Find out what
Rapper Bishop Freeze has been doing as part of his YFC ministry in this article:
SOZO: A place to be real, to be heard, and true life defined
SOZO is an outreach that started a year and a half ago that
provides a place for kids who have been released from the juvenile
justice system and from the communities of the Hilltop and Eastside of
Tacoma to come together weekly to experience the love of Jesus. We have served over 1000 kids through this program in the past year.
Recently (in February) we had our first SOZO family night.
Several of our youth who have been abused and broken from their
families brought their family members out to hear the Gospel and
experience the love of Christ. We do this monthly now and many families
have been being ministered to as a result of seeing their kids changed.
SOZO for Kids started in the last year - over 200 kids k-5
have come through the doors in the past few months. Every Friday we
have a team that serves the Hilltop and Eastside with 3 hours of
childcare where the kids hear and experience the Gospel. We recently began our student leadership team (made up of 15
students who have come from at-risk backgrounds who now help us lead
the program)
Testimony: One of the parents who attended the first SOZO family night
is a drug addict who has basically abandoned his family for drugs and
criminal activity. He is in his 40's now and came because one of his
sons who has met Christ invited him. He was so filled with joy to be
accepted and couldn't wait to come to the next one. He couldn’t believe
that someone would be nice to him and love him. He continues to attend
these nights.
SOZO: House of Hope
- We have dreamed of having a place to minister for kids who
live in utter chaos, abuse and around drug addict parents. In February,
God opened a door for two of our team members to begin this house. They
moved in and currently have 4 teens who each come from horrendous
backgrounds living with them.
They have done this on their own with little financial support
and provision – but they are committed to loving these girls and seeing
them have hope through Christ.
Each of the girls sign a contract for success and are being discipled and loved into following Jesus.
Some insight in to the lives of the girls who are living there:
Jen comes from a home where she wakes up to her mom’s voice loud and
clear sharing with her about her failures, being called profane words
that she is stupid and will never accomplish her dreams. Jen is called
stupid almost every day she is at home. In elementary school and middle
school she was taken from mom’s to dad’s house in the middle of the
night by the police, depending on which parent was on drugs or in a
domestic violence dispute. She was in and out of schools every few
months or weeks. Her reading and writing levels are at a 2nd and 3rd
grade level. Her mom still uses crack in the basement of their home and
Jen is often met with irrational attitudes, verbal and sometimes even
physical abuse. The next morning Jen and Michelle and I were in the
dining room chatting about our night. Jen said, “I’m happy, I wake up
happy here, “ followed by Michelle sharing, “yeah, I slept so good, and
I even woke up early, I never wake up that early, and I don’t feel
depressesed when I wake up, I just feel at Peace.”
It's great to know that T10 Artists such as Bishop Freeze are teaming up with area ministries to bring Peace and Hope to the lives of Youth.