Urban Christian Ministries

 

This little light...hmmmmm

       Many years ago a large group of people were walking across the desert. They carried all of their personal possessions with them. When they needed light, they would use a golden lampstand filled with olive oil and trimmed with a wick. The people were taught the importance of becoming a Light for the world by their actions. They became branches of Light who illuminated the lives of others. The tradition of being a "Lampstand Who Lights the Way for Others" is continued today in Buffalo, New York. The folks at Urban Christian Ministries have been golden lampstands in Buffalo for over 40 years. They've brought light to dark places. They've ignited a light in thousands of young people. Those lights are now shining among us.

          As the Director of Youth With A Purpose, I've had the privilege of working alongside UCM for 10 years. Previously I've written about UCM in a book called: "Wisdom From The Hood." They have infected me with a contagiousness of their light spreading message. I can trust them to help young people that pass through our organization to theirs. They've lifted many young people out of a gang life. They mentor, teach, grieve, console, feed, clothe, visit, heal and support in more excellent ways everyday. They don't quit - they just keep lighting the way.

          Working in the youth ministry is the hardest, heartbrokenest (new word,) and most fulfilling job that I've ever had. We're in the business of watching kids die or live, go to college or jail, succeed or fail and everything else under the sun. We need to support each other and UCM has always been there for YWAP. We've received a lot of help in 10 years. Imagine how many countless organizations that have received help in the last 40 years. If you have an opportunity to return some support back on to their hearts, please do so.

 

Igniting lights of excitement for the future.

       I think maybe the story about Pinocchio and Lampwick just might be a good way to sum up a story about UCM. Pinocchio was a Disney character in a movie who began life as a wooden puppet.  He invites Lampwick to a party celebrating his transformation into a "real boy." Lampwick instead persuades the wood dude to go with him to the Land of Toys where they can play all day. They engage in idleness and play. One day they wake up with donkey ears. Once they admit their own condition, they begin to laugh at their plight. Eventually their laughter turns into brayings and they are transformed into donkeys.

          They're eventually sold as donkeys. Lampwick is sold to a man who operates a watermill. Pinocchio is sold to a drummer who wants to use his skin to make a drum. He tries to drown the donkey so he can skin his hide and use the skin for a drum. Pinocchio doesn't drown and tells the drummer that a fish ate his donkey skin because he's now back to his real self. Urban Christian Ministries is in the business of helping young people find their "real self's." In a world filled with many wooden, unyielding people braying lies, UCM gives kids the truth about a better way of life.

          Society attempts to turn many children into drum skins that we can beat on. UCM gives kids a beat they can walk by. They help young people walk to the beat of a different drummer; the beat they hear is the sound of hammering. That's the beginning of a golden lampstand. The gold has to be hammered. Once the gold is hammered into a lampstand, the oil is added. Olives have to be crushed to attain the oil. The wick is made from cotton and must have capillary action for the oil to move from top to bottom.  The cotton is cut, crushed and cleansed by beating. It's not an easy task to become a golden lampstand. It's not an easy task to help others become a golden lampstand.

You are changing the world one community at a time. JLYASDW

   
          To the folks at UCM: I say thank you for being a light to hundreds of thousands of young people and their families. I pray that you continue lighting through hammering, crushing and beating in the same way that the Light of the world revealed as the only way. Jesus loves you and so do we.