Our Mission
Our mission is to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the urban community, to provide urban youth with a place of Christian fellowship, to develop godly character, and to develop leaders that will impact their community.
The Great Commission that drives Urban LIFE’s ministry is found in Matthew 28:18-20: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations [make disciples], baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost [mark disciples]: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you [mature disciples]; and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen
Doctrinal Statement – Click Here to Read
Keeping it Real
Worship
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Because we believe true worship is defined by the object of worship, not the worshippers, we take a conservative approach. We believe that emotions play an important part in worshipping God. However, we encourage teens to worship God through songs, which are filled with valuable doctrine and praise, not worshipful feeling alone. We also encourage teens to choose thought-provoking styles of worship. Therefore, rather than promoting empty emotion, knowledge evokes feelings and actions of worship. We believe that, if teens worship in reference to truth God reveals about Himself in the Bible and what they see Him accomplish, they will have a greater chance of living for Him in their daily lives than if they worship in emotion only.
Mentoring
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
When God gives a child as His precious gift to parents, He also gives parents the responsibility to train, or mentor, that child to honor and glorify Him. Unfortunately, 93% of families in our target area include only one parent. Usually the parent is not well prepared for child raising, and often he or she is not concerned about the child’s spiritual well-being. The ungodly neighborhood atmospheres coupled with little home reinforcement tends to produce teens who have unplanned pregnancies and who participate in substance abuse and criminal activity. This cycle continues as young people produce babies who, like their parents, will have no solid foundation in godliness or character. Therefore, as we seek to break this cycle, mentoring is a vital, effective component of Urban LIFE’s ministries.
Urban LIFE workers seek to maximize time spent with teens for the purpose of being examples of how to live Biblically in everyday life. Bible studies, fun activities, and overnight trips allow us opportunities to rub shoulders with teens who may never before have seen the Christian life in action. We seek to provide the possibility of attending Christian school and college, and we dream to start our own school that can be tailor made to the needs of Urban LIFE teens one day.
We also believe in the importance of peer mentoring. Teens who have succeeded in various aspects of Christlike living in the difficult urban environment can encourage their friends to do right as well.
We are very grateful to the Lord for allowing us to see the positive effects of mentoring. We trust that He will continue to help us break the negative cycle and set teens on the path for a meaningful life.
Dedication
I Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light:
Without dedication, a cause may be worthwhile but not effective. We believe that dedication to our God is extremely important as we seek to work for Him. We uphold Biblical doctrines and godly living as He revealed in His Word, and we seek to build partnerships with other organizations and churches that are dedicated to the same.
