It is A Whole New World!

The next 3 post are article written for the Love Never Fails newletter.



Recently, a research study was conducted by a non-profit organization that looked at a couple of kids the same age and living in the same city. The differences between the kids were easily recognizable. Even though their houses were less than 3 miles apart, their skins were different colors, and their parents’ pay scales were on opposite ends of the spectrum. There was a night-and-day difference between the boys. In the first 10 years of life, the research was amazingly different. One of the differences that struck me as significant is the difference in exposure. The boy from the wealthy neighborhood traveled about 35,000 more miles in his first 8 years of life than the other boy. Also, the boy from the wealthy neighborhood heard about 10,000 more words than the other boy his age, in the same city.

This study has motivated me to make sure this is different for the kids that I work with. Love Never Fails makes sure that the students in our programs experience and are exposed to a fullness of life. We intentionally make sure that our students experience a variety of things. Some opportunities are obviously great exposure for kids from at-risk neighborhoods - things like college campuses, the ins and outs of local business, and other trips designed to make sure that our students get a chance to view the world of possibilities. Other outings may not seem as important, but are equally important. This year we exposed them to things like Dallas Mavericks’ basketball games, baseball games, and trips to the military base (where they were privileged to sit on a plane that can fuel up other planes in mid air), just to name a few. While focused on fun, these events can be life-changing and inspiring. At Love Never Fails, we want to make sure that we make lasting imprints on the hearts, minds and lives of our students.

I recently had the chance to take two boys from Love Never Fails to the Harlem Globetrotters game at American Airlines Arena. The two boys are 6th graders and had never heard of the Globetrotters before. One boy had never been to AA arena before, and the other had been only once 2 years earlier, also with Love Never Fails. We had a grand time. We laughed. They laughed. They wondered if the game was real or fake. They told me they could dunk. I told them donuts do not count. We had a blast, and what a surprise - the Globetrotters won! On the way home, one of the boys told the other boy to keep his ticket to save so he could remember the trip. He told the other boy that he saved his Mavs game ticket from 2 years ago and still has it. Now this was head-turning for me. This kid cannot keep up with his homework for more than 30 minutes but somehow kept up with a ticket for over 2 years. Why? Because that trip was special to him.
Students at LNF might not like the Globetrotters, college campuses, or airplanes that fuel up other airplanes. But now they know if they do or not because they have experienced these opportunities in their own lives.