WHITING – Personal discussions and rapping about the former and current lifestyle of a Chicago-based youth mentor and hip hop artist captivated many among a crowd of 200 area pre-teens and teens gathered for the Northlake Youth Revival.
At St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Whiting on Oct. 16, “Justus,” also known as Joseph Saunders, told excitable youth of his mistakes, his sins, the joys and pains of his life and the redeeming power of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
"Sometimes I ask God, ‘How do you got me talking in front of thousands or hundreds and I’m the one who’s broken?’”
Saunders sauntered through the aisles of youth seated in chairs in the cafeteria, delivering his rhythmic chants and not missing a rhyme. A parishioner synced his beats and instrumentation through a mixer and provided ample sound for the large room.
Saunders chanted, “But your grace and mercy held me tight through many a midnight when the light was dim. Thoughts of madness in my mind, soul trapped in ruins of emotions coasting through all my restless soul. Still, I rapped on the hope she told me God was in control. Yes, I’m blessed I confess, though my mind’s a mess, never submit to hopelessness just out of ignorance … a destiny no greater love than Jesus.”
After committing his life to Christ and persevering to live in a manner worthy of that relationship, Saunders sought to take action and joined forces with anti-drug and anti-violence advocates. He became associated with activism-minded Catholic leaders, becoming a parishioner at St. Sabina church in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side.
Not all of Saunders’ friends were as fortunate as him. He spoke of “bright and beautiful” young people who lost their lives by getting hooked on hardcore drugs, trapped and trafficked or mixed up in street violence.
Audience members became silent when Saunders showed photos of bright-eyed, smiling young people who died on the unforgiving city streets. He dedicated a vocal performance to a young woman who lost her life to abuse and a 6-month-old who was an innocent victim of a gang-related shooting.
Saunders praised God for the good mentors who steered him away from the allure of the street scene and from suspicious views of people of other races.
He rapped, “For this joy like I was born again a little boy slowly made aware of all those most devious decoys. But when I’m ready I’ll be steady to accept Christ. The Lord is calling you don’t push away his voice, you made the choice of passion. The fact that he greeted the lost he wants to slow dance intimately into intimacy, he wants you to be with him in all of eternity.”
St. John the Baptist eighth-grader Sammy Rosas sat near a group of peers in the front row for the presentation. They remained with older teens who heard discussions of more mature topics, while younger teens and pre-teens joined separate break-away sessions.
“I was really surprised about how he talked about gang violence and (drugs and promiscuity). It’s very addicting,” said the 13-year-old. “And he was able to overcome it with little challenges and turning to God; it was inspiring.”
Rosas’ classmate Danny Bachler, 13, said there was some initial giggling about the topic matter, but then he also developed an understanding about the benefits of making the right choices in life.
Jamie Sandona, St. John the Baptist director of religious education, joined Alfredo "Pepe" Flores-Carrillo, Our Lady of Perpetual Help DRE, in an interactive session with the conference’s younger set. She focused on the sometimes under-appreciated “source and summit” of our faith as Catholic Christians: the Holy Eucharist.
“The reason you are in church is to receive the Lord; the whole point of Mass is to receive the Eucharist,” Sandona explained. “Because you become what you receive – you become Christ for other people.”
She said when we don’t receive the Eucharist, “We don’t get the strength we need to be his disciple.”
Flores-Carrillo said he was pleased with the number of youth that attended the gathering. He also appreciated how Saunders, who he invited after he learned of the buzz he was generating speaking to Chicago-area youth, had the Whiting audience engaged.
Julia Wimberly, an 11-year-old from Portage who attends church and religious education at St. Joseph in downtown Hammond, credits her mature understanding of the Catholic faith to her participation in CCD classes and the support of her family.
During a break-out session, she gleaned new information about angels: “They are not human, but this beautiful creature who says, ‘don’t be afraid of me,’” said Wimberly.
“When people learn, they know the truth,” of which Wimberly said she is eager to share with friends who are interested in the faith.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help parishioner Henry Andree made a quick decision to join the youth gathering and discussed his feelings over a couple slices of pizza. “I didn’t know about this (revival) until kind of yesterday, but I was still onboard; it sounded like fun – coming down here having pizza, some drinks,” said the 13-year-old.
Andree focused on the topics addressed with the older youth, instead of him being in his “bouncing off the walls,” mode, he said he adopted a “calm and collected” demeanor so he could concentrate.
“It’s nothing that I haven’t heard before. Over the past few years, I’ve learned not to misuse or abuse stuff. I’ve learned to stay away from the bad stuff, because I don’t want to go down that path of being trapped,” Andree explained.
After inviting the gathered youth to ask the Lord into their hearts, Saunders asked the parents who had come to pick up their kids to extend their arms in prayer over participants.
“I came to God broken – I was promiscuous, I was smoking, drinking, all that. I was out there gang-banging. But God worked that out of me,” said Saunders. “He wants you with him just how you are. Do you all understand that?
“He said bring everything to him so he can work it out with him,” Saunders concluded.
Jennifer Whitefoot, St. John the Baptist catechist and youth minister, said the event’s main speaker struck a nerve with the youth during his “open book” conversations and powerful poetry.
"They were very engaged,” said Whitefoot, of the pre-teens and teens. “I noticed they were paying attention, were focused and they got a lot out of this. It’s tough to find someone who gets them to understand.”