Rap artists

One of the things we want to do as part of our youth and neighborhood ministry is to empower young people to be leaders. We want to walk alongside people, especially youth, to help them discover that God has given them strengths and talents, and that they can use those to change their neighborhood and have an impact in this world for the Kingdom of God. So when I heard about the Fruity Nutty 5 Campaign from the Victory Garden Initiative, I knew of a few teenagers who might want to get involved.

The Victory Garden Initiative, a Milwaukee non-profit that empowers communities to grow food, had a contest that 5 neighborhoods would win 30 fruit and nut trees. Each applicant needed to have a creative essay about why they wanted the trees for their neighborhood, and why their neighborhood would benefit from having them. I mentioned this to a few teenagers down the street who are in the TCC youth group. They were fired up. They wanted to get some fruit trees in our neighborhood! They decided that for the creative essay they would make a rap video. I encouraged them to go for it, and that I would assist in any way I could. They got together and wrote the lyrics, made the beat, and put the rap together. We got someone to shoot the video, and suddenly we had an essay to submit.

We also had to obtain signatures from other members of the neighborhood who would support having these trees in the neighborhood and people who would be willing to have one or two planted in their yard. So as the youth were being empowered to make their rap video, we were gaining support among the rest of the neighborhood and trying to unite everyone for this cause.

I don’t think any of them anticipated winning, but last Saturday it was announced that our neighborhood would be the winners of 30 fruit and nut trees! I’m so proud of them. They put in hard work and time to make a positive change in their neighborhood. It is my prayer that they, as well as many other youth in my neighborhood, will continue to discover their unique gifts and strengths and use them for the benefit of others and the Kingdom of God.

Check out the winning video here.