"Rock Groups" rock!

Tonight was a first for Rock Island. After much prayer, we decided to take a new approach to Thursday nights... discipleship groups. We are calling them, "Rock Groups".

Anytime we try something new I'm always a little nervous to see how the kids will handle it. I wonder if it's going to scare them off and they'll never come back or if it will be a huge failure in another way. I really need to get rid of this pessimistic attitude. The good side of this assumption is that I'm always pleasantly surprised and rarely let down. Tonight was no exception.

We had about 30 youth kids tonight. We split them into 4 different groups. We didn't start an indepth study for the first time out, we just split up and talked about what groups will be like. I spent some time splitting the groups based on age, peer group, race, and gender. When I say I split them by that, I mean that I integrated. Most kids ended up with other kids they barely knew. When I started telling the kids whose group they were in, there were some big sighs and bad attitudes. Noone wanted to be with other kids they didn't know, kids from rival gangs and especially kids with another colored skin from their own. But we just told them to suck it up and get over it, if they wanted to stay, they had to go to the group we assigned.

My group seemed to be going okay. There were 8 of us. It took a while to get the kids to talk or say anything, I was feeling a little discouraged. But when it came time for prayer requests, the good stuff began. One of the girls shared that she was struggling with missing her brother who was sent by DHS to a boys home 3 weeks ago. As she began to share, she began to sob. Families being split for various reasons is very common in this neighborhood, so I thought it was a unique opportunity for the other kids to share their common experiences of family splits and how they dealt with it. One boy talked about a brother getting sent to boot camp, one was a mother in prison, another was a brother running away from home and another was losing a best friend/brother to deportation. As the kids began to share their stories and how they dealt with it, I began to see my dream become a reality. In that group were guys and girls from every race, age and background, yet they were sitting there relating to each other and giving advice. I even saw some quivering lips as they sympathized with the girl and almost began crying with her. At the end we all got in a circle and layed our hands on her, some sweet prayers were said. One girl, who I've never heard pray outloud, prayed that angels would surround the brother, wherever he was.

I think "Rock Groups" are going to be a success. Pray that some true discipling will get done in these groups and that the Lord would break down the walls that some of these kids put up!