High Impact Teens Partners with National Anti-Bullying Program Angels and Doves
“Classmates are killing themselves… literally.” As I stood before hundreds of public school students in Rhea County and Roane County Tennessee to introduce Kim Harvey of Angels and Doves, the National Anti-Bullying Program for schools and youth organizations, I made the statement to the students… “Your classmates are killing themselves. All across America students are going home from school to commit suicide because the treatment they receive at school has become so intense they feel no hope for a life that is bearable, so they end it by taking their own life.”
The team of presenters not only included Kim Harvey of Angels and Doves based in Indianapolis, Indiana but also former University of Tennessee football player Inky Johnson as well as musician and songwriter Scott Roley of Franklin, Tennessee. Kim founded the Angels and Doves National Anti-Bullying Program and has presented her message in a way that has reshaped the culture on many school campuses. I met Kim at an event we participated in together in July 2012 at the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center in Indianapolis focused on anti-violence. After Kim presented the keynote presentation on bullying to the students, Inky Johnson shared his story of incredible success as a UT football player who was on track to an illustrious NFL career but his life plans were altered when he made a tackle in his junior year at UT and almost lost his life from the injuries he received. Although his life was spared, he now lives daily with a paralyzed right arm. Inky’s message was powerful as he explained that he went from a person with incredible God-given athletic ability to a person with a disability. But, he is still just as valuable with or without the use of his right arm. He challenged the students to treat all classmates with respect and seek to know each other’s story of life. Scott Roley closed the presentation with a story about his dad and an anger problem that was passed down through the generations of his family. He sang a song he wrote about his dad and how he had taken his dad’s anger problem and embraced it and then passed it down. The song titled, “The Old Man Came Back Last Night” was a powerful closing message to all our students.
Our team made presentations in Spring City Middle School, Rhea Central, Roane County High School, Rockwood High School and Rockwood Middle School. Local businesses and churches sponsored our presentations in Rhea County and the Roane County Anti-Drug Coalition was our signature sponsor for the programs in Roane County.
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.
The Jersey Effect Weekend in Tennessee with High Impact Teens Reaches Out To 6000+
When we put our heads together to begin writing the book, “The Jersey Effect”, we wondered what kind of response the book would receive once it was in the market. It’s been great to see how God has used the message already. Our publisher printed 5000 books and released it on June 1, 2012. As of this week those books are essentially sold out and a new printing of 3000 more are already in the warehouse.
Darrin Gray and Hunter Smith joined me in Dayton, Tennessee the weekend of August 11, 12 and 13. We scheduled 7 events in 48 hours around the message of The Jersey Effect. On Saturday evening Hunter spoke at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga to several thousand at the high school football jamboree. We did two church services on Sunday morning and an area wide youth rally on Sunday night. We rented out the Roane State Community College gymnasium in Harriman, TN and had over 500 in attendance. The evening youth rally was in partnership with The ONE Youth Rallies of Roane County. Monday we hosted a breakfast with local business leaders and did a school assembly at Spring City Middle School and led a leadership session at Roane County High School kicking off their P3 Student Leadership groups for their 2012-2013 school year. P3 stands for Positive Peer Pressure and our ministry will be overseeing much of the program this year for the school clubs.
One of the highlights of the weekend was the generous sponsorships we received from area businesses and individuals. La-Z-Boy, First Bank of Tennessee, Community National Bank, Dayton Utilities, uthStuph Clothing, Rhea County Anti-Drug Coalition, Roane County Anti-Drug Coalition and the support of Cardinal Contracting of Indiana were all great sponsors. Jerry Duncan Ford sponsored the purchase of 400 Jersey Effect books to be given to all teens who attended the youth rally. The teens who received the books signed a commitment card to read the book with an open heart to receive the message God would have for them. We also have all the names, addresses and emails to add to our youth outreach e-newsletter for teens so we can continue to follow up and disciple them. We will be connecting all of them who do not have a church home to youth groups in the area.
After twenty-one years in church youth ministry I established an outreach ministry in 2008 with a key focus on reaching troubled youth in the community of Indianapolis, Indiana. Our ministry moved to Tennessee in July 2010 and I continue to minister to high-risk and fatherless youth.
