The "Blessed Yet" might not be proper English but it certainly describes Kingdom Bound 2011. I don't know how many people were eventually touched as they walked through the gates of Darien Lake and into the 25th Anniversary Celebration of KB. I can't even keep score in a basketball game (I usually win) let alone give you a count on how many tens of thousands of souls came to soak up some Son. I do know that more young people from Youth With A Purpose Inc. were given the opportunity for a life changing experience than ever before.
You are about to go a little deeper into Kingdom Bound. They are involved in changing lives all year round. It's possible that your association with KB has been just for a few days in August every year. Yes, they are primarily known for one of the most impacting and powerful celebrations of ministry in the world. They also take the time to bless individual families. Before I tell you about some of those individual families, please take a good look at the picture below. The sky over Darien Lake gave a glimpse of what this event was all about.
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| The clouds formed a Cross in the sky over Kingdom Bound. |
YWAP was asked to provide some labor for both the entire Festival and also the set up and take down. Daryl Boss from Xertion Youth was our Site Manager and a pleasure to work with. Most of you have never seen the enormous amount of manpower and effort that goes into the preparation and the closing of KB. We had a special crew of 10 young men from YWAP that were brought in to help set up and take down various parts of the Worship Tent. Several other young men spent the week in a trailer and were on call 24-7 during the festival. These are young guys from the inner city of Buffalo who seldom receive an opportunity to serve, learn, and grow the way they did that week.
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| Young men from YWAP help set up the seats in the Worship Tent |
On Send a Friend Day, YWAP brought a bus load of 40 young people out to be a part of the ministry. We were able to rent a bus thanks to a donation from some other kind folks. Funny thing, we have been busier this summer than ever before with the least amount of finances that we have ever had. Just in case you have never heard of Send a Friend, it's a program that provides an opportunity for young people who may be underprivileged or have special needs to attend KB. The YWAP home base is located in one of the poorest sections of Buffalo. We are also amongst the most racially diverse areas in the City which is a beautiful place for all of the world's cultures to meet. All of the Send a Friend participants were given a lunch, a shirt and flip flops. The YWAP Director walked back out to his van with a bag of smelly socks and sneakers because the kids all wanted to wear their new flip flops!
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| Youth With A Purpose dressed in Send a Friend shirts. |
Among the children from YWAP, there were young people with no fathers. Some with fathers in jail. Some whose fathers had been murdered. Some had family members in jail or murdered. I will not go into the details but these young people collectively have experienced almost every horrendous act of depravity known to mankind. The kindness of the folks from KB did not stop with Send a Friend. Another family whose Father was murdered on Memorial Day weekend received a days pass for family members. The man was a great Husband, Father, Friend, Grandfather and employee. He was killed sitting on his front porch fixing his Granddaughter's little pink bike. The people at Kingdom Bound went beyond normal compassion and showered this family with mercy and grace. Their actions let this family know that they are valued and loved.
Kingdom Bound is a lot more than the easy to see ministry and music, it's about building relationships and mending broken lives. It's about giving value to people who have a hard time respecting themselves. It's about making someone with a broken heart feel loved. It's about providing a safe haven for a day as a respite from living in a broken city. It has been written that
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news," The folks at
Kingdom Bound put flip flops on the feet and those young people who then proclaimed peace and brought glad tidings of good things with them back to Buffalo, NY.
KB helped to make beautiful feet on some kids who are trying to climb the mountains of life.Thank you to all of the kind people at
Kingdom Bound, you truly provided a
BRIGHT SPOT for Youth With A Purpose Inc.
If you would like to see more pictures from KB 2011 please go to the link below.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.253839614643721.73084.111808805513470
Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
"Find new ways,
in as many ways,
in more excellent ways,
on all of your days,
to show love."
Bob Kuebler
YWAP Director
Youth With A Purpose
In School & After School
In The Mountains & In The Hood
157 Locust Street
Buffalo, New York 14204
716-830-8240
"All Children Are Gifted"
http://thebrightspotreport.blogspot.com/
If you are looking for a speaker for parents or youth or both, please call us.
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