For Him and Them by Dean Cowles, YPN President

A monthly message from YouthPartnersNET President Dean Cowles.

For Him and Them by Dean Cowles

July 2005

Last month I had the pleasure to return to the place where I began my urban church plant ministry in Indianapolis twenty years ago. I was humbled and overwhelmed to see those I left behind continue to build on the vision and passion to lift up the fallen and disadvantaged. There on the wall of the former warehouse we turned into a "Carehouse of Compassion" at Shepherd Community was the original mission statement, "a heart of compassion in the heart of the city". Shepherd is one of our key YPN ministry partners and a model for holistic urban ministry and church growth to reach children, youth and families. For several hours I just wandered around the old place, visited with old friends, met new ones and flooded my mind with great memories. But I wasn't there just to remember. I was invited by the Executive Director, Jay Height, to see the "Summer Day Camp" your gift helped to fund.

We went one block away to the local elementary school which has partnered with Shepherd for these programs. The brightly colored gym was full of about 80 kids playing basketball in the middle of "Big Ray's Camp". Ray and his buddies are former NBA players helping train and teach inner city children basketball and life skills. The local NBC station was there filming the activities. The picture below includes the kids, the athletes and many volunteers from East 91st Christian Church (I'm the guy two people to the right of Big Ray). Shepherd was able to take our YPN summer day camp grant and multiply it 400% with other local community churches and businesses. Isn't that exciting! Your gift for the kingdom was multiplied many fold by this local ministry which is part of our vision for all our ministry partners. On my way out, Jay said "Dean, I've got some exciting news to share with you". He showed me blue prints for a new ministry center one mile away. You see, the reality is that when we started Shepherd back in 1985, this near Eastside community was the poorest part of Indy. However over the past two decades many of the poor have moved farther east and this community was changing. So in God's providence, Shepherd was able to trade its' two acre block for a new five acre complex with two large buildings to increase ministry space and outreach - all at no extra cost. They simply swapped property with another business that wanted this corner.

So I drove over to the new property and prayed a blessing on this new opportunity to reach the poor as they move farther away from the center of the city. Join me in praying for Jay, Shepherd, their staff, and those they serve along with hundreds of other YPN ministry partners across our country.

For Him and Them,

Dean Cowles

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