Seventeen Bethel football players went through discipleship training and completed background checks to serve weekly at these high schools in Minneapolis. Six of the volunteers serve athletes at North High School and have continued to meet virtually after schools were closed in mid-March. These football players are simply loving kids and building relationships. It goes deeper than just hanging out with them and even deeper than mentoring relationships. Jordan says, “The goal is to see each of the volunteers enter life-on-life relationships with students, and through that, to see students grow to become followers of Jesus Christ.”
The biggest challenge is building trust with students from the inner city. They are accustomed to unfulfilled promises and people leaving them. “What I’ve found is, especially being white and from the suburbs, it takes longer to earn trust. You have to show up over and over and over again until they believe that ‘hey this guy actually cares.’ It takes longer, but once that trust is there, these kids are really willing to open and real and raw about everything, even about faith,” Jordan says.
Once the initial relationships are cultivated and trust is built, the next phase of life-on-life really begins. Life-on-life relationships are about modeling to young people what it looks like to be men of God, not just during an FCA program once a week after school but in homes, running errands, playing ball, enjoying a family cookout, or studying the Bible together. They are literally doing life together. It is how Jesus walked with his disciples in the day-to-day moments of life. This is true discipleship.
The high school athletes from North High School, football players from Bethel, and Jordan and Kyle, went on a winter retreat together outside of the city. It was a meaningful experience for the high school students:
"They pushed me to try new things." -Charles
"My favorite part of the trip was bonding with the guys." -Tae
"I learned that God will always accept me, no matter how much I’ve messed up." -Mario
"I learned that Jesus died so we can all be free from our sins." -Elijah
"The leaders helped me be able to open up about something I don't really talk about a lot." -Terrance
"We talked about all the sin that has been holding me back and being able to just talk about it and get things off my chest that I normally don't talk about. Thanks to all the Bethel guys for keeping us accountable to things and having fun with us. And thanks to Coach Fox and Coach Dornbush for bringing us up here for a fun time to connect with God, have fun, and get to know each other more." -Dom
This is just one way these guys can do life together, and it is making an impact. While this program is still in its infancy, it has already seen great promise in the lives of not only the athletes at these Minneapolis high schools but also in the Bethel football players who serve them. It is common that the one who serves often ends up being just as blessed as the one being served, and that is certainly the case here.
Many of the Bethel football players grew up in the suburbs or rural Minnesota. They recognize the vast differences in childhood experience they share with high school athletes who are growing up in inner city Minneapolis. One Bethel student said, “I appreciate that God can be seen in a variety of contexts and situations. My view of God is different than a lot of the students I came across, and that's okay.” Another said, “At their core these kids are still kids no matter their background.”
The Bethel athletes noticed that even though these high school athletes have grown up in drastically different circumstances, there is so much to appreciate about each one of them.
“I learned that the culture is much different from where I grew up, yet at the same time we can still bond with each other.”
“They are awesome kids that just need someone there to show them the way and treat them like humans.”
“They take pride in what they like and want. They just need to be shown the right thing to take pride in.”
“They are really great cool kids with some very fun personalities to be around. Their background is just giving them a different ‘starting place’ from some other kids.”
“There are a lot of thankful and driven kids within the school I visited. Just like our football team, they keep each other accountable.”
“They really value the community that surrounds them. It seems like they know how much they need one another and lean into their relationships accordingly.”
“The students are looking for people to look up to. They really want to see things done the right way so they can get on the right track. They're aware of their situation and want to improve it.”
It so often happens when we do life with those who are not like us that our perspective changes. This goes both ways between the North High School students and the Bethel football players who have come alongside them. They have all grown and changed and have a deeper appreciation for each other and a more solid relationship with Jesus. Because of all this, the students from North are building a solid foundation for future success as they learn how to become men of God.
