Far too many of us who claim to be followers of Jesus are actually viewers of those who are on the front line doing the work of presenting Jesus to those who are in desperate need. A young man who is on the front line in St. Louis, MO is Jason Julian, who direct Urban-K Life in that metropolitan area.
Jason played football for the University of Tennessee, located in Knoxville. For those of you who are unfamiliar with college football, the University of Tennessee plays in the highest level of that sport and in one of the toughest conferences in the United States. Jason, who is white, married the love of his life. who is black and they live in the heart of one of the toughest neighborhoods in St. Louis.
Jason volunteers his time working in the public high schools of St. Louis. Not only does he work hard to become friends with the students by eating lunch, often bringing McDonalds' food for consumption, he builds RELATIONSHIPS. He is an unpaid football coach at Vashon High School and really teaches those kids how to play, not only football, but the game of life.
Recently, the administration of the public schools contracted with Jason to help correct the dropout rate in the high schools. A few K-Life workers have been hired to work in two schools, Beaumont and Sumner. The dropout rate in those two schools is an American tragedy.These K-Life folks are working hard endeavoring to eliminate that problem. They work with the attendance offices of the two schools, check the names of those not in school and go to the students' homes encouraging the students to get to school. One recent day at Beaumont, the attendance level was 85%! That was astounding, showing that building relationships with students is the way to go.
A building in the heart of St. Louis City, near the location of old Sportsman's Park which once was the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, has been donated to Jason. This location is in the center of the area in which Jason works. This building was valued at over 1 Million Dollars!!!! Volunteers from all around the metropolitan area are coming in to get the building renovated so Jason can have this facility to help do the work Jesus has called him to do.
God is doing a great work through this SERVING LEADER. Jason is a friend I greatly admire. He is what REAL LEADERSHIP is all about,
