I started my second year of Fun Club yesterday with four squirrelly little 5th grade boys at Emerson Elementary, and I’m anticipating another really transformative experience–for the boys and for me. Fun Club is an Opportunity Tribe program that allows me to minister with two of our GCR local missions partners at the same time. Emerson’s counselors, in connection with Op Tribe, set me up with a small group of at-risk kids I meet with once a week during the entire school year. Every Wednesday during lunch, the boys and I meet together in the reading room or, on nice weather days, at the picnic tables outside, and they eat while I read them a book. We’ll also usually play a game, something like UNO. I do my best to connect with the kids and develop enough of a relationship so I can affirm them and show them God’s love and grace.

Last year, Emily got me together with three little 4th graders: Zachary, A.J., and Jacob. This is a picture of us on a last Wednesday of the month when I brought Chick-fil-A. They loved Dog Man. I read one chapter out of a Dog Man book, out loud, every Wednesday for a whole school year with these guys. I would try to do different voices for the outrageous characters and have them do all the sound effects. Have you ever read Dog Man? I never felt like it was making anybody any smarter. It reminded me of the Captain Underpants books my nephew, Wade, used to love back in the ’90s. But more obnoxious.

These are the boys in their more natural state. I love the gang signs. Classic.

Anyway, in my second week with these three, I decided we would play Taco-Cat-Goat-Cheese-Pizza–it’s a fun little card game I highly recommend for all ages. Before I dealt the cards for the first round, I very clearly laid down my mentoring philosophy. I looked those three boys square in the eyes and said something like this:

“I am not going to let you win. At the Fun Club training last month, they told us to occasionally let one of you win. If I were to win all the time or one of you were to lose too much, it wouldn’t be good for your self esteem. So, every now and then, I’m supposed to let you win. Well, I’m not going to do that. I am going to destroy you every time we play anything. I am not going to take it easy on you at all. I’m going to try my best to win every game we play and you’re going to do a lot of losing. I’m going to dominate. Constantly. All the time. But, sometime before this school year is over, one of you is going to beat me. At some point, one of you is going to win. And it’s going to feel so awesome because you will have earned it. It’ll be real. I’m not going to let you win. When you win, it’ll be because you earned it.” 

Something like that.

So I dealt the cards. And they killed me. I came in dead last. They demolished me.

As the bell rang and we began gathering the cards to put back in the box, Jacob leaned back in his chair. Way back. With an overly-serious look on his face.

“Mr. Allan, we didn’t let you lose. You earned it.” 

I still see Jacob and A.J. at Fist Bump on Monday mornings–I don’t know where Zachary went. They run to hug me and they still remember our secret handshake they made up and they still call me “Larry” and remind me of that first day of Taco-Cat-Goat-Cheese-Pizza. I love it.

I made a speech to my four new kids yesterday, too. It was shorter. But just as serious.

“I am not reading Dog Man.” 

Peace,
Allan