When Aaron Boydston got sick— really sick—his network stepped up. Aaron is the youth ministry pastor at Ojai Valley Wesleyan Church in Ojai, Calif., a small city about an hour northwest of Los Angeles. He was diagnosed with leukemia in May 2006, and his condition was very serious. Aaron and his wife, Natalie, have two small children.

With the Boydstons’ attention absorbed in rounds of debilitating chemotherapy, while also caring for their own children, who would shepherd the 20-30 teenagers in their church youth group?

It was time to circle the wagons. Aaron was very involved in the Ojai Network, which is one of 900 regional networks affiliated with the National Network of Youth Ministries. The Ojai Network is coordinated by Ryan Connell, the youth pastor at an Assembly of God church. As Aaron and Natalie saw their medical expenses mount quickly, the members of the Network immediately involved the churches in the community, sponsoring fundraisers to help them.

But that didn’t take care of Aaron’s youth group. The senior pastor at Ojai Valley Wesleyan, Lynn Thomas, approached Ryan Connell. and He asked, “What can we do?”

Among the committed volunteers at Ryan’s AG church was a young couple, Tommy and Vanessa Wilson. Tommy worked in construction while training to be a fireman, and Vanessa was an ele­mentary school teacher. God prompted Ryan with a win-win idea. He sensed the Wilsons were ready for a challenge, and the Wesleyan church had a screaming need for leadership.

What if Tommy and Vanessa shepherded Aaron’s youth group while he was focused on his cancer treatment?

Ryan and Lynn Thomas worked out a four-month agreement with the leader­ship of the Wesleyan church, which was later extended another four months to January 2007. \

In a show of support and affirmation, the Church of the Living Christ (the Assembly church) commissioned the Wilsons in a morning service for their ministry at Ojai Valley Wesleyan. Tommy and Vanessa led the Wesleyan church youth services on Sundays and Wednesdays. The youth groups also part­nered to do camps and events together.

Aaron was able to sporadically attend some youth group events between rounds of chemotherapy. Knowing that his youth are being cared for gave him hope and encouragement.

“The experience has really stretched and grown Tommy and Vanessa,” said Ryan. “They learned to deal with style and doctrinal issues in a sensitive way.”

It’s good to know your Network has “got your back”!

The Case for Community

In Acts 2:43-44, Luke recorded that because of the early church’s commit­ment to community, “everyone kept feel­ing a sense of awe” and that they “had all things in common” (NASB).

Such radical expressions of unity and selflessness are refreshing but rare today. But if we are as serious about unity, coop­eration and community as Scripture tells us we should be, then it wouldn’t be rare at all. In fact, authentic unity would be the norm, not the exception—which it cur­rently is. And the culture would be in awe of the church—which it currently is not.