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For a group project in my Educational Foundations class, I went to visit a leadership meeting for the youth group of a church in Wellston, MO. I hadn't ever heard of Wellston, but it's where you get to if you go to the loop on Skinker and keep on going past Delmar. It's a super-poor part of town and reminded me a lot of East St. Louis: boarded up store fronts, prostitutes, homeless people, etc.
Until we finally found the church. The church's name was about 5 words strung together and has around 5,000 members and possesses a couple city blocks in Wellston, including a retirement facility, homes, multiple parking lots and multiple sanctuaries. It was out of control.
After interviewing the leadership team, I came away thinking that my church youth group had a lot more in common with this church's youth group in "the poor part of town" than we had differences. The problems they listed that the kids were going through were identical: kids selling drugs, kids disbelieving that the church had something better to offer than college and their friends' desires for them, kids in dangerous or abusive home situations. It was also very encouraging to see that both of our youth groups have the same responses: honesty about our own lives, listening, treating them like human beings when they ask questions.
Since the ministries are so similar, what would be my limitations in going there and starting to minister to those girls? Does it matter that I look and dress like the girls here in west county?
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