I'm being filled!
My new adventure in Junior Youth has been thrilling. We're consistently having 15-20 pre-teens (age 11-13) come each Sunday morning. We just finished Basic Training : Who is God - What is the Bible - Where did the Bible Events take place - When did the Bible Events take place. The class was so engaged; I think they're learning a lot! I think our whole church needs this curriculum - building a foundation of Bible knowledge and breaking poor theology and church education in Capricorn. I'm filled with expectation because of what God is doing in these young ones!
I'm being educated.
To make the class a little more personal, I have the Junior Youth journal a letter to me each week. I write a topic down and they have to answer the question. This past week, the journal question was, "What was the best part of your week? What was the worst part of your week?" One boy, age 12, wrote: "Best part - Junior Youth. Worst part - a woman and baby were shot dead." This little boy lives in a dangerous neighborhood outside of Capricorn. He had heard reports that gang violence killed a mom and baby; this 12 year old writes this news as if it's a normal occurrence, yet something that disturbed him. I quickly wrote him a letter of encouragement in his journal - glad he is enjoying Junior Youth, but sad for the violence going on. I told him we should pray for the family that lost loved ones and be aware of how we can show Christ's love in our community. This is only one of the hard journal entries I read. Many of our girls feel unloved or stressed about their home situations. I'm really getting an education!
I'm being challenged.
Junior Youth is not just about teaching the Bible at a pre-teen level, but it's about meeting needs … physical, emotional, mental, spiritual. Pray for this group and this new ministry our church has embarked upon. I know the task is MUCH bigger than me. God has great purpose in making this group a priority in my life. May God step in and give us all the ability to meet these children where they're at - giving each child an identity and personal attention!
I'm asking God to lead and guide each step of the way.
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