We finished a great semester here with five students the week before Christmas. We had a semester full of growth and learning for both the students and those of us leading the program.
This semester, however, looks a bit different for us. We are not having any students this semester in order to better prepare ourselves for the fall. We are working with Midamerica Nazarene University to expand the academic offerings available to the students for college credit. This in turn would give students more choices and allow for a larger number of students to take part in the program. We are also working to form a long-term community in the neighborhood which can last year around, not simply when students are here. We currently have six families living in the neighborhood, meeting together and partnering in ministry. Some of these families are staff of Youthfront specifically working with the Youthfront School of Formation and others just moved into the neighborhood to be part of this Christian community that is forming and to take part in life and ministry together. The formation of this community comes with real sense of excitement as we think about being able to invite students each semester into a community that already exists instead of attempting to create something new each semester. In addition, we are working to make our neighborhood involvement sustainable so that not only can the students join in our community but they also can join us in the relationships and work that we are doing throughout the neighborhood. We believe that this leads to a much more faithful and transformative model in which relationships can be built and nurtured that last longer than a single semester.
