Church reaches out to youths

Like any other youth pastor, Yolanda Fish of Odessa First Presbyterian Church likes to keep her finger on the pulse of the younger generation, teens whose lives are so frequently full of distractions and threats to their faith.

But last weekend she took a slightly more savvy approach to reaching out to the community's youth by helping put on "Unleashed," a collection of musical performances and dramatic skits by an assortment of about 20 performers who put the audience on the cultural front lines.

Fish said topics ranged from "cutting," the term for teenagers who find an outlet or emotional satisfaction through self-mutilation, to the less dramatic topic of Jesus' prevalence throughout the world, no matter what it may look like or how its inhabitants act.

"Churches have the reputation as being culturally irrelevant," Fish said. "We thought this was a way of bridging the community with the faith community in a way that is appealing and is relevant to how people live - the message of music and making a difference in the person's community."

"This was a way for us to do that," she said.

And, with an attendance of about 175 people - plus a couple of appearances by police officers politely asking the boisterous worshippers to try to keep it down - the inaugural event appeared to have been a resounding success.

"It was great," Fish said. "Really, there wasn't anything that we would change about it."

Among the performers at the event was Troy Lira, a 15-year-old Midland Lee High School student and Christian hip-hop musician who said he understands Fish's tactic of reaching out to the youth.

Speaking fast, furious and oozing excitement about following his dreams and singing the Lord's praises, Lira said he uses his experiences - and that includes his own moral follies - to grab the attention of a generation known for its short attention span.
"I think, with this generation, you have to have something poppin', something to get their attention," he said.

"When you get on their level, that's when you get their attention," the rapper continued. "When they see me and say, ‘He's gone through the things I've gone through,' that gets their attention."

Of course, he maintained that his music really wasn't about him.

"I don't' want to brag on me, because it's only God," Lira said. "I don't want people to get it twisted, because it's not me. It's God."

He, like Fish, said the key to reaching people his age lies in cultural relevance, a ubiquitous element in the lives of teenagers who often go all-out for something the minute they decide they like it - of course, that could be anything from sex to drugs to Twitter to music to Jesus.

But, Lira said, it all starts with getting their attention.

"I want to worship god, but I want to do it in a crunk way," he said. "I think this generation, when they're sold-out to something, they're going to go all-out for it."

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