ok, let me start with some background. my church is new life assembly in san diego, ca. this particular church is located in what most people would call the "ghetto". it is literally in the middle of one of the worst neighborhoods in san diego (i.e. weekly drive-bys, crackheads, cops everywhere, gang fights, etc). i used to live in that area of town when i was younger but i moved to a nicer "white" neighborhood when i was about 7 or 8. what does this have to do with the ministry? well, my church is primarily mexican, and when i say primarily i mean 99%. most of the youth that attend are from broken homes. actually, i would venture to say that 85% of the youth come from homes with single parents or with two non-involved parents. most of the youth that come, come of their own volition because their parents don't attend. these kids are seriously starved for attention. there have been some major break-thrus in our youth group as far as fellowship and whatnot, but we still have a lot of work to do. i guess you could say our youth group would be considered a mission field for most youth groups. almost all of these kids are from non-christian backgrounds, and most are from homes where there is alcoholism, violence, or just general apathy. i come from youth groups where most of the kids got along and we played awesome games, went on retreats, etc. but, that kind of stuff won't really work with these kids. i guess what i'm trying to ask for is any advice on how to better reach these kids, what kind of activities we can do to help get them involved, or just any advice in general. please !