In my years as a youth minister I have had the opportunity
to work with some great youth workers.
There is one in particular that had a great impact on my life when I was
in a youth group many years ago.
Sometimes when working with youth it is hard to see that we are having
an impact at all. Let me tell you about
one that is a hero to me because of the impact he had in my life.
As a soon to be 7th
grader I was getting used to a new town, a new stepdad and a new church. I decided to go on a canoe trip with Wooster
First Baptist, the new church my family was attending. I was a shy chubby kid and realized I
was the youngest guy on this trip. I had
never been in a canoe and realized quickly that it wasn’t easy to steer one of
those down the creek. After several run
in’s with snakes, broken paddles, and holes in several canoes I was placed in a
boat with one of the youth workers, Wayne Hartness. Wayne was a big strong guy that was quiet
spoken. He seemed real serious at first
so I was nervous around him, but once we started talking deer hunting and
football all was good. I sat in front of
the canoe without a paddle shoveling out the water that was coming in our canoe
while Wayne paddled us down the rest of the creek to our pick up point.
The
youth minister at Wooster First Baptist was a college student who left that
part time low pay job shortly after I joined the youth group. There was a spot to be filled so Wayne and his
longtime friend Robin stepped in. I
don’t know if these guys ever thought about being youth ministers but they were
hard workers and cared about teenagers so they took on that role for a while.
They saw that we enjoyed playing basketball so they told us to come to
the church an hour early on Wednesday’s and that we would play each week. After basketball we would take our sweaty
selves up to the youth room and study the bible. It wasn’t a fancy program like many churches
have today but it worked. People got
saved and students were discipled.
Wayne
and Robin gave me a nickname, Star. Now,
I thought this was for my basketball skills but I found out later is was from
those bible studies where I was always willing to answer questions. For a chubby Jr. High kid that didn’t think
much of himself for some men that I looked up to believe in me that much was
different for me. I am sure sometimes I
was being annoying and just trying to show off but Wayne and Robin continued to
encourage me.
It
wasn’t long before Wooster hired a Youth Minister, Randy Rose, and a few years
later another one, Bob Stubbs to finish out my teen years. Now, I could write blog post after blog post
about how much these two guys impacted my life, however, I think Bob and Randy will understand.
As
youth ministers came Wayne stayed involved in the ministry and in my life. I watched as he and Robin finally achieved
their goal of becoming firemen. To see
those men have a goal and achieve it was a great example to see. I watched as he raised his wonderful kids and
loved his awesome wife. He was a living
example for a kid that didn’t see that kind of example all the time at home. My family life, like so many others, included
lots of experience with divorce and parents fighting. Wayne would be the first on to say he wasn't perfect, but he was a great example of what the Bible describes a man to be.
One
thing that I think made Wayne such a good youth worker was the fact that he
never treated me like the knuckle headed kid I was. He talked to be like I knew something, like
my opinion mattered. My parents loved
me, but I was longing for someone to believe in me and trust me and Wayne did
that.
Years went by and I started to
drive. Wayne and I would sit in the church parking lot leaning on one of our trucks talking
football, life, bible and football for hours.
Good thing we didn’t have cell phones then because they would have been
blowing up with calls and text from my mom and Wayne’s wife Donna. I think they both knew where we were so they
didn’t have to worry too much. I loved
to hear his stories about his days playing football at Greenbrier. He would talk about people I knew and some I
didn’t but it didn’t matter. Wayne could
tell a story in a way that you felt like you were a part of it. Wayne treated me as a friend yet I still saw
him as an authority in my life. There
were times he would have to set me straight when I would get out of line but
that didn’t bother me for long.
Many
years went by and I would see Wayne every now and then. He became a deacon at Wooster and I went into
the ministry. We didn’t talk a whole lot
but when we did it was like it hadn’t been that long, except for how fast his
son Clay and daughter Ricki had grown up.
We would still talk football, bible and old times with new stories of
his kids playing sports.
A few
years ago we began talking more. The
Greenbrier Panthers, the high school Wayne and I both played for, were finally
winning some games and I had moved to Camden where they were on a winning
streak as well. Wayne and I began talking
most Fridays about the Panthers, the Cardinals and of course the Hogs with some
old stories and new stories about grand kids mixed in. It was like we never left that church parking
lot. I think I even talked to him some
leaning against my truck after a game. I
loved seeing Wayne’s name show up on that phone. We had a relationship that even long times
without communicating didn’t affect.
About
a year and a half ago I got a call from Wayne I didn’t enjoy. I was sitting in my office at the church as
he told me they had found out that he had cancer. I could tell he was scared and nervous but he
was trusting God and staying positive.
He just asked that I put him on our prayer list. We prayed together and then probably talked
some football. I got off the phone and
sat in my chair in shock. I spent more
time praying and thinking as I wrapped my mind around this news.
Later
there was more calls telling me of a positive prognosis then later a call from
Ricki as I was on my way home from a mission trip that the prognosis wasn’t
good. Wayne was in for a fight but if
anyone could handle it, Wayne could, and he did with faith and strength that
only came from a strong relationship with God.
I didn’t get to see or talk to Wayne as much as I would have liked to
during his fight with cancer but a few months ago I got to see him for a couple
hours in the hospital. Wayne was always
a big strong man but he had lost a lot of weight as he fought. Not long after I had gotten in the room here
comes a group of firemen, followed shortly by another group including
Wayne’s son Clay.
I loved
sitting and watching Wayne interact with those brothers, as he would call
them. I loved hearing the stories of
boring classes they had to take and new firemen they would play jokes on. As I sat there looking at them and listening
to them talk something hit me. These
guys looked at Wayne the same way I always did.
They had so much respect for that man in a hospital gown who had lived
his life the best way he knew how, according to God’s word. His ministry didn’t stop when he wasn’t at
the church. Impacting others was just what
he did, weather it was crawling in a burning house or sitting in a church
pew. I imagine some of them could tell
stories of what it meant to lean against a fire truck and tell stories with
Wayne.
September
7, 2015 Wayne took his final call and is no longer fighting cancer or
pain. I was able to go to his funeral
and I have to say firemen know how to respect their brothers. Thousands were there to show respect for this
man from Wooster Arkansas and even more lined the road as the procession went
to the graveside. It was tough to say good bye to such a good man. As I finish this up it’s
a Friday, and I am thinking I need to call Wayne and talk some football.
Since
Wayne’s passing I have been doing a lot of thinking about how big his impact
was on me and so many others. The truth
is there are probably hundreds of people that could write something better than
this about Wayne’s impact on them. God’s
word says we are known by our fruit, and Wayne Hartness has tree full.
Since
his passing I have seen post on Facebook of firemen still using Wayne’s example
to train other firemen. If you are
reading this and you are a youth worker I would like this to be Wayne’s way of
impacting you. Even if you don't work with youth I know these things are truths that any believer needs to apply
to their life. We are all here to impact
others.
Here are a few reasons why Wayne
was a great youth worker.
-
He was willing to invest. He knew how important it was to invest in
mine and others lives and he knew it would take time and effort but he was up
for it.
-
He wasn’t fake.
He didn’t just become a Godly leader when he walked into the church,
Wayne was a Godly leader at home, at work, even at the ball field. He sought to impact lives not just because
that was a position he volunteered for at church but he knew it was what God
has called all Christians to do.
-
Wayne made others feel special and a part of the
group. When I sat in that room listening
to those men talk about firefighting I was an outsider, but I never felt that
way because Wayne made me feel a part of the conversation. Imagine what our churches would be like if we
learned that skill.
-
Wayne would build others up. I didn’t deserve that nickname, star, but
Wayne and Robin were encouraging, that is just what naturally came out of
them. I want that to naturally come out
of me.
-
Wayne’s focus was the Gospel. As I talked about those times when Wayne led
the youth group Wayne said “We just shared the Gospel with ya’ll, that’s all we
knew to do.” I want that to be my
focus.
-
Wayne treated others how he would want to be
treated. When you work with teenagers it
is hard to not just see them as knuckle heads, because that is how they act so
often. Even when we are just trying to
minister to family or friends, people can be stupid sometimes. I responded to Wayne because he would have
regular conversations with me. He talked
to me as if I was an equal even when I was a Jr. High kid who thought I knew
everything. I want to talk to people
like they have value and mean something to me.
I guess what really sums this up
is Wayne treated me like family. He
never disrespected my parents and never tried to belittle their influence,
however he saw me as one of his own. As
I left Wayne that day in the hospital I was apologizing for the fact that I
couldn’t see him more. He looked up at
me and said “your family.” I knew what
that meant. When I was a kid family wasn’t
a stable thing to me all the time. My
parents spent lots of time on the edge of divorce and at church I was seeking
something stable. I found that in many
people that influenced my life but only a few were family.
Wayne had lots of family. Not only his blood kin, but those brothers he
served with for years and knuckle headed Jr. High kid that he had to paddle
down the creek in a canoe.
I pray you are investing like
Wayne did. I pray we will all continue
to learn from his example. I pray that
we can leave a tree full of fruit, a family tree.
