Conquering the Impossible

We are so thankful for the communities that partner with us year after year. We are not only thankful for all the hospitality that they consistently show us, we are also thankful for the relationships that we’ve built with incredible people in these communities. Today’s blog post is written by one of our community friends in Brooklyn NY, Kristian Anderson. Kristian is a youth pastor who has been a friend of YouthWorks for several years. In this post he offers a story about the ways God is moving in his youth group. I’m sure you’ll be touched by his words.

 

As a believer in Jesus Christ, this is one of the things that I hear from God’s Word and believe. But I sometimes question: Are their moments in our lives when we feel like there are things that can separate us from the love of Christ? Are things I cannot overcome, that make me feel completely defeated? That it may be true that someone else is more than a conqueror- but just not me? This sentiment is something that I hear all the time as a Pastor.

 

Currently, I pastor in Brooklyn, NY, where I have lived here my whole life. My church stands on the border of two large ethnic Hispanic and Chinese neighborhoods. It is a community where less than 40% of students graduate from high school, and most families live below the poverty line. Only one student in our youth ministry has family members involved in our church. The youth we deal with are not typical “church kids” who know all your Sunday School answers. They don’t know “how to act in church”–they haven’t grown up learning how to fool the adults around them into thinking they are well behaved. They are very honest about their lives—and so the reaction I hear from most youth whom I meet or walk through our doors is that they don’t have any hope… they feel limited, not loved, and like they’ve been given the short end of the stick.

 

This year in our youth group I decided to talk about the book of Joshua, and how we can be conquerors when we put God before us. That no matter how many obstacles we have in our life, if we put our faith and trust in Christ, then we can overcome. Of course, it is one thing to talk about it and a whole other thing to experience it.

 

Deborah Henderlong, (a woman I met through a Youthworks group that came to our church), proposed something monumental for my youth group- something that if they finished they probably could not take any credit for because it was too “out there” for them to do. And so we decided to take these Brooklyn youth across the country to Coloradao to hike Pikes Peak(!!). We planned all the details, but what slipped through our fingertips was actually doing some preparation hikes … I soon found out that this was probably a big mistake. And then the week finally came. We set off- many of my youth having never even been on a plane!

 

Soon after arriving in Colorado we went out to sightsee. We looked at the beautiful Rockies, we saw it- this ominous 14,110-foot mountain staring us in the face. I could see in the faces of the youth who before had been so confident they could do it, now looking at the mountain it took on a whole other meaning.

 

After a few days getting acclimated to the altitude we set off. With our packs all set, in the 3 am predawn darkness, we embarked on our 14-mile journey up a 14,000-foot mountain. One mile into the hike I started suffering from altitude sickness. By the halfway point I had vomited 4 times. I was exhausted and dehydrated. As I looked at many of my youth I saw and heard that they were ready to turn back. This felt too big for them- like they didn’t have what it takes. Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to make it! But I knew that if turned around they would take the easy way out and follow suit. I asked our medical professional if I could continue and she said that it would be very difficult, but I could. So I threw on my pack and we all continued on.

 

Those last few miles were a perfect picture of what it is to be a Christian. I saw youth run when they saw the next mile marker and cheer. Just one mile earlier I had seen them sit down in the middle of the path, literally crying and saying they couldn’t do it anymore. They told me they hated me for bringing them, just to take it all back one mile later and say they couldn’t believe how amazing it all was.

 

In our walks with God, we often feel all of those feelings. It took 13 ½ hours for all of us to reach the summit- and when we all made it up there I saw on their faces that the impossible just became possible. We were all conquerors. We live by faith and not by sight, but at that moment I saw how God had been working in their lives.

 

When I look back at our time in Colorado, one thing sticks out to me. If I ask for God to do something that I know is in my power to do, how will I know if he did it? Our reality is that we have no youth budget, yet we planned to fly 12 people across the country and pay for all of it. We felt God calling us to it, and so even though it sounded ridiculous we went forward. And we saw God provide: without asking, Youthworks donated money for us to go, a friend of Deborah’s offered up her house for us to stay in for free for the week and a stranger donated 2,500 dollars for us to go on a trip.

 

It was just one thing after another, seeing God provide for us when we ask for something in his name.

 

 

 

So… are you asking for the impossible?

 

 

Kristian Anderson is a pastor at 59^th St Lutheran Brethren Church in Brooklyn, NY. He and his wife Mary, of five years, are proud parents of Patches O’Houlihan—the cutest cat on the planet. Kristian is a dart champion, a proud Yankees fan and a lover of anything and everything bacon. YouthWorks loves Kristian because he loves Jesus, opens his home to us every summer and has a huge passion for his community and youth.