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Gospel In the Flesh
By Boyce A. Bowdon

"Kids in the inner city need to hear the gospel message of Jesus Christ just like all the rest of us," declares Jim Hill, now in his eighth year as pastor of Ridgecrest United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City.

"The question is, how can we help them hear the gospel?"

Hill says a ministry called Project Transformation is helping his church tell the good news in a way that is getting through to inner city kids. And it's not only transforming the kids, it's transforming his church.

Project Transformation is for children in grades one through six. They come Monday through Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. for eight weeks, beginning in early June.

Modeled after a ministry in Dallas, Project Transformation began in Oklahoma City in 2002. Hill, a member of the original planning team, says it was designed to meet the following objectives:

. Aid culturally diverse churches and communities with creative summer programming that will support spiritual growth for children, youth, and their families.

. Build relationships and models for ongoing volunteer ministries.

. Support college students in their faith journey by providing a summer mission experience and an introduction into ministry.

. Reach out to those not associated with the church.

Objectives were expanded last year when AmeriCorps awarded Project Transformation a grant to help compensate interns. There's now a stronger emphasis on literacy training. Each child has one-on-one time each day with a tutor who is trained to help children read and comprehend what they have read. Parents have opportunities to assist and encourage their children's reading.

In the summer of 2002, Ridgecrest and two other United Methodist churches in Oklahoma City participated in Project Transformation. This summer, it has expanded to Ridgecrest and eight other UM churches in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

 More than 500 kids are enrolled at the nine sites. Hill says 75 are coming to Ridgecrest. "We've had to turn away at least 75 others because we don't have the space and interns," he said.

In addition to the AmeriCorps grant, financial support for Project Transformation comes from the host churches, other United Methodist churches across the state, and from foundations and individuals.

"We only charge the kids $5 for a craft fee, and that doesn't begin to cover what we spend for crafts," says Hill. "We found that when we charge at least something, parents tend to feel better about it. Every week we go swimming, bowling, to the movies, to the zoo, or to some other place the kids enjoy. We ask parents to contribute a little to offset the cost. But if they don't, it doesn't matter. Everybody goes."

Key workers in the ministry are college students; many of them are considering ministry vocations. Called interns, they serve in teams of four to six at each host church. They help with Bible studies, skits, crafts, music, field trips, and other enrichment activities. They stay in student housing at Oklahoma City (United Methodist) University. Each receives a stipend of approximately $2,200 for the summer.

The 75 interns serving this year have been carefully selected and trained. One is Andy Hinson. A May graduate of University of Oklahoma, he has answered God's call to full-time ministry, and plans to go to seminary. This is the third summer he has interned at Ridgecrest.

"It's been neat to have this leadership role," Hinson says. "I've learned a lot about myself. It's a great feeling being with the kids-leading them in simple activities and listening to them. I am amazed at how gifted they are and how well they cope with obstacles."

Hinson says he's also profiting from his relationships with people at Ridgecrest. "Members and the pastor reach out to me and to the other interns. They make sure we have everything we need and do extra things that make our lives easier."

He has also enjoyed being with the other interns, who are close to his age and are going through similar life experiences. "We have this sort of spiritual accountability. We look out for each other and are one big, happy family."

Tony Eastmond is one of the more than 1,000 volunteers from local churches who work with the interns. An accountant and grandfather, Eastmond observes that many kids who are part of Project Transformation have an extreme need for someone to show interest in them.

"I believe I help them more by being a friend than I do by helping them read," he says. "I'm sure about this: the kids help me more than I help them."   

Founded in 1945, Ridgecrest was an Evangelical United Brethren Church until the EUB and Methodist churches united in 1968.

"For at least two decades, our church was really influential in this community," says Hill. "The neighborhood elementary school was even named for our first pastor, who helped get the school started."

During the early 1970s, under the leadership of a pastor who attracted a large following from all over Oklahoma City, Ridgecrest's membership climbed to 1,500 and Sunday worship attendance averaged 550. But when that pastor moved to another church in the area, nearly half the members followed him. During the next few years, more members left following subsequent splits in the congregation and changes in the community.

"Our official membership at the end of 2005 was 421, and we now average about 120 in worship," says Hill. "But the neat thing is, we are seeing some positive signs. Ten young couples with kids have recently started coming. I don't think Ridgecrest is going to be one of those churches that continues going down. We are seeing a turn-around. Things are starting to jell."

Only 15 or 20 active members live within three miles of the church, Hill says. Some drive 20 miles or more. The interstate highway that's less than a mile from the church makes the church more accessible for them.

      Like many other inner city neighborhoods, the area around 25th and Portland streets where Ridgecrest is located has changed dramatically during recent decades.

"The population is probably as large as it has ever been; but the demographics have changed," Hill says. "Back in the 1960s, the neighborhood was mostly white; now it's a racial melting pot. Then it was mostly middle income; now it's mostly low income.

"The suburbs have moved miles beyond where we are. And the problems that once were confined to the inner city have migrated to where we are here in the mid-city. I'm not saying we are the worst neighborhood in Oklahoma City, not by any stretch of the imagination. But our kids grow up in the middle of negative influences."

Hill says Project Transformation is helping the congregation get back in touch with the church's neighborhood. "If you live in other areas and drive to Ridgecrest for worship, like most of our people do, it's very easy to pass by things going on near the church and never see them," Hill explains. And when the church begins to decline, the church tends to focus more on how it can survive and less on how it can serve.

"We have people from outside the area who don't realize what's going on within a few blocks of the church. Five blocks to the north, there's an apartment complex with 200 units, where there are many people with all kinds of problems and needs. On the other side of the street, there's a park, which is often a crime scene. Just three blocks from us, there's a shopping center that has six bars, a strip club, a bingo parlor, and other negative influences. Members driving in from the suburbs can pass right by these places and never see them."

But Hill says when members serve as volunteers with Project Transformation they become much more aware of the neighborhood.

"We will have four or five people from our church here everyday through the project. Their eyes are opened when they come in and help kids who live in those apartments, who play at that park, and who go to that shopping center. They help them with reading or with other activities. They eat lunch with them and have fun with them.

"When the kids are in pain or sad, our people listen to them and show them they care. Before the summer is over, they really care about these kids, and these kids know they really care about them. They see the gospel lived out. The kids see the gospel with flesh on it."

Hill says "evangelism with flesh on it" gets through to kids, and to adults as well. And not just in the inner city-in the suburbs and everywhere.

"We don't live in a world where people flock to the church and the pastor gives a fiery sermon, and scores of sinners are saved. People experience the gospel when somebody in the church becomes their friend and shows them love and witnesses to them one-on-one. And we have members who are doing just that with kids who are part of Project Transformation."

Hill says Project Transformation has also helped him become more aware of what life is like for neighborhood kids. Each week during Project Transformation, he has prayer time with the boys and girls.

"When I ask them for prayer concerns, they tell me what's going on in their lives," he says. "One kid will ask me to pray for his daddy who is in prison. Another child will say, 'Please pray for my friend. He got shot and he may die.'"

Each week, Hill also gives a devotional-which he says is basically a children's sermon. "When I talk to them, I'm talking about Jesus, about the gospel message. It's a message that Jesus loves you, and he sends his love to you through us."

Life is pretty scary for many of the kids, Hill observes. "I think that's one reason their parents like for them to come to Project Transformation. They think of our church as a sanctuary for them during the summer. It's a place where they are safe and are learning and are having fun and being taken care of."

Hill says several parents told him last fall that their children improved their reading skills significantly during the summer. He says one boy who came to Project Transformation for three years had a lot of anger management problems at first.

"He got in quite a bit of trouble, but we always dealt with him in a loving manner. We don't just throw kids out; we try to work with them the best we can. After he got too old to come, we didn't see him for a year, then he suddenly starting coming back to youth group and to worship. Now he's talking about joining the church."

Hill says he and the lay people at Ridgecrest don't expect an influx of people into the church as a result of Project Transformation.

 "The way we view it is that we are planting seeds. We may not see what grows from those seeds, but we feel that the Church universal will. The seeds that we have planted, Christ will water and grow, and some day, somehow, they will bear fruit. We are sending forth a message of hope, and kids are hearing the gospel and taking it seriously."

Boyce A. Bowdon has directed communications for the Oklahoma Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church since 1981.



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