The Zalas' Journey of Faith

On Sunday morning February 7th, SGC featured an interview with John and Joyce Zalas. They spoke candidly about their marriage journey as they cared for their daughter Alesia who passed away one year ago. View their story here.

A Few Reflections from last year

Here are some things that I fondly look back on as 2010 matures.

• Cynthia and I ran two 5k's.
• The Crossing school (an outreach to public school casualties) moved into SGC.
• My son Austin announced his engagement to Meagan Allen, his longtime sweetheart.
• SGC was finally & officially out of debt!
• Notre Dame hired Brian Kelly as its new head coach.
• I was selected to be part of a coaching community with Scott Hodge of The Orchard and 12 other pastor guys. It began yesterday. It was amazing.
• We put our house up for sale to downsize since we will soon be a family of three co-habitants
• Bought our plane tickets for Honduras to go on a two-week mission in July with Max and Garret, my two youngest sons.
• Celebrated my 20th year on staff at SGC (the last 5.5 in the senior role)

I think this will be a good year, too.

Donald Miller's Response to Pat Robertson

“You seem angry and tired. Christ loves you. He is not impressed with your religious posturing. He really loves you. You don’t have to hide behind anything anymore. The good news really is that good.”

For Don's full response click here.

Why SGC Partners with The Crossing #3 (Family Time)

This is Ronnie and Becca Bunton. They are Crossing staffers. Not too many people make much noise about this, but they are also missionaries to students that just can't fit in to the 'normal' school environment. The Crossing offers an education leading to a diploma (not a GED) but more importantly it offers a family. This is why Ronnie and Becca do what they do. They love Jesus and they want these kids, many of them troubled and neglected, to know Jesus loves them too. They also know the importance of family. Everyday Crossing staffers sit with the students and have 'family time.' It may start with a simple question: "What's going on?" That sometimes opens a can of worms as kids pour their hearts out to loving, willing leaders who listen and make it a point to invest not only in heads, but hearts. The Buntons are excellent leaders who model family and invite Crossing kids to be part of theirs. This is just another reason why SGC partners with the Crossing.

Why SGC Partners with The Crossing #2

Rob Staley (shown on the far left) is the guy who started The Crossing. He was a high school principal for almost 20 years. Before that he was a guy trying to get through college so he could teach and help kids. Before that he was a struggling youth with a 'wild streak' and an attitude. He was 'trouble' and he was troubled! He experienced a major life change when he was a senior in high school and found a new life in Jesus Christ. That was the genesis of his calling to make a difference.

Fast forward to 2003. Rob by then was a seasoned principal known for his no-nonsense discipline approach to learning which means if a student doesn't cooperate, he/she is out....suspended, expelled. That's life in the public school where the responsibility of the leader is to make sure that the educational components are well-oiled and functioning while ensuring people who are distractions and obstacles to the learning environment are dealt with. Understood. But where does this kid go? You know....the kid who cussed out the teacher...the kid who retaliated an insult with a left jab to the eye....the chronic truant...the kid with 'special needs.' That is the question that got under Rob's skin and into his heart. He had to do something about this.

So rather than being the guy who sent the troubled youth away from the school, he would reposition himself to be the one who would greet them on their way out the door. He became the solution to his own problem; his personal problem as a troubled youth from days past and his professional problem as an educator. Basically, he couldn't bear to watch one more kid slip through the cracks only to be eaten up by the streets, drugs, a life of crime and possibly death. That's when The Crossing began. It began in one man's heart. Next post I will share what has happened since that time.

Why SGC partners with The Crossing: Reason #1

Something to Believe in through Someone to Believe in....

School is school is school, right? Students end up at the Crossing for a myriad of reasons ranging from poor performance in school to violence to arrogance to resistance to any kind of authority or very poor attendance. For the stubborn child we have found they need something to believe in and to be a part of…something, anything! Most of our kids were never eligible to be in the sports programs at school even if they wanted to because their grades kept them ineligible. Most of our kids, actually all kids, learn behavior and response patterns from their parents, many of which are inappropriate, so they act out. I teach an evening elective class for our Butler students. We are building a 1958 Buick street rod. This will be a high horsepower street machine on a light ‘94 extended Caprice chassis with a squeezed 455 dual quad power plant. The powerless among us embrace any opportunity to be empowered by any means possible which makes big horsepower cars a real hit! I wish you could all experience an evening with our young men getting dirty, busting knuckles, and turning wrenches! We all love the smell of axel grease and welding smoke and the growls that come with every successful accomplishment. We presently have the entire project disassembled to the last bolt! Sandblasting the frame, painting and reassembly are the next events in the process. Our kids love adventure, activity, and hands-on life! We have discovered that when kids find acceptance and actually become an “innie” rather than an “outie,” everything else flows a whole lot smoother. When we do life with them in the “club,” they find it easier to do life with us in the day-to-day business of school. Another awesome perk in this whole relationship is that they become deeply loyal to those who chose to care enough to include them in the “fun” parts of their personal lives. We love our kids deeply and they love us deeply too. Did you catch that? They love us deeply, too. That is the work of God in their lives that occurs because we choose to behave with them as Jesus would. “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

This Blog was written by Don Riley of The Crossing Educational Center, a partner of SGC.

What does a Trillion dollars look like?