Before Rachel returns from Sabbatical, we want to share with you one more Newsletter from the Dream Center archives that depicts a precious and tender moment in the lives of a group of broken young men. Because of your support and prayers, God was able to position Rachel at the right place, at the right time to minister His LOVE and healing to them. Read on to see what you were (and continue to be) a part of....
Loving East St. Louis too,
Janell Roedl
Administrative Assistant
They Let Their Guards Down
(from the June 2009 Newsletter)
There are days when I have a prompting in my heart to just go stand on my porch. A few weeks ago, I had that prompting. As I stood on my porch, I looked around and saw that there were about 20 young men standing in a big group. Most of them were the guys we feed lunch to on Wednesdays.
I was standing there reading, and when I looked up, I saw all 20 of them walking towards me. I could definitely tell something wasn't right, so I asked them if everything thing was ok. With all seriousness in his voice, one of them replied, "Quinton just died and we need you to pray for us because we're trippin'."
As I looked at all of them standing on my porch, I was in shock, first of all that Quinton was dead and second of all that they had come to ask for prayer. The young man who originally asked for prayer directed all of them to hold hands. One of the guys who I have known since he was about 13 years old, wanted to be right next to me for prayer, so he cut in and firmly told the others, "I'm standing right here." Then another guy did the same thing with my other hand. They were vulnerable at this moment and needed prayer and help, something they've never asked me for. All of them were so distraught and hurting. They were letting their guards down.
Many of them were carrying liters of alcohol that they had been drinking since they found out about their dear friend's death. As I began to pray for God's comfort and His LOVE, I heard some of them begin to cry. I have never seen any of these young men cry. I couldn't believe it. I was honored that they would let their guards down that much to cry in front of me and admit that they were having a hard time.
When we were done praying, many of them stayed there with me. It was raining, but I didn't want to leave them until they were ready to leave. Some of them were still crying and one was weeping. I just hugged him. He said, "I've got to quit crying. I'm being weak." I put my hand on his shoulder and firmly told him, "No, this is the best thing you can do right now. If you hold those tears in, they will eventually turn to anger later." He said, "Yeah, that's right on, that's right on. Ok." Other guys were crying and I just hugged them or put my hand on their shoulder to comfort them. As I did this I just prayed over them in my heart. I had to convince most of them that it was ok that they were crying.
A week later I went to Quinton's funeral and all of these young men plus about 50 other young men were there as well. The church was packed and these young men lined the walls because there wasn't enough seating. During the funeral, I spent the majority of the time looking around into the faces of each of them. The funeral service was so religious, foreign and unreal to these young men. They stood there with painful faces and blank stares. But, this day was an eye-opening day for me. I saw how these young men and the teenagers don't need or even want religion. They need relationship with someone who cares about their life and who will BE to them, "Jesus with skin on." So, I'm asking God to show us more and more ways that we can do this.
These guys are like my little brothers and I'm so thankful that their Father God is slowly opening their hearts to me. And even though they don't know it, He is using that openness to "sneak in" His LOVE, His GOODNESS and His KINDNESS which will lead them to repentance (ROMANS 2:4- NIV).
THANK YOU!
If you need to contact the office, Janell will able to answer any questions or take phone calls. Her email address is janell@eaststlouisdreamcenter.org and the phone number is 618.875.2131 (ext. 107).
