For Him and Them by Dean Cowles, YPN President

A monthly message from YouthPartnersNET President Dean Cowles.

For Him and Them by Dean Cowles

January 2007

An Urban Storm

This January '07 letter was written on December 21, 2006. Let me explain.

First of all, most of us in Denver have been stuck in our homes from this winter blizzard that slammed the Rockies with 26 inches outside. So I thought this would be a good time to write a letter, since I can't do much else beyond sipping another cup of tea and listening to "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" on the radio for the tenth time.

Then this morning the news anchor caught my attention when he said "amazingly we have had no reports of any deaths during this storm." That got me to thinking. "No deaths during this storm", yet just this month in our urban neighborhood we had four deaths by a shooting storm that didn't make the national news. Just another sad day in the hood.

Time and time again their number one wish was simply stated; "I don't want to get shot and die".

That got me to thinking about one of our partners in Chicago, GRIP Outreach for Youth, who recently received a YPN grant. When I was visiting this inner-city sports ministry this summer, the director showed me some of the sheets of paper listing the dreams of these urban young men. Time and time again their number one wish was simply stated; "I don't want to get shot and die". That was their wish, not a wish to go to college or be an NBA star, just a wish to make it and survive the streets.

This is the real storm we're talking about, the storm of drive by shootings and gang violence. It's a raging storm that snowplows can't simply push out of the way.

But here is some good news. Just as the morning sun is starting to melt these massive piles of powder, I know the Son of God can, has, and will continue to melt away anger and violence when we show the amazing love of God to a dark and hurting world. Thanks for your part in sharing and showing that love.

I'm also aware that today, December 21st, is the first day of winter and from here on the days begin to get a bit longer, the sun will shine a few more minutes. John knew that when he said of Jesus; "I must decrease and He must increase." So let His love shine upon us all as we work to dispel the darkness and increase the light.

For Him and Them,

Dean Cowles

• Visit the For Him and Them Archive