Local ministry dedicated to fun, safe environment
|
?We learned a lot from that place and the chaos we had there,? admitted Smith. ?Really I think we were a little naive more than anything else. We just wanted to give kids a safe place to hang out. We didn?t think about them sneaking in alcohol and sneaking off and things like that.?
The new home of Lighthouse Ministries shows Smith has learned from his first endeavor. Located inside the old Northgate Skate Center, there is no shortage of room so everyone can be kept inside.
Video games, pool, ping pong and air hockey are all available. There is a skate park with several ramps in the back. The rink has been maintained so there is still room for roller skating. And there?s plenty of music, food and TV screens to keep middle school and high school students occupied.
?I think of growing up here and there was no place to go like this,? said Smith. ?We?re trying to give people a place to go if they want a place.?
Added youth minister Jon Kent, ?A lot of times kids just want a place where their parents aren?t.?
One of the most notable aspects of the new building is its security system. Each student who pays a $7 annual fee to become a member is given an ID card with their picture on the front and their favorite Bible verse on the back. The students are required to use the card each time they enter the Lighthouse.
A computer program keeps a log of the coming and going of every member. The log shows each day the person came to the Lighthouse and how long they stayed. That way if a parent wants to check up on their child, the log will show they were at the Lighthouse from 6:33 to 9:59 p.m. on April 14, for example.
?We?re trying to make it as safe as possible,? said Smith. ?When you live in a non-perfect world, non-perfect things are going to happen. I?ve heard of drug deals going on at church before. But you?re not going to stop having church because of that.?
Smith says there are cameras located around the building and there?s always plenty of adult supervision. The students themselves also like to keep the place clean.
?The new building has given us a new environment,? said WCHS senior Brittany Hall, who is a Lighthouse regular. ?We?re able to keep the riff-raff out of here.?
Hall says skateboarding at the recently completed skate park is her favorite Lighthouse activity. And she?s not alone. Travis Hoover, Marco Martinez and Justin Morton were just a few of the people trying their skill at the skate park yesterday afternoon.
?We?ve already outgrown the skate park,? said Smith. ?On Friday night, there will be 30 or 40 of them packed in there.?
Students are welcome to have fun inside the Lighthouse, but there are several safety rules:
? No outside food or drinks are allowed.
? No drugs, alcohol or tobacco are allowed.
? Profanity and disruptive behavior are not allowed.
? Once you leave during a session, you cannot re-enter.
A new program Smith has added is called OSS and it stands for Out of School Society. After the Lighthouse closes to students at 11 p.m. on Friday night, it will stay open from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. for adults who want a place to hang out and have fun.
Smith also says the first Sunday of every month is family day at the Lighthouse. Since parents are often curious about the Lighthouse, they can come with their kids from 1 to 5 p.m.
Now that Smith has built it, so to speak, and the kids have come, he is in need of steady funding. He says there is no shortage of bills, and money is always tight.
?We don?t get any government funding, although we tried,? said Smith referring to a failed attempt to get money from the county commission as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. ?We don?t want to be a business. We want to be a ministry. But it?s hard when you have bills coming in and permits you have to get.?
Any person or business who would like to donate to Lighthouse Ministries can do so by calling 507-5444 after 3 p.m. There is also a Web site at www.lighthouse-ministries.us.