Spring 2003

Dear Friend and Fellow Advocate of troubled youth,

Recently a newly arrested youth at Orange County Juvenile Hall put in a religious request asking for a bible and someone to talk with. I responded. When probation unit staff buzzed him out of his room, he cautiously walked to the staff desk. We moved to a small quiet room and, as we faced each other, this lightly bearded 17 year-old young man sat back in his chair and folded his arms. Even though he wanted and had requested a visitor, I could read his mind: Why did I ask for someone to talk with? Who is this chaplain guy anyway? How much pressure is he going to put on me? Can I just take the Bible and split?

As we began our conversation I had an unfair advantage. This was his first time talking with a chaplain (whatever a chaplain is), while for me it was probably, since 1970, my ten thousandth time talking with an incarcerated youth. But, advantage or not, the ball was clearly in my court and with it, the distinct and serious possibility that I could misplay or completely drop it. The next few moments were critical. They always are!

This initial meeting moment is one of the most exciting challenges in my personal ministry. A new relationship begins with the first few awkward moments, moments of intense judging on the part of the youth. I am being critically assessed to determine if things of substance will be shared or not. If I do not pass muster there will be much dead air and superficial fragments of trite conversation. If I do, we will soon be at the core of deep pain, as well as dealing with maddening existential questions e.g., If there is a God and He is good, then why is everything so messed up?

By the grace of God, I passed muster with this young man. Within minutes he was sharing his love/hate relationship with his father (divorced from his mother for years), a man who insists on adhering to severe forms of religious legalism. A man who comes home from church and then drinks alcohol and smokes dope until he fades out of existence by late afternoon. A man who is rejecting and abusive, modeling a form of Christianity that has driven his young son far from the safe and gracious arms of Jesus. A man with a son in tears in juvenile hall, talking to a chaplain guy.

Deep damage done by extreme hypocrisy needing miraculous mending.
This young man is my ministry. He is a life in crisis and at a critical crossroads. If he responds to the grace of God now he can shorten the average criminal career that statistically extends to age 24. Seven years of crime, damage to the public's trust, damage to a brain and body through drug and alcohol abuse, and perhaps unfixable consequences can be prevented if intervention occurs NOW. God and I want him saved, not only from the PENALTY of sin but also from the POWER of sin. We are in place and ready. Now the ball passes back into the young man's court and God and I wait for any state of openness and responding. We wait. Expecting. Hoping. Praying.

My commitment to this young man has no set or predetermined end. If he stays in juvenile hall my staff and I will work with him as long as he is in detention. If he is transferred to a probation treatment facility we will continue personal ministry. When he is released home or to placement, if he requests, we will continue supporting him by personal visits, telephone calls, and coaching him in life skills necessary to find a job, complete his education, and satisfactorily complete his terms and conditions of probation. My relationship with this young man will not end unless he ends it. There is simply no shelf life or expiration date.

I have youth I write to in prison. I have youth I visit in prison. I have youth who regularly call me collect from prison. I have youth doing well in the community that I continue encouraging in many ways. I have youth in the community struggling to stay crime free that still lean on me for help. When we began a relationship in juvenile hall it will not end unless they end it. Since 1981 this has been a promise made and a promise kept. I am their chaplain.

Many of you have made a like commitment to these young people by your prayers and financial giving. I feel your prayers each day. They strengthen me. And on hard days, well, they literally carry me along. Your gracious financial giving has allowed me to be a full time home missionary for over three decades while ministering in three counties. Without you, there is no Chaplain Steve. Without me there is no relationship with this youth or other young persons in crisis placed in my path by God. Youth need me. I need you. It is as God has arranged from the very beginning of my calling to the incarcerated-a chain of caring that extends from God Himself through you to me to youth in crisis.

As I close, there are pressing prayer needs connected with spiritual battle. There is constant ongoing financial need. Please pray for me as often as God places my name in your mind. And, if you can begin giving, or continue giving, or increase your giving, your generosity will enable me to keep on building lasting relationships with those whom God loves dearly.

I am so grateful for all the ways you stand with me and care for others.

In His service,
R. Steve Lowe