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 P.B.R. The Dust and the Hoof Man vs beast. The smell of the dirt and the smell of a ton of angry bull. The roar of the crowd. The taste of victory and defeat. The wince of sympathy when a rider gets trampled. The invocation. The singing of the national anthem, and the applause. All of this I took in at the PBR championships on March 23, 2012, at the Pit in Albuquerque. I have attended last year as well, but this year was slightly different. There was no faith night. It was also far more exciting. In fact, there was 4 or 5 near trampling and one injury that actually disbarred a competitor from competing. It was all in all an exciting time that made me appreciate the courage (or foolhardiness) of these men who ride on wild bulls for a living. This Saturday, the 25th of March, we brought in some of the bullriders from the PBR show to give their testimonies at the YJDDC, one of the main juvenile facilities for the city of Albuquerque. 78 kids sat spellbound as bullriders Kody Rostroh and Justin Hupp talked about their past lives and how God had changed them. After that, there was a time of Q&A, and the two riders gave autographs and talked with the kids. The thing that was so impactful was that both of those young men had been on the edge of jail, walking far away from God, and they had come back. Hopefully, what was said by the two men and by Donald and Rick, the organizers, will sink deep into the hearts of these kids. Bullriding is a dangerous sport, deadly every time a man gets on the bull, and yet the two men were not afraid, talking about how they knew they were going to heaven if they were to die in the arena. Likewise, too, our lives are dangerous, and at any time they could be required of us. That, more than anything else, got through to the kids, who have seen death numerous times and lived to talk about it. It also impacted me, as a volunteer, to consider my life and how I can better serve God before my time comes. |
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Looking Back Looking forward  Another great year of ministry has passed us by. 2011, as the years preceding it, was culminated in the celebration of Christmas and the Christmas CareKit Project. Once again, every youth in each of the 24 youth detention centers of New Mexico received a CareKit. For hundreds of these kids that are in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Santa Fe, Gallup, Farmington, Taos and Eagle Nest, the kits were hand-delivered in conjunction with a LifeQuest Christmas party. One such outreach was the first for a couple of our new Chaplains, Jeo Oiesen and Hentry Ostrander. Jeo recounts the evening:
“Henry and I went over to Eagle Nest Reintegration Center Dec. 15th with a local man who teaches a weekly Bible Study and did a Christmas party. I led them in Christmas carols, Ron read the Christmas story, we gave out the LifeQuest gifts and we brought snacks. Henry cruised around amongst the boys and staff chatting them up.”
The impact of their trip cannot be easily overstated. The young men who are in that facility are all far from home and many of them do not see their families for Christmas, much less get any gifts. To personally receive a gift from the chaplains along with singing, snacks and the Christmas story creates a memory that will not soon be forgotten. As Christians we talk about “planting seeds”. What a great example of planting seeds we saw in Eagle Nest as well as all the other facilities where the love of Jesus was shared this Christmas.
2011 was also the year that LifeQuest launched a new arm of the ministry: The LifeQuest chaplain core. We already shared with you the impact that two of our new chaplains are having in Taos and Eagle Nest. In Albuquerque our chaplains are serving in a myriad of important capacities like crisis intervention, trajedy response, and transitional services. They will also provide a critical link for us between our youth and their families.
As we look ahead to the rest of 2012 one of the most exciting developments is the expansion of our staff. In addition to his chaplain ministry, Donald Mehring has accepted the invitation to fill the role of Associate Director of Ministry. He will be working to improve recruitment, communication, training and overall cohesiveness within our volunteer team. It’s a critical addition to our staff as Rick Sena and myself have been unable to thoroughly meet the needs that our mentors and chaplains have. Needs, when left unmet, diminish the effectiveness of ministry. John Biava has also joined our staff in the role of Director of Development. He will continue in a greater capacity to work with the individual and business communities that provide the all-important financial support for what God’s called LifeQuest to do. In addition, it is the business community that will be the key to getting our youth back into society as productive, working members. To our board, the addition of David Grebe has been a tremendous boost to the organization. As a professional accountant David has taken over the bookkeeping and overall financial picture for the ministry. It goes without saying that his “ministry” blesses all of us who are involved with LifeQuest. His efforts will insure a firm fiscal core to build upon into the future.
There is so much more that could be said. So in addition to all of this we will be giving our website and other forms of communication a renewed focus in 2012. This newsletter will be the tip of the iceberg in our efforts to shine light on a ministry that brings light into an often dark world. That’s the ministry of LifeQuest and we are excited! |
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