When I first started taking this class I wondered how I was going to do my assignments each week? I wondered if I would be able to find someone young to talk with or visit every week? I said, “this is just too much. ” But to my surprise I didn’t have enough time to reach all the youth that I wanted to reach. My first week, I thought about who I was going to try to mentor to? Who am I going to inspire? Will anyone listen to me? All these questions were quickly answered. It’s like the youth that needed counseling just fell into my lap. I went to revival one night and I was immediately taken in by this young lady, whom looked so sad and lonely.
Thad seen her many times before but this time seemed different. T approached her and asked her what her name was? She told me that her name was Dymon. She was very shy and furthermore she explained to me that she had a hard time communicating with others. Then it hit me, I befriended her, gave her my number and told her to call me anytime. She smiled, nodded and walked away. Although she was very quiet, she appeared to be nice. When I left her that night I went home and prayed diligently concerning the situation. I knew that she would be one of the youth that I would minister to.
Later that week Dymon phoned me and we talked the better part of an hour. She told me she had lost her mother at a very young age which she took very hard. It had shut her out of a lot of things. Limmediately asked her if she would like to have a day of shopping with me? She happily said she would like to go. We set a date to go on that Saturday. I took my time and planned out a good, fun outing for us. I planned on taking her shopping, out to eat and to a movie. I wanted to spend all day with her to show her a good time, get her mind off things for a little while. So we went shopping for her some new clothes and some new shoes.
It was fun while we were out trying on different clothes, laughing, and enjoying each other. She said that this was the most fun she had had in a very long time. It reminded her of the things that mothers and daughters should do together. Dymon also said it made her miss her mom not being able to do these kinds of things with her. After we finished shopping we went out to eat to one of my favorite restaurants. She enjoyed the food, the shopping, and the interacting that she experienced. She also expressed to me how profoundly grateful she was that I took a whole day out of my schedule to spend it with only her.
I told Dymon that I look forward to doing this again real soon. As I think back I am reminded of Proverbs 18:24 A man that have friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. She was terribly shy, but I think she has come out her shell now. In the third week of my FED assignment, I had the privilege of speaking with a young teen girl that had recently found out she was pregnant. We talked on the phone for several hours. I always try to make myself available day or night for someone in need. She had gotten my number from a sister at church. She was extremely upset when I first answered the phone.
I could barely understand what she was saying. I told her to take a couple of deep breaths and start again. She calmed down and we began to communicate. After some assistants, she was able to tell me her name and the nature of the call. She felt all alone with no support system and she had recently found out she was pregnant. The first thing I did was immediately have prayer with her. I spoke firmly and honestly with her. I let her know that there was nothing to be ashamed of. This situation could have happened to anyone. I assured her that God still loves her and he makes no mistakes. I questioned her about her beliefs.
I told her to keep an open mind and to weigh out her options. I reminded her that there are a lot of good people wanting to adopt or there may be a trusted family member who would not mind parenting the child. Before the conversation ended I went into pray with her once again. I hope I have said something to her that would lead her in the right direction. Sometimes we seem to forget that sin was in the act, not the child itself. The NIF bible tells us in John 8:7 that he who is without sin throw the first stone at her. You see, we as Christians seem to be so easy to condemn like we’ve never sinned.
But we have all sinned and become short of the glory of God. We do not need to pass judgement on one another, put one another down or belittle anyone. We should always be ready to lend a helping hand as spoke of in Deuteronomy 5:11 Deuteronomy 5:11, 11 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. I am in constant prayer that she makes the right decision that is best for her and her unborn child. As ever summer when school is out there is always vocational bible study at several churches.
I had the ability to bestowed upon me to teach a bible class I gladly accept the invitation that was extended to me. I had to come up with an appropriate lesson for them to learn from and stay engaged in the bulk of the age was from 6 to 12. I facilitated to work with them on a painting project. I did some research on just what to paint. I figured we’d get a little messy. So I bought some washable paint, some paint brushes, and a canvas. We painted our feet under the bottom and stood on the canvas to make foot prints. We then cleaned our feet while the paint dried and it was a remarkable experience.
The look was even better seeing all those different color foot prints on the canvas. They were different sizes and shapes. I had a wonderful time teaching vocational bible school. I reminded them of the poem foot prints in the sand though it does not directly come from the bible. There are verses in the bible that could have inspired it. the poem is about a person who needed help during times of struggle, but only saw one set of foot prints during those times. They felt alone, but the reason for the one set of foot prints was that they were being carried during those hard times. Some of the inspiring verses were Matthew 11:28.
Psalm 77:19, 19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known and last but not least Hebrews 13:5, 5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. I wanted them to know that no matter what they’re going through Jesus is always there. I called the elder of the church and thanked him for this wonderful opportunity to allow me to express myself in any way I chose. He told me that everyone was commenting on the canvas and he invited me back for next year.
In the last week of my assignment I was just so ecstatic to get started. I knew that this would be the best week. So on Sunday night I planned on how I was going to knock on different one doors each day. I felt that the Lord had lead me to do this assignment. My assignment was to try ro visit the youth in the community and see if anyone was interested in starting a youth gospel group. I started on Monday knocking on doors I tried for about an hour. I went back out Tuesday speaking to different youth. I could not find anyone interested. I told myself that| would not give up so I went back out on Thursday. Still no one was interested.
Everyone I spoke to were not willing to participate. I was extremely disappointed. I just knew without a doubt that I would succeed at this assignment. Sadly, I was mistaking. I thought I had faced challenges in the previous weeks, but this one qualified as the most challenging one. That just goes to show you it’s a true statement that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. The one I qualified as the easiest turned out to be the very opposite. My experiences in this class has been, rewarding and challenging. I managed to overcome my obstacles and put forth a valuable effort to achieve all I needed to do.
I became a mentor, a mother figure, a confidant, a leader and a teacher. I tried to accommodate each person I had contact with. I tried to follow up with all of them. I was not always successful when reaching out, with the caveat, I was not able. God has blessed me with an idea to minister continually to the youth and the young ones in need. I plan to follow through and do what is pleasing in God’s eyes. Children are definitely our responsibility to raise them up the right way and make sure they know that there is a Savior, a sweet, sweet Savoir. I am reminded today that without God we can do nothing.