StoryLetter February2024

This past month our ministry staff has seen a lot of our students go through some tough challenges from issues with friendship to struggles in home life. We are thankful that God has placed these students in our lives and has given us an opportunity to be mentors to them and show them what God’s love can do.

We have also witnessed fruit begin to grow through our students as they ask more questions about God and attend our Club meetings.

Ministry Stories

I’m at The Underground greeting students and asking them how their days were when I see Hayden, a skateboarding, guitar playing and button pushing kid who always has a smile on his face like he’s been up to something, zoom through the parking lot on his skateboard. I was surprised to see him because he stormed out of the center after a conversation we had the week before.

We talked about what respect and love looks like. I asked him some hard questions, “Are you a better person when you respect your peers?” and “If you love someone, should you let them do whatever they want?” “Yeah, basically” he answered as he rolled his eyes at me. I was taken back by his answer to that question, but then it dawned on me that this may be the primary example of love he knows at the moment. I see so much of myself in Hayden. I came from divorced parents which made me grow up fast. That’s something that Hayden is currently dealing with, expressing that he and his siblings have taken on a new responsibility of having to provide meals for one another.

When he shared this with me, my heart broke because I am seeing another kid live out the hardships of my own childhood, and I want to do more. I was so happy to see that he came back; Hayden is looking for friendships, he’s looking to build relationships, and he is looking for somewhere to belong. Stories like his makes me wish we could have our centers open 5 days a week, but Hayden knows he is always welcome at our center.

Denzel

Campus Life

Juvenile Justice

East Bremerton

We met Mary at middle school camp as she was attending services at one of our partner churches. She was always at the Underground and created some great relationships with staff and volunteers, and joined us on several trips.

Unfortunately, Mary had to switch schools and we saw her a lot less however we still stayed connected over social media and Friday events. The last time Mary joined us,

she shared with us that she was going through a lot of challenging changes and that her mom got evicted and was looking for a place to stay. This past weekend she reached out to us again asking for prayer for her Grandmother.

Mary knows she can always count on us to be there, to pray for her, and be a listening ear when she needs someone to talk too. I wish I could see her more often but we are only a text away and she is always welcome to stop by and see us.

Stephanie

Campus Life

East Bremerton Area

“I do not believe in God,’ one of our students would tell us each week at Club, ‘but I will be here tonight for small groups anyway.” Avery was resolute that she was too mad at God to believe in Him, but we were always glad that she came and joined us for our Club, which includes a Bible lesson and small groups.

Avery managed to surprise us recently when she volunteered to pray one night. As she opened our Club in a beautiful prayer she spoke of our schools, community and the Next Door. God is working! Students are experiencing God’s love and finding ways to connect to Him.

Joe Koski

Development Director

Upcoming Events

We have a Seattle Spring Break trip coming up for our Campus Life students. Many of our students are unable to join us on the trip do to lack of funds. We are asking supporters to sponsor students or cover partial funds for the trip so more students have the opportunity to attend. If you would like to help a student go to Seattle click the button below!