“You must have presence to have effective proclamation.”

Rev. Max Rodas’ advice echoed in Pastor Dave Bever’s mind as he moved to Cleveland, Ohio from Florida with his wife, Jamie, and their two children.

If he was going to proclaim Christ’s love to people, he must be present among them; so he would have to get out there in the city, he decided.

That’s how Pastor Dave found himself playing basketball in the streets of Cleveland. When he first hit the courts he got a lot of strange looks. He didn’t exactly fit the profile of the kids playing. Over time, however, he was able to gain respect. Pastor Dave said, “If you can play ball in this neighborhood, you find a great deal of instant credibility and social respect.”

He played at the local recreation centers. He played in the parks. He played in the parking lot of Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center, a Nazarene Compassionate Ministry Center that has operated in the city for the past seven years. 

Throughout six weeks of playing basketball, he made a lot of young friends. Pastor Dave invited them to attend R-Life, now a Nueva Luz program reaching youth aged 12 to 24.

The first night the R-Life doors opened, 68 young people joined in worship singing hosted by a DJ, and heard a message from the Word of God. Activities also included basketball, video games and a computer lab. 

R-Life was a hit, and since it launched in September 2006, the ministry has exploded. A steady stream of youth floods its doors and the Lord is transforming the lives of individual kids through God’s love. R-Life now serves well over 250 kids each week. They share a meal and worship together every Thursday evening, among many other activities spread throughout the course of a given week.

Jackson* , the first young man with whom Pastor Dave played basketball in the Nueva Luz parking lot in the summer of 2006, has become a cornerstone of the R-Life program.

The nineteen-year-old grew up in the city’s streets. Like many his age, he belonged to a gang, sold and used drugs, and lived in a home where people practiced risky behaviors and illegal activity. However, when he saw an alternative through the care and mentorship of Pastor Dave, Jackson took it.

“R-Life saved my life, and has helped me see God is real and cares about me,” Jackson said.
Jackson is now off drugs, out of the gang, and back in school. He is participating in solutions for a better Cleveland by being a proactive peer leader in his high school.

This past December two brothers, Brian* and Ricky*,  lost their mother to AIDS. The R-Life community sought to surround these boys in their loss. The youth and leaders decided that the best way to help is to suffer with Brian and Ricky and be a supportive family of God for them. Pastor Dave notes, “We hope that R-Life church can help be a family to those who have lost their family. We want to share life together even, and especially when, it is hard. This is particularly important for Brian and Ricky, as well as many other kids in the program who come from broken homes.”

Every day in Cleveland, many youth like Jackson experience hunger, go without shelter, or get involved in prostitution, gang violence and drug trafficking; some are infected with HIV and AIDS. R-Life’s programs must address these problems through the holistic message of the gospel. For this reason, R-Life is committed to uniting worship with day-to-day life through a transforming presence in the Cleveland community.

For instance, R-Life partners with Jackson’s high school faculty to provide mentoring and positive relationships with some of the 500 young men and women who attend the school. Through a local recreation center, R-Life leaders also interact with more than 250 12- to 24-year-olds every week.  There are programs addressing leadership development, physical health through nutrition and exercise, and case management for those infected with HIV and AIDS.

The goal of R-Life is not just to get youth to attend church, but rather to be the church. By demonstrating that the church lives as a community of faith, R-Life can teach Cleveland’s youth to care for one another in all aspects of life.

“Compassion is the work we are called to do in the written Word and in the lived example of Jesus,” Pastor Dave shared. “My life has been transformed by the theology of compassion. It is the hope for the world and the responsibility of God’s people to share it.” 

After nine months of ministry, those at R-Life have great anticipation for what God’s love will do in the city’s youth as the faithful members learn to practice presence among them.

Please pray for the R-Life program and its staff, as well as the Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center, as they continue to breathe holy life into the communities of Cleveland, Ohio.

UPDATE: Recently, R-Life was given a school building on the corner of the same block where it operates. R-Life now has a full gym and two large rooms with which to create a worship and educational space. Work & Witness teams will come this summer to renovate it. R–Life is overjoyed to see how the Lord is blessing this ministry. With this newly gifted space, their Christ-filled presence in the community will continue to grow.

To read more about the ministries of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, go to http://www.ncm.org/.

*Names have been changed.