imagined by interacting with the high-quality people that lead this ministry that they have made financial sacrifices to be there but they didn’t ever mention anything about sacrifice. There was much more of a spirit of reward. It struck me that there are great rewards that come in doing the hard things. Have you considered the rewards that are coming from something hard you are doing right now? Is there something you feel God leading you to do but you are holding back because it looks really hard?
I’d love to get hear from you. Take a minute and answer one of these questions. Your comments could have a big impact on our readers.
What have you lost but seen God replace in your life? Where have you served and found great joy in doing it? What hard thing do you feel you need to start and what is holding you back?
High Impact Teens and the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana have partnered together once again for the annual Man Up Conference. Our ministry team of volunteers will spend the entire day on Saturday, February 23, 2013, teaching principles of manhood to incarcerated youth. 85-90% of detained teenagers are “fatherless” and lack the daily support of a loving and engaged dad.
The Man Up Conference was provided by donations from friends who chose to sponsor the event.
If you would like to join our ministry support team and invest in the high-risk youth we serve, we would love to hear from you.
Consider becoming a part of the High Impact Team and support the ministry monthly or by making a quarterly or annual gift.
2 WAYS TO GIVE:
Mail your gift to: Ken Turner Ministries, Inc., PO Box 1325, Dayton, TN 37321
Ken Turner Ministries, Inc. is recognized by the IRS as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and all donations are tax deductible. (EIN number 26-2472955)
Ken Turner Ministries * PO Box 1325 * Dayton, TN 37321 www.kenturnerministries.org * email: kenturner@highimpactteens.org
A Look Back At 2012
In January 2012 we held the first ever Parent – Teen Conference at the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center in Indianapolis. We had a powerful line-up of speakers like former Penn State wide receiver (and NFL) player Freddie Scott II, Ramon Presson, family and marriage counselor, founder of Life-Change and The Marriage Center of Franklin, TN, Charles Juma, director of East Africa Region for Reach-Out Youth Solutions, Inky Johnson, former UT Football player and author of Inky, A Story of Faith and Perseverance.
In February I spent a few days in Indianapolis participating in some very unique Super Bowl activities with Darrin Gray of All Pro Dad. Although I didn’t get to attend the Super Bowl, Darrin and I did several events together leading up to the game including an event with the Children’s Museum and spent time meeting with those in the Super Bowl Media Center spreading the word about our book, The Jersey Effect which was to be released in June.
In March we hosted the NACA National Basketball Tournaments at Fort Bluff Camp where I served as the Chaplain of the NACA. We ministered to several hundred high school players and saw many come to Christ. I also travelled to Dallas, Texas to spend some time with Dewayne Washington who is the founder of The Gentlemen’s Society, a mentoring program for hundreds on inner-city youth. Bob Lepine of Family Life Today Radio was there filming a story on Dewayne and his ministry.
In April we took time to go to Palm Beach, Florida with Diane Sirmans, one of our board members, to visit Place of Hope, a neighborhood of homes for youth who have been displaced from their parents. We also met with the staff and toured Urban Youth Impact, a youth center that is doing an amazing work with youth in the poor neighborhoods of West Palm Beach. After these trips, I transitioned from my office at Fort Bluff Camp and set up my new youth outreach office on Main Street in Dayton, TN.
In May, June and July we began the intense work of setting up the re-launch of our outreach ministry in Tennessee. I spent time speaking at churches in Tennessee for special graduation services, meeting with new and potential ministry supporters and developing new partnerships in the community.
The Jersey Effect Book was released during the first week of June and the first 5000 copies sold out by September and an additional 3000 were printed are are selling very well. It has been great to see the book do so well after working about 18 months on it with Hunter Smith and Darrin Gray as well as Stephen Copeland.
In July I participated in a major event at the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center in Indianapolis on anti-violence. It was great to be back in the facility and reconnect with great friends there.
We held seven events in 48 hours in August with Darrin Gray of All Pro Dad and Hunter Smith, former Indianapolis Colt. These were “Jersey Effect” youth rallies and ministry events and we were in front of several thousand people in just a couple of days.
In August I was invited back to my home town of Blacksburg, SC to speak at a “Jersey Effect” event for our football players at the high school football stadium and also for the Gaffney Indians Varsity football team chapel service. I preached at Bishop Branch Baptist Church near Clemson, SC on that Sunday.
The last weekend of August, I was back in Indianapolis for a very special mentoring opportunity. Our outreach ministry was asked to provide mentors for about 10 fatherless youth to attend the filming of the TV Simulcast, All Pro Dad Father and Kids NFL Experience at the Indianapolis Colts facility. The TV simulcast will be shown in churches all over America just before the Super Bowl in February of this next year. It was an honor to spend the weekend with Tony Dungy, Clark Kellogg, Lorenzo Neal, Hunter Smith (former NFL players) and my good friend Darrin Gray. One thing that was really special for me was to have about 10 of my friends and ministry supporters come along as mentors for the youth.
This fall we were able to get our “feet on the ground” and start getting more ministry momentum right here in our community in East Tennessee. We held 5 school assemblies this fall with the National Angels and Doves Organization after bringing them here to Tennessee from Indianapolis to address bullying in the schools. I was able to invest this fall in our varsity football team by providing some chapel services for them, I spoke several times in our public schools on values, character and goals and have started a special mentoring session with a group of students I meet with regularly at the alternative school in the county just north of us. These students have all been placed through juvenile court and have great needs.
As we wrap up the last few weeks of 2012 I am getting ready to bring Inky Johnson back to town this coming weekend for a special Christmas party event with Angel Tree ministries where 57 youth who have a parent in prison will receive Christmas gifts. We will be doing a book signing event, a church service and then flying out on Monday morning to speak at a church in Scottsdale Arizona on Monday night as part of a special campaign called Stand Up America, along with Derrick Boles (former professional basketball player), “Papa Joe” Bradford who ministers to inner city youth in Nashville and was the basis of the new movie “Unconditional” along with Scott Roley of Franklin, TN. We have been asked to present the message to encourage others to stand up in their communities and help our hurting youth. Pray for us.
We are excited about 2013 and plan to start our parent ministry and discipleship/mentoring ministry here in our community as we move in to the new year.
Saturday, December 15
Angel Tree Christmas Party at First Baptist Church, Kingston, TN (PRIVATE EVENT)
Saturday, December 15 Book Signing Event at Bimbo’s Restaurant, 7606 Rhea County Highway, Dayton, TN 37321 (Hwy. 27)
4:00-6:00 pm
Meet Inky Johnson, get an autograph and if you like you can purchase his book. Proceeds from the sale of Inky’s book will go to support the High Impact Teen youth outreach of Rhea County.
Sunday, December 16 Speaking at First United Methodist Church 993 Market Street, Dayton, TN 37321 at 9:00 am and at 11:00 am
PRESENTED BY HIGH IMPACT TEENS
www.highimpactteens.org
Author of Inky: An Amazing Story of Faith and Perseverance
With his unique talents, Inky seemed destined for the riches and glory of the National Football League. But his future was dramatically altered late in the fourth quarter in the game against the Air Force Academy. Inky Suffered a severe injury that threatened and ultimately altered his life, in a matter of seconds crushing the plans he had for a career in the NFL and beyond. Through it all, Inky never gave up hope or faith in the One who’s plans are perfect.
You’ll be moved by this incredible journey of a life filled with faith and perseverance that will make Inky Johnson a bigger hero today than he ever could have been with a stellar NFL career.
