Youth Family Community Renewal Inc.

 

Bennie Simmons, Jr. '77 BA
'79 worked with Youth For
Christ for 17 years. He was
the first black executive
director in the history of
YFC, a position he held for

7 years. During that time,

hundreds of teenagers were
led to Christ. Simmons also
was an interim National .
Urban Director for a year.
He also served
internationally, in Sierra
Leone and Liberia (West
Africa), with YFC.

In 1989, he developed a
ministry called Save the
Family Outreach. The name
was later changed to Youth
Family Community Renewal
(YFCR). It is a holistic
ministry to children and our
families, presenting Christ
and fighting for those who
cannot defend themselves
economically, educationally,
and socially.

We provide childcare and
after school programs for
youth, three-months in age
to junior high. We serve
over 200 families a day,
Monday through Friday,
from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
We have been ministering
for 22 years to high school
boys from the local housing
projects and other parts of
the city in their basketball
activities program. Over the
years, they have won two
national championship
tournaments and two

championship Boys and

Girls Club tournaments.

Through this
basketball ministry, many of

the players were led to
Christ.

 

In 1997, the Lord blessed
us with a 50,000 square
foot building on 4 acres of

. land for the amazing price of
$1.00. In addition to the
YFCR ministry, three
churches utilize space in the
facility on Sunday for

worship and weekly Bible
study.

Our premier evangelistic
program is called Project
SEAM (Self-Esteem &
Anger Management) a
suspension and expulsion
program for children (grades
1 through 10) who have been
suspended from school for

two days or more.

 

Instead of going home or
hanging out on the streets,
theses students come to
SEAM. We have limited
capacity for students who are
expelled for a year. Our
goal is to stop these young
people from moving into the

criminal system and instead,

leading them to the

Kingdom of Christ. We

have a formal partnership

with the Gary school system.

We obtain signed parent

permission to allow us to

share the Gospel. Simmons was

a Bible and evangelism major.

He thanks God for Moody Bible

Institute. It gave him a biblical

foundation that cannot and

will not be shaken. From his

student days, heappreciated

Spiritual Emphasis Week

speakers, Missions

Conference, Founder' s

Week, the Pastor's Conferences,

Pf.M, his fellow students, the

Godly faculty, and the

challenging Biblical class

work. He says, "It was the
school that D. L. Moody founded that allowed this U.S.
Navy Vietnam veteran to go to college, tuition free and
have a chance for concentrated study of God's Word for
the work of the Ministry. Therefore, I cannot quit even if I
wanted to ... ".

Simmons continually thanks God for all the faithful
Alumni who have gone before him and after him, who
prayed and gave fmances to Moody and its many
ministries. We are ministry extensions to him and to the
world!