Beyond Renew: Relationship-Building

Going into my 11th year at Timothy, I am grateful to have (finally!) facilitated my first service trip during the Renew term with Chris Langkamp and Lampstand Ministries. Stepping away from teaching in the classroom during Renew presented a challenge for me. Those who know me well understand that I love tinkering with new curriculum—and Renew is the perfect time to pilot course content outside the conventional program of study. But this school year, something unusual happened: no special course was percolating in my mind.

Thankfully, I heard that Mr. Huizinga was passing the baton on his Renew service trip (partnering with Lampstand Ministries) to Mr. Karesh. However, they needed another teacher facilitator—and that’s where I entered the story.

For those unfamiliar with Lampstand Ministries, the organization empowers various ministry efforts within the North Austin neighborhood. One of Lampstand’s key partners is an organization called YMEN (Young Men’s Educational Network). My role, on paper, was to shuttle TC students to Lawndale each day and help oversee various service projects—but the real work was about relationship-building.

How did I know the work was really about relationship-building? I didn’t realize it at first, but some clues came from a senior TC student named Kevin Wheeler. Kevin has intentionally served multiple years with Lampstand Ministries during Renew, and any conversation with him quickly reveals the depth of his relationships with the leaders and ministry work at YMEN.

During Renew week, I was assigned to oversee a group of junior boys—Joe Tameling, Joe Hogan, Nate Horne, and Andrew Lumkes—as they remodeled a basement unit. Having previously worked as a trim carpenter, the remodel seemed like a perfect fit for me. What I didn’t expect was that the YMEN crew and our Timothy boys would become my teachers. Drawing on my construction experience, I was accustomed to working quickly and “getting the job done ASAP.” What I quickly noticed—especially from one YMEN leader, Antione Brewer—was that they weren’t concerned with simply having “all the tasks checked off.” Antione emphasized to the students, and they in turn reminded me, that the goal of this time was relationship-building.

At first, this lesson was difficult for me. Slowly, I learned. And I’m happy to share that the relationship has continued beyond Renew. On two separate weekends since Renew, I have spent time with Antione remodeling the basement unit. Interestingly, during one of those visits, I spent a few hours fixing trim work in another unit—saving Antione valuable time as he works to be an excellent father, a leader at YMEN, and manage the final details for tenants moving into the remodeled units.

As I close this story, I want to extend the relationship to you, the reader of TCS News. I would especially encourage serving alongside them. And if you have no trade skills, there are plenty of opportunities to help with other items—food distribution, education opportunities, and many more service tasks. If you do have trade skills, please reach out to myself, Chris Langkamp, or any of the leaders at YMEN.