John Fischer The Catch

Have you hugged your youth director lately? You better.

Marti thinks that youth directors should be the highest paid staff position at church. Why is that?

Because they can get through to your kid when you can’t.
Because they are cool when you are not.
Because they can do things with kids which if you tried, they would just laugh at you.
Because your 14-year-old will talk to them when he won’t talk to you.
Because you’ll find out things about your son or your daughter you never knew.
Because they can inspire your kid to believe in what he can’t see.
Because they can fan the flame of the Spirit in kids.
Because they can lead your kids to the Lord.

Chandler attended church camp this summer and I finally got around to meeting with the youth director. I found out that Chandler is a leader. (We already knew that, but it was nice to have it confirmed. At this stage, Chandler is a leader because he does what he wants to do regardless of what anyone else thinks about it, so everyone follows him because he does what he does so confidently that they assume it must be the thing to do.)

I found out that Chandler embraced some spiritual realities at camp when the rest of his “group” (“tribe” would be a better word) didn’t. I would never have known this had I not sat down and talked with the youth director. Chandler did not make me aware of any of this information. I also found out that I was one of what he guessed was about 10% of the parents in his youth group who sought him out to talk about their son or daughter. I found that hard to believe.

This last summer I went to a reunion of the high school group I attended in my church when I was growing up. The man who was our youth director then was there with his wife and the outpouring of love and affection for them was palpable. Forty years later we are still experiencing the effects of their role in our lives. And why did I go? I’m sure seeing people I haven’t seen in years was part of it. What do they look like? Who did they become? But mostly I wanted to see the man and his wife who had been instrumental in setting the spiritual course of my life, so I could thank them, and let them know that after all these years, that I’ve been faithful.

My first two children are Christians today because of a youth director. I’m in the ministry today because of a youth director. Have you hugged your youth director lately? You better.

Our Catch today is going to come by way of one of our members, Drew Snider, a pastor from Vancouver, B.C. who founded and helps facilitate a ministry in downtown Vancouver that provides free showers for those on Skid Row.

I’ll name one of the “Edsels” in my life, because he had such an impact on me. His name was Peter Hegan, and everybody — and I mean that in the context that EVERY SINGLE PERSON I KNEW — rejected him.

Pardon me: his adoptive mother didn’t reject him. His adoptive father was totally ashamed of him. Peter was hyperactive, deliberately disobedient to everyone, smoked and drank at an early age (8) and said outrageously crude things. He also became one of my best friends. My mother had encouraged me to “be different,” and in some ways, befriending Peter was a way of doing that. But it was also one of the most powerful friendships I’ve had. Around 7th grade, Peter disappeared from school, and then around 10th grade, he re-surfaced. He had spent a few years in some kind of reformatory, where he kept up his schoolwork and battled a drug problem. Then, “I woke up one morning and said, ‘Pete, you are one f**ked up kid!’” He found his salvation in two basic areas: music and the Bible.

Eventually, he went to California and studied guitar under Vicente Gomez, and Biblical references crept into his songwriting. He constantly encouraged (or badgered) me to read the Bible, particularly the Books of the Kings (and it was a good 25 years before I realized why — the account of the floating axe-head likely spoke into his life, and it’s been a recurring theme for me over the years, too). We jammed together, and some of the greatest moments of joy were in listening to what Pete brought to my songs and I did for his.

Little by little, other people around Pete started recognizing his strange genius and his value, but he never quite shook the drug habit or the rebelliousness. One day in 1990, he went into a motel room in Grant’s Pass, Oregon, and ended his life.

Unlike the 6,000 prized Edsels today, Pete was one who sent himself to the wrecking yard. Your “Catch” should be a reminder to us all to let people know, as often and as loudly and as clearly as possible, that sometimes, they’re the only ones who see an Edsel in the mirror.

The only adjustment I would make to this would be to point out that Drew saw an Edsel too, it’s just that he grew to love them. Turns out it’s his favorite car. Right Drew? And I can’t help but think that Peter helped get you ready for the work you are doing now. My guess is that there is a high percentage of Edsels on our inner city streets, in our prisons and mental institutions.

This tells me there may be more Edsel stories out there. I encourage you to send me yours.

I also want to point out that a number of people are taking advantage of the New Covenant teaching videos we are posting. I hope more of you will take advantage of this opportunity. Cynthia writes: “I have listened to three so far and it is like getting new glasses. My perception is clearer and my heart is filled.”