LifeSavers…A Part of Living Emily Canan
2 of 10 The 1967 LifeSavers candy television commercial stated that LifeSavers were “a part of living.” Living his life by a slogan not too different than LifeSavers’, James Anderegg claims that what he’s doing is nothing special. He saw a need and it became his mission to meet it. Thus, LifeSavers Ministry was born. For the past 16 years, James has been committing his life to the children of the area’s government housing and will continue to do so. “I’m in it for the long‐haul. Like my mentor says, ‘We don’t retire, we just die.’” James says in regards to what his future holds. Every Saturday, James and his team of volunteers create an escape for more than 200 under‐ privileged children. The activities that take place at “Saturday Sunday School” each Saturday somehow relates to the journey James took to get to where he is today.
Waiting It’s 9 o’clock Saturday morning. James, 41, drives a bus covered in colorful graffiti around Opelika Housing Authority neighborhoods. The kids who grow up in these neighborhoods were raised being exposed to everything that you can imagine. “A couple of weeks ago, one of my best 13‐year‐olds saw a man [get] shot in the head and die,” James said looking down as if he was thinking of a way he could have prevented the incident. “And you never, because you’re around it so much, get immune to it. It always hurts when you lose a young person or a family. It never gets any easier.” At every project house, kids stand on their front steps or peek out of their barred windows intently listening for the buses’ horns as they wait for James and the LifeSavers Ministry buses to pick them up. It wasn’t very long ago that James was waking up on a Saturday morning in a house not too different than the ones he visits now. He too was waiting for something good to roll down the
3 of 10 street into his life. However, his Saturdays didn’t involve sing‐a‐longs and candy. James grew up in a home in which he was terribly neglected and abused. “Until I was 8‐years‐old, [I] knew nothing about a church, a god or a Jesus. Never even heard the word,” James explained. Even though James didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, or even know who he was, James said the experiences he had in his childhood helped to build the ministry he oversees today. “I came from these areas,” James said. Tori Bray, a volunteer at LifeSavers, agrees with James, but she had her doubts at first when seeing James, a white male, lead a group of about 200 African‐American children. “It’s so different than any other ministry I’ve been a part of,” Bray said. “[James is] not just there trying to relate to the kids who on the outside look so differently than him, but he is related. He’s been there. He lived the same life they’re living. He can not only sympathize for them, but empathize with them.”
Picked Up The kids, dressed in worn clothing that appear to be from the 1980s, try to get in front of each other to be the first on the bus as it squeaks to a stop. As they file in, not so neatly and orderly, the children are given sausage biscuits wrapped in foil that were donated from Finley’s restaurant and a Capri Sun from the volunteer, Marissa, who also greets them with a warm smile and friendly hello. Filling up the back first, the kids take their seats as the bus rolls off to pick up the next bunch. Similar to how the children are picked up from their homes every Saturday morning and taken to a place of refuge, one morning James was rescued as well. “[I was] adopted at the age of 8 out of the worst possible home condition that you can probably think of, or imagine, or try not to imagine. Going from a hellyun to in the home of two uncompromisingly righteous old people,” James said staring off into space.
4 of 10 It was these two people that helped lay the foundation of the rest of James’ life. James said they introduced him to God and involved him in a church.
Status Quo = The Mess We’re In As the morning progresses, the bus becomes increasingly rowdy and energized. Occasionally, Marissa yells at the boys in a domineering voice to sit down or to quit roughhousing. The boys who were misbehaving are abiding by the status quo. That’s what is expected of them in every vector of their lives. But something, or someone, provided the opportunity for them to stop and held them accountable for their actions. With a look of shame, the boys almost immediately sit down and put their hands in their laps. James also was abiding by his status quo. Before James began LifeSavers Ministry, he worked for the Oneda Corporation in Columbus, Ga. He rose in leadership and ranks quickly after he began working there. Then, James’ management asked him to start working on weekends in order to receive additional training. His superiors also told him that he would not have to worry about anything, financially, again if he accepted the training. “The Latin word for status quo is the mess we’re in,” James said. And that was where he was with his job at Oneda. By worldly standards James would be set for the rest of his life. “I really felt like God had something special for me to do though.” Lee Iacocca, the former president and CEO of Chrysler who had an interest in James’ promotion, helped James to make his final decision and changed the route his life would take. “You can’t sit on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. You’ve got to jump in there yourself,” Iacocca said.
5 of 10 James began to clean up the mess of the life that was ahead of him. Two weeks after Oneda offered James the weekend training program, he sent in his letter of resignation.
It all started with a box of bags. Finally, James’ bus pulls into the lot of 1901 Waverly Parkway. Everyone on the bus makes sure all the trash is thrown away in the trash bags as they exit the bus. The kids create a stampede as they race to get inside of what they refer to as “the LifeSavers church.” God got the kids to the church, now it’s up to James and his crew to help do the rest. Blaring music welcomes the children that rivals one of the biggest, best concerts. With the determination challenging that of the kids trying to be the first in the church, James was unwavering in his decision to do something that would glorify God. Making the drive back home to Lafayette, Ala. from Columbus, Ga., James entered into Opelika, Ala. and prayed, “God, use me in a way. But it has got to be done in such a way that people look past flesh and blood, and they see that you’re doing this.” James got his answer instantly. “God said, ‘Go to the store, and buy a box of bags,” James said. So he did. And went to the projects in the Hardaway Housing district and started picking up trash. “I did it, and did it, and did it, and did it for about two years.” He didn’t know why he was doing it. But, he saw a need. It was this need that became the call for the rest of James’ life. He said to win the trust of the residents he had to show them his commitment. “People were placing bets on me seeing if I was going to live because it was that bad of an area. The police department wouldn’t go; the fire department wouldn’t go; any kind of emergency vehicle would not go.”
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You Never Let Go The music begins again. James leads the kids in singing Matt Redman’s “You Never Let Go” with contagious energy and descriptive hand motions. When they sing the words, “You never let go. Lord, you never let go of me,” 400 arms wrap around 200 bodies in tight hugs. These hugs will serve as a reminder to the kids throughout the week that God will not leave them. Like the children, James received a reminder and an encouraging act that let him know that God was with him and he had a plan. God was not letting go of James Anderegg. After two years of picking up trash, on Oct. 12, 1996, James, with some help, started Sidewalk Sunday School, a crude version of a traditional Sunday school. He didn’t have a venue for the school, so James held it on the sidewalk of the Hardaway Housing division. It started out with 15 kids coming every Saturday and grew quickly. James said he wasn’t unsure of what was going to happen to the future of the ministry because not only did they not have a building to hold the school, but they didn’t have the money to buy one either. “One day I prayed, ‘God, this is going to get big, but we’re going to need money. You know that, right?” And God was like, ‘Shut up. There’ll come a day when this ministry will give into other ministries.’ So, I never said another word about money.” A few weeks later and James receive a phone call. A couple decided to donate a church in the area that he could use. As for what God said about LifeSavers giving to other ministries, today there is a well in Uganda that provides enough water for an entire village thanks to LifeSavers.
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We couldn’t get nowhere. While the music is still playing, Kurt, another volunteer, grabs boys who are fighting during the songs and sits them in chairs at the very back of the room. The boys wanted to participate. They wanted to be different and be involved. But their friends and the expectations people have of them make it easy for the boys to fail. “[The kids are] dealing with the stereotype being that nothing good can come out of these areas. Why bother?” James said. “You’re talking about boys and girls who live in unfair situations.” Kurt brought the accountability back into the scene. Like these boys, it’s easy for people to fail with the pressures of the world. James also saw failures, had slip‐ups and doubts. At first, the ministry wasn’t working. “All of the black kids would come in, and all the white kids would come in,” James explained. “The white kids would be sitting in the chairs and the black kids would be standing. They would just stare at each other. We couldn’t get nowhere.” But, James kept on trying despite having no formal ministry training. “Everything I’ve ever done I’ve felt the most inadequate, uncapable person to do anything. I fought doing this for a long time. I’m not an animated person at all. What you do is do whatever it takes to reach them. “I’ll do anything ethical to get a kid here under the sound of the gospel and a friendly voice and a positive voice. Whatever it takes.”
The Lesson The music fades away and Nick, the speaker, makes his way to the front of the room. Expanding on the song the kids sang earlier, Nick speaks animatedly about how God does not forget them and how the Holy Spirit lives, will continue to grow and be within each of them.
8 of 10 “God says, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you,’” Nick says. Just as Nick promises the children that God will not forget them, God has not forgotten James either. It started with 15 kids coming every Saturday to a sidewalk to learn about Jesus. LifeSavers now entertains and teaches more than 200 kids every week. “Lots of people come out here and ask how we do it. It’s not rocket science. It’s something about a nice person picking them up, bring them here to a nice place, doing nice things and just being nice to them,” James said as he looked around the brightly colored, clean and well‐organized room.
A part of living The day ends with games that reward the kids with money and candy. And as the kids get back on to the buses to go home they are each given a sack lunch. To the kids, this is the day of the week they’ve been anxiously waiting for. Not because of the Saturday morning cartoons. Not because they can sleep in. But because this is a place where are they free to be themselves. A place where they are loved. A place where the troubles of their homes are forgotten. To James, this is the day to change the rest of these kids’ lives. “Yeah, you might have a sixty to eighty hour work week, but It’s very, very gratifying and rewarding when you see somebody who is raising up. I don’t believe in burnout. This is children’s ministry. You don’t burn out. This is life or death. You just do what you do. And you ask the Lord to help you balance.” The buses pull away. The kids within them leave with full stomachs, hearts and minds. As James drops the last child off, he’s smiling. Another Saturday is over. He drives the bus back to Waverly Parkway and goes on with his life.
9 of 10 To many, what James Anderegg is doing at LifeSavers Ministry is something amazing and to be admired. To James, it’s just a part of living.
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Sources James Anderegg: (334) 745‐3774 Tori Bray (256) 679‐4292 or brayvic@auburn.edu