Ministry Highlights

New Year's Bash 07

Editorial by Steve Boettcher

Even on the best of nights it is a lonely drive at 3:00 am, but when a wet, heavy snow covers the road and pulls hard at your tires, you grip the steering wheel with white knuckles, and think of your wife and children tucked warm in their beds. You’re exhausted, yet thankful; each of the passengers in the van has been delivered safely to their homes.

The mission of the YFC Staff is hardly a 9-to-5 career of working with well-mannered youth from Christ-centered homes. Rather, many youth “unexplainably and miraculously” placed in the life of our staff may only hear the words, Jesus Christ, when muttered in vane from lips of angry parents; or in their social sub-cultural gatherings while discussing nightly activities void of true love or good clean fun.

But this is exactly why YFC staff member Matt Wall was straining tired eyes through a hypnotizing snow on New Years Eve. His day started early at Cornerzone, going over all the details of the evening ahead - a New Years Eve party that would include a D.J. service, band, two speakers, hundreds of balloons, streamers, noise makers, and a whole lot of food. Despite the fact pay-day was only a few days away and the realization of another partial pay-check probably loomed heavy on his mind, the bash needed to be a success. This party may be the one and only contact with many of the youth attending; an opportunity to break the stereotypical boring Christian prejudice that is learned from conversations with friends or family who never step into a church. It may be a deciding event as to whether you see them again, an encounter that brings hope to the youth, leading further to life changing conversations.

Earning trust for a one-on-one ministry opportunity is never easy, quick, or convenient – and that is why Matt chose to spend much of his New Years Eve apart from his own family, decorating the Cornerzone, chaperoning and overseeing the party, cleaning when everyone else had gone home to bed, and taking several precious youth 60-miles out of his way on a stormy night. As a YFC Board member, I have observed just a small portion of the otherwise unseen and unrecognized sacrifice and service by our entire staff in the past year. Unselfishly. They never ask for attention or reward. Their humble prayers and petitions before God are simply that He would move on the hearts of people like you to generously support their efforts and opportunities given them as they make a difference in our communities.

Editors Note: Steven Boettcher has been a YFC Board Member since August of 2004, and a volunteer with Fire-UP since 1987. Family consists of wife of 26-years, Lisa; daughters Melissa and son-in-law Jason living in Nashville; Stephanie attending MTU, and Amy, a senior at Negaunee High School. He attends Marquette Gospel Tabernacle and is an associate partner with Integrated Designs, Inc., an Architectural Engineering firm based in Marquette.

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