A youth ministry in the heart of Franklin, TN, is thriving 30 years after getting started by Christian legend Michael W. Smith.
Rocketown is a place for kids between the ages of 10 and 20 to find refuge, skateboard, play video games, get a hot meal, or just have a place to do homework.
"Build it and they'll come," said Smith in an interview back in 1991. "And I kept thinking, no, that's the baseball movie, that's Kevin Costner. And I just kept hearing it, 'build it and they'll come, build it and they'll come.'"
Smith and a group of people did their research and even though many people said it wouldn't work, three years later they opened up Rocketown.
"If it's going to excite a kid and get 'em in the building, we're going to do it," said CEO of Rocketown, Kenny Alonzo. "And so, once they're here, we get to love them and care for them and provide for them. And we try to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I know that's said a lot, but honestly, that's what we do."
The ministry is located just one mile from the most violent public housing community in the state of Tennessee, according to Alonzo.
One 19 year old who has attended for some time said, "it's a safe environment, a fun place, great place to meet new people."
Smith also wanted teenagers without a lot of money but with a lot of creativity to have the opportunity to record music also at Rocketown.
"That's a no-brainer to me," said Smith. "We have a lot of creative kids, and so this gives them an outlet to go in, and with technology today, you can do some pretty extraordinary things."
Many of youth growing up in the area and neighbourhood come from hard backgrounds. The motto at Rocketown is that the staff have to earn the right to speak into the teenagers lives.
"Just some of the background stories you hear like a girl, her dad is in prison and her mom's a prostitute," said Smith. "What do you do with this kid? You just love on 'em. And for many years a lot of people didn't understand our philosophy. They were upset with us because we weren't more direct about the gospel. And sometimes, especially when you have a very troubled teen who has a lot of damage, they don't trust anybody. And so, you have to earn their trust. And that's our methodology of just we're going to love kids into the kingdom, but we're going to love 'em first."