March - "In like a lion, out like a lamb" or is it the other way around? I can never remember.  Either way it doesn't really matter for us here at YouthPartnersNET because here's the good news.  As the scripture promises us in Isaiah 11:6 and 65:25 "The Lion and the Lamb shall live and eat together".  Your gift this month is helping us and our partners do just that.  Let me explain.

March marks the beginning of our 2010 youth and college age CityConnexx mission teams who are traveling around the country and even up into Vancouver BC to serve the poor during their spring breaks. 

CityConnexx is designed to bring young people and adults into some of our nations most at-risk communities. Places indeed where Satan roams around like a "lion" ready to stead, kill, and destroy God's precious lambs who are so vulnerable, children living in poverty.

So, the goal of our teams is to live, eat, sleep, pray and pray, work and worship together in the most unlikely places.  College students from Illinois will be sleeping in tents on the roof of a ministry on skid row in LA because all the spare rooms are filled with homeless families. But they don't mind, it's kind of like their dorms. Other college students from Idaho will be removing graffiti and cleaning streets full of discarded bottles and needles on the Eastside of Vancouver BC because the authorities have forced all the homeless and drug users to that side of town to be "out of sight, out of mind" for the tourists who came to watch the Olympics. Several groups are coming to Denver to serve meals, play with kids, tutor Hispanic children who are just learning English. And a group of 50 College Life students from Texas has chosen to spend their spring break serving in Memphis rather than Daytona Beach.

We pray that by acts of kindness and compassion, the walls of separation and isolation will come crumbling down. We pray that God's people will cross over cultural and color barriers as we seek to serve those who are most at-risk. 
Yes, we believe former gang members can find salvation and transformation through God's love to lead devotions in urban ministries. Yes, we will see former crack addicted mothers who will be leading these groups on prayer walks through the projects where she lives and now is the Director of Family Services at the ministry. Former lions and lambs can live, eat, work, worship and love each other.

It has something to do with the Kingdom displayed and represented on earth as it is in Heaven.

Come join us in this Kingdom work. There's still time for you and your church to take a team on a mission trip this summer. (See www.CityConnexx.org for more info).  Just give us a call we'll be sure to prepare a place for you at the table of God's amazing banquet feast. 

And if you are not able to attend this year, please keep our staff, sites and teams in your prayers as they are used by God to make a difference in these communities and with the at-risk kids and families they will serve.

For Him and them,

Dean Cowles
YouthPartnersNET & CityConnexx
Founder

On behalf of our national network of ministry partners I want to thank you for your gift to assist those working on the front lines for America's children and youth living in high-risk communities.

Usually we share with you stories about how your gifts help kids in America. This month however, we all turn our thoughts and prayers to those children and families suffering in Haiti.

Yesterday at our monthly lunch for urban youth leaders, one of our partners shared about a massive local drive to send medical supplies to Haiti.  Our staff met with our Board Vice Chairman Rev. Larry Brown and all agreed that we felt led to devote our YPN February grant towards this effort to relieve the suffering and pain in Haiti.

We've also had many church groups inquire if we send mission teams to Haiti. We are working with our parent organization Compassion International on the best way to respond. Along with many credible international charities, Compassion confirmed that right now is not the time to send unskilled personnel. Haiti needs medical professionals, trained rescue workers, structural engineers, etc. So when the time is right to send clean up and construction crews, we'll let you know.

Attached is the post we put on our website to help educate churches and youth groups who naturally want so desperately to help. Please share this with your networks so that together the body of Christ can stay informed and do the most good at the right time when we can really help without being a hindrance to the heroic efforts  going on right now by so many.

If your group would like to serve Haiti in the months ahead, please let us know, as we will be preparing to take teams to Haiti in 2011.

For Him and Them,

Dean Cowles
YouthPartnersNET & CityConnexx Founder

LIVE COMPASSION!

Your Donations at Work:

In response to the massive Haiti earthquake last month, YPN has prayerfully decided to issue our monthly grant to WINN Ministries for “Mile High for Haiti”.  This urban ministry is working with the Haitian Timoun Foundation, Project Cure and 23 Walmart stores in Colorado to collect medical supplies for Haiti.  Local churches will be volunteering at each collection site on 2/6/10.  100% of the supplies go to the Haitian people in need and medical staff on the ground in Haiti.  And the items they are collecting are ones that doctors in Haiti are asking specifically for and can be easily purchased at Walmart or other grocery stores.

Prayer Request:

Please pray for this important project that the supplies will get into the hands of the medical personnel in Haiti and really be helpful for the Haitian people as they rebuild their lives and community.

What about HAITI?

What do you do when every fiber says to do something?
 
It is so difficult to see the images on TV and then deal with the heartache and emotions it brings up. Our first reaction is to go to Haiti and help, to assemble our students and be used by God.
 
You are right, as Christians we should do something.
 
CityConnexx has been in close communication with our partner Compassion International who has offices and staff in Haiti and is assessing the situation every day.  Haiti is still in a crisis/emergency situation.  Authorities are in need of field medical workers, disaster trained response teams, crisis counselors as they transition from search for survivors to recovery of bodies.  After this comes structural evaluations and moving in heavy equipment and operators from around the world to carefully remove and clear sites.  That will be followed by evaluation and rebuilding efforts.  With no consistent clean water and only temporary hospitals and tent cities, disease is likely to run rampant for an extended period of time.  And unlike USA disasters like Katrina, Haiti does not have the resources and financial infrastructure to easily rebuild.
 
Mission groups will be needed in time, but not yet.
 
As part of the Compassion family, CityConnexx will keep you informed of the situation and when the time is right to go to Haiti - when your youth will not be a hindrance to the emergency efforts still underway; when they will be safe; when they can be used fully by God to impact the people in Haiti through service, hope and compassion.
 
So what can we do now?
 
For now we ask that you pray and wait... listen intently to what God says.  Jesus practiced this on many occasions.   Instead of reaction he demonstrated wise compassion.
 
Take this time to research what is truly needed in Haiti, not what is just in your heart.  Make sure the efforts your youth and church dedicate to this humanitarian response is directed and maximized by God.  For example, the CIDI advises that clothing is not a preferred choice for Haiti at this time.  A common problem in disaster situations is that material items are sent in mass and they don't have the means to safely distribute them.
 
After prayer, money is the most important contribution that you can make right now.  Again, research and select a credible facilitating organization or give to www.Compassion.com and know your donation is going directly to their disaster relief efforts.

“But the Lord was not in the earthquake… but the Lord was not in the fire…
but in the sound of a gentle blowing wind.”  I Kings 19:9-12

May the gentle comforting winds of compassion blow in the months ahead for all those affected by the Haitian disaster.

A New Year and a new chance to thank you so much for your gift to YouthPartnersNET. On behalf of our National Network of urban and Native American frontline ministries, I just need to praise God for your faithful support especially during this past year when so many are struggling.

2009 was a tough year for many of our partners. Many ministries had to lay off staff, cut programs while at the same time seeing a significantly increased demand for their services. It's a classic "Catch 22". More needs, less resources.

But you know, that's the way it's been for over 2,000. There are always more needs than there are resources or programs or shelters to go around. Peter explains to the beggar in Acts 3:6 "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And immediately the man rose up "leaping and walking and praising God." As a child I learned that song, "Little is much when God is in it."

In Matthew 26:11 Jesus rebuked his disciples when a women was anointing his feet with expensive oil, "The poor you will always have with you but you will not always have me." He wasn't saying don't take care of the poor. His life's goal was to "preach the gospel to the poor and release the captives." His point (and mine) is that this women's extreme sacrifice (and yours) is in affect anointing the feet of Jesus for the present and as a sign for the future. We are his hands and feet extended.

When resources are stretched to the breaking point, maybe that's the right time to just pour out all we have at the feet of Jesus because when we do, folks will start leaping and praising God for how they see us live out the Gospel with acts of selfless sacrifice and obedience.

Thanks again for giving a bit of your gold and silver. May 2010 be a blessing to you and yours.

For Him and them,

Dean Cowles
YouthPartnersNET Founder

HAITI

This tragedy has really torn at my heart and makes so many other problems pale in comparison. 

As you know, YPN birthed out of Compassion International (CI) and a big part of our family is hurting right now. CI President Wess Stafford started in Haiti and was married there. They have personally sponsored dozens of Haitian children across the years and their two daughters have continued.

Compassion donors sponsor over 65,000 children in Haiti. We don't know yet how many died or will from their injuries but it could be in the hundreds. One Colorado Springs employee was pulled from the rubble alive, another is missing. Many local staff are still unaccounted for.

See Compassion President Wess Stafford's video message at http://blog.compassion.com/haiti-earthquake-video-message/.

Most of our YPN donors are also Compassion sponsors so I hope you will join Cheryl and I as you send an extra special gift right now at www.compassion.com.

May the Lord bless you and keep you as you share your heart of compassion.

It's one thing when AARP sends you your "Senior Discount Card" for turning 50. But it's a joy when the first urban ministry we started in Indy invites you as founder to its 25th Anniversary. One has to sit back for a bit to ponder, pray and praise God for a quarter century of active ministry to those living in poverty.

Cheryl and I were honored last month to go "back home in Indiana" where God began this call on our lives to reach out to those living in our at-risk communities. We were thrilled to see old friends who started this journey with us 25 years ago and many who are still serving there. Most of all, we were humbled to see God has increased the seeds we planted and now Shepherd Community is one of the most significant faith-based urban ministries in Indiana and around the country.

Shepherd is one of YouthPartnersNET ministry partners and a place we are sending CityConnexx mission teams next summer. Thanks for your gift this month which helps support our national network and the great work they are doing especially at this time of year.

While we were there, I got to see four other sites that Shepherd is partnering with to reach hundreds of families a week. You can see the video yourself at www.youtube.com/cityconnexx (Thanksgiving Outreach). It's amazing what they're doing. We had a great 25th Banquet and helped raise a lot of money for their ministry. We enjoyed a combined bi-lingual service Sunday morning packed with two urban congregations worshipping together. It was a taste of heaven.

Then after church I was overwhelmed as the parking lot was full of cars from one suburban church who brought 1400 large tubs filled with food for Shepherd's Harvest Celebration which was the event that started this ministry 25 years ago. They were lined up bumper to bumper to pick up maps of homes where they would be delivering these Thanksgiving Baskets in this needy neighborhood. It was an organizational masterpiece. Each car had 2-4 blue tugs containing food to feed a family for several days plus a $10 gift card to the grocery store to pick up 
their own meat. (Shepherd has learned that Hispanic families don't necessarily like Turkey so they can buy what they like). All together this one church donated food and paid for gift cards worth over $80,000.

As I watched this caravan of compassion and love fan out across the community, I was in awe of what God's people can do when there is a need and a vision. Isn't that what the folks in Jesus' day were saying about the early church. Acts 2:46-47 records, "They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

Thanks for breaking your "bread" and sharing it with our partners (for those of us over 50 you know what kind I mean, the green kind). Our hearts too are sincerely glad and we praise God for your faithful support. And indeed because of your gifts of love, the Lord is adding daily those who are being served and saved.

Here's to the next 25 years of being blessed so we can all be a blessing.

Dean Cowles
Shepherd Community and YouthPartnersNET founder

PS: If you'd like to give a special year-end gift to help us help others, that would be an extra special blessing. Or you may want to sponsor an urban teen to go on their own CityConnexx mission trip to another city. Urban Scholarships are $300 and will make a huge impact in the life of one urban youth

LIVE COMPASSION!

Your Donations at Work:

The Agape Community Center (also known as Here's Life Inner City-Chicago) was established in 1979 with a mission to serve and mobilize the Church to live out God's heart for the poor so all can grow in Christ and spiritually multiply.  In additional to providing trainings for inner-city churches thru HLIC, Agape Community Center provides several programs for youth and teens including the S.A.Y. Yes! program.

S.A.Y. Yes! meets two days per week after school where the youth are provided with a healthy snack or meal, homework assistance, Bible lessons, tutoring in math and reading and recreational time.  Each year Agape Community Center hosts a Christmas Outreach where the families of the S.A.Y. Yes! participants are invited to dinner and the children provide the "program" and the gospel message is shared.  Though a local vendor usually provides turkeys and a local church purchases gifts for each child in the program, this year they are expecting 200 people on December 16th and this grant will cover help to provide a wonderful program to celebrate the birth of Christ.

Prayer Request:

Pray that God will heal James’ “hurt” that causes him to have outbursts of anger at S.A.Y. Yes!  He lives with his grandmother and 4 other siblings/cousins.  Pray for the grandmother’s strength as she ministers to the children in her care.  She does an amazing job getting them the help they need.

Many of you heard on the national news of Derrion who was beaten to death on the Chicago southside a few months ago.  This took place in front of the Agape Community Center and though the staff didn’t know Derrion, many of their participants did.  It was actually their staff who pulled Derrion into their building for safety before he died.  Their team is still processing the events of that day so please keep them in your prayers.

Would you like to go back to high school or college and do it all over again? Well, part of me would, like studying harder, spending less time wasting time, and fewer all-nighters. I kind of had a chance to go back to school this past month and want to take a few moments to share those experiences with you.

First of all, as always, I want to thank you for your recent gift because in an important way your gift allows us to go back to high schools and colleges to share our vision to see at-risks communities changed by the compassion and outreach of those serving Jesus Christ in desolate, depressed, neglected communities.

In late September I was asked to speak in chapel for a local Christian High School which has a beautiful brand new campus that looks like a college. The students were very respectful and receptive to our challenge for them to serve on a CityConnexx “micro-mission” weekend trip in downtown Denver.

A few weeks later I traveled to the Chicago area to share with faculty and students at a Missions Fair hosted by a Christian University about how they could come for their spring or summer break to LA to share their gifts and talents on behalf of poor kids.

Last week, I had the privilege to speak in chapel at my alma mater in Idaho and shared with them about what it means to be a “good neighbor” and “come back” to the city to help those abandoned, abused, and beaten on the modern day Jericho roads of our most at-risk communities.

Many of these students will be spending their spring and summer breaks going on CityConnexx mission trips to serve children and youth living in America’s at-risk communities. I was so touched by these young people giving up their time to serve total strangers, just like the Good Samaritan did in Luke 10.
 
 
At each college and high school, we met dozens of students who really believe that it is more important to spend spring break “serving others” rather than serving each other beers, drugs, sex and whatever else goes on during those notorious secular spring breaks.

My hope and prayer is that we will start a small revival across many campuses where a successful spring and summer break is not measured by how many parties one can attend but by how many lives one can change. Our goal is to help high school and college students, and even adults like you learn what it means to serve as Jesus did, with a heart of mercy and compassion, love and care for those abandoned by our society on the skid roads of America.
 
Come join us and go “back to the school” of loving others with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. Oh and that’s what loving God is all about too.

For Him and Them,

Dean Cowles
YouthPartersNET
President

LIVE COMPASSION!

Your Donations at Work:

A long time ministry partner, we are excited to provide a grant to Crossroads of the Rockies for their Christmas Joy program. They expect 150 children from their after-school and summer programs to attend this celebration along with their families.  The goal is to provide each child, 18 and under, with two gifts and a Bible.  They will serve a special dinner with the families that night, share the Christmas story, and celebrate the spirit of the season.

Prayer Request:

A prayer request from Jojo, a teenager who accepted Jesus this past week, is that she would grow in her faith, read her Bible and pray to God everyday.

A prayer request from the staff is that God will provide all the needed things for their Christmas Joy program and it will draw people to Him through the event.