It’s a chance that Joe Modglin and Shawn Haygood are willing to take to fill what they see as a need to be filled, and more importantly, a calling.
Modglin and Haygood opened N’Vision, a Christian nightlife spot for teens and young adults inside the All American Café in late March. The club will be open just a few nights a month to start out with as the word spreads and the crowds, the owners hope, grow.
“To a degree, I don’t really care if we get one or 100, although I certainly hope and think we’ll get more than that,” Haygood, 24, said. “Joe and I have our own jobs. Our goal is to build the youth of our area in a positive direction.
“We feel that God has really shown us this is what we need to be doing.”
There are plans for a battle of the bands competition between local musicians. Pool tables and outdoor basketball hoops are part of the package. What deliberately won’t be present, the owners implied, is the typical alcohol-fueled dating scene which can be found at thousands of bars any ordinary weekend.
“Scripture tells us to be ‘in the world, not of the world’ (John 17:15-17), and that’s really what we’re aiming for,” Modglin said.
Modglin and Haygood are both banking on their experiences in Branson’s entertainment circles to lead them toward success.
Haygood’s family performs in a long-running variety show in Branson. After moving from the San Antonio area and initially setting up shop at the Silver Dollar City amusement park in 1993, the family has operated out of its own location on the city’s entertainment strip in 2001.
“From being this little touring show in Texas to where we are now having our own show and our own place, as a family we have tried to follow the direction God has led us,” Haygood explained.
Modglin, 26, already had a background in youth ministry when he came to work for the Haygoods in 2007, but he and Shawn did not hit it off well right off the bat.
“Shawn and I didn’t speak to each other when I first started working for the family,” Maodglin recalls. “We were two opposite individuals heading in two opposite directions.”
Haygood admits his direction was misguided, experimenting with alcohol and drugs.
“I was the party type of a guy, loved to hang over all the girls,” he said.
Despite his lifestyle Haygood said he noticed Modglin had a consistently positive outlook. Once Haygood followed through on a long-standing promise to start going to church with Modglin his outlook shifted.
“Opening N’Vision for me has come to be a self-application of what I’ve learned and relate it to the kids that we hope to see,” Haygood said. “On the business side of things there is really nothing like this in our area.”
Being open sparingly at first will allow the pair to “curtail and critique as we go along,” Haygood said.
“Leading to up this opening it’s amazing how much the community has blessed us already,” Modglin added.
Helping with some of the start-up costs is Branson’s Skyline Baptist Church, where Modglin has been involved in youth work.
“We talk about in church how we can become more mission-oriented by impacting culture in relevant ways,” Skyline senior pastor Norm Howell said. “Branson does not have a lot of shows that are geared specifically toward young people. The thought was: ‘Why not have a place for young Christians?’ “
Branson has established itself as a family-friendly destination, but Howell believes Haygood and Modglin are a good duo to carve out this new niche.
“Both Joe and Shawn have a real passion for reaching young people,” he said.
Links:
All American Café: http://www.theallamericancafe.com/
Skyline Baptist Church: http://www.skylinebaptist.com/
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