Thank you for giving your prayers and financial support to this ministry. They are so appreciated. I believe there are times you have prayed for me and the people here and I didn't even know it. But, because you were praying, things changed. Thank you for standing behind me. Your support is so valuable.

 

As you read the story below, I believe it will inspire you. After you read it, check your heart. Is there someone in your life that God is asking you to sit on a bench, one hour a week with? Basically, is He asking you to invest a small amount of time to pour into someone's life? If He is, there will be a valuable and worth while harvest that comes from that precious investment. 

 

In Christ,

 

One of my favorite times of the week is when I go to a neighborhood center a few blocks away. I go there to watch the teen boys who live in John Shields play basketball.
 
A few months ago one of the older guys gave me some advice that I can't forget. He grew up in this neighborhood and had been in prison for 10 years. He said, "You have to go where they are. Get in their world." At first this confused me because I thought living here in their neighborhood was getting "in their world." But he explained to me that for the majority of them to come to my apartment would be like entering another world for them, so I need to go where they are. It made sense.
 
I started seeking out ways that I could do this. I began going to the neighborhood center a few months ago. It was very simple and took little energy. I simply sat on the bench. I watched the boys play basketball, cheered if they made a shot and smiled at them if they happened to make eye contact with me. Each time I went, I would say hi to the boys, some didn't say hi back or if they said hi, it was a disconnected hello.
 
These boys had been ones who used to regularly come to our Friday Night Teen Ministry, but over the past year stopped coming. I believe it was a combination of reasons, we have had to move many times for a place to meet, they are getting older and want to look cool to their friends, and they're giving into peer pressure more. So, I felt that I was on a mission to win their hearts back! It happened slowly. Some began to come back to Teen Ministry right away. Others came later on. But the thing that excites me the most was seeing their attitudes change. Now, when I walk into the neighborhood center, they approach me first, they say hi to me first and have even walked up to me to give me a hug. One boy who has been so cold in the past, saw me walk into the gym and waved hi to me from the court as he was playing basketball. I am amazed at how God is slowly melting those walls. 
 
A few nights ago, right there on that same bench that I have been sitting on for months, God gave me a divine conversation with one of the boys, who I will call John. At first it was just small talk. How is school? Are you playing any sports? Were you able to find a job? The turning point was when I opened up and said to him, "Some day I want to have a center like this one." He turned and looked at me when I said this.
 
I asked him how his best friend was doing. He began to share that they don't really talk anymore. It was because John confronted his friend about some bad choices he was making, but he wouldn't listen. They haven't talked for months now. John began to open up about how this hurt him. He shared his feelings about the situation. He said he knows the reason why his friend is going down the wrong path. John said it's because he has no guidance in his life. His Dad has been in and out of jail. His Mom is there, but she is so disengaged that it's almost as if she's not even there. John said that over the years he has been that guidance in his friend's life.
 
Many mornings he would even wake his friend up and make sure he went to school. But now that the friendship has been severed, John has seen his friend go down hill. I'm glad that he was in his friend's life to guide him, but should a peer be the only positive role model in a kid's life? Absolutely not. An 18 year old should not feel responsible for the life and future of a 17 year old. His parents should be doing this. But they're not.
 
This conversation with John opened my eyes to what many children and teens face. With all of my heart I believe there is hope and a solution. I believe if one adult would show genuine interest in this boy's life on a consistent basis, his life will begin to turn. I know someone who I am going to ask to begin writing this boy weekly.
 
I was able to encourage John, give him some advice and speak life into him. He listened. Wow, he listened! He even looked me in the eyes while I was talking. I could tell he was taking it all in. And so was I. All of this happened just from sitting on a bench, one hour a week.

 

Would you like to financially support me and this ministry? If you believe this is a ministry that God wants you to sow into, I encourage you to be bold and step out. As you give into God's work, you will be blessed!
 
You can do this by making checks payable to "ESL DC" and mailing them to the address below. Or you can give by clicking the Pay Pal button below. You can also sow into this ministry by checking out the needs list on the web site and contacting me about what you would like to give.
 
THANK YOU!
Rachel

 

 

East St. Louis Dream Center
1235 McCasland Ave., Apt. 9B
East St. Louis, Illinois 62201