The Church is right outside your window

In an article in The Acorn, Toya Richards Hill writes about a Presbyterian church in Oklahoma that was bemoaning the skateboarders who'd taken over their church grounds. The minister, Karen Rodgers, along with the rest of the church, also bemoaned the fact that there were no youth in the congregation. Rodgers challenged her congregation to start praying for the skateboarders. Up until then the congregation had preferred to put up 'No Skateboarding' signs. She reached out to the youths and invited them in for a bite to eat. There were no takers at first, but gradually the skateboarders came - they were from broken homes, dysfunctional families, and the like - and eventually they started showing up at the youth group as well.
The church still doesn't have a large youth group - an average of 21 turn up - but now there are both skateboarders and non-skateboarders in the mix, including 11 who've been baptised by Rodgers.
And the women in the congregation got money together to help build a skateboard park.