I still believe

We were in Grainger County this week. That meant I had to wake up at 5:30am every morning, be at the MC by 6am and have everything ready to go by 6:30am so we could be at breakfast promptly at 7am. By the time Friday rolled around, I couldn't close my eyes, not even for one of those long blinks because if I did, I'd fall right asleep. Luckily, the missionaries were able to leave the MC by 10:30am. Since then, I've been recuperating...

God was faithful as we approached the seventh week. Taira and I were told last Friday we wouldn't have any help. I said, "The Lord will provide." And we believed in that statement. In some way, shape or form He would provide the help we would need, or what He thought we would need to get through the week. It was so cool to see Him work. We walked into the MC, still not knowing how we would handle 20+ kids. Angie, one of our supervisors, told us a church group was coming in from one of the surrounding areas to help in the MC. She said we were pretty much covered in the MC, so the group would be able to come with us! See how God provides?

They were only here for a day. There was about eight of them ready to help however they could. Good thing because we had 28 kids, the highest number we had so far! We were praising God the entire day because of His providing hands. Tuesday we had 20 kids and some of the youth from the Pittsburgh group came to help. We had three guys and three girls helping out. It was pretty awesome and we had a great time! Wednesday we had 23 kids. A volunteer named Destry helped us out and Ayla pitched in, too. Nichole also came and helped out. The kids behaved and all went well. They were really excited about Thursday, getting a hint that we would be doing another water fight like we did last Thursday.

Thursday rolled around soon enough. We planned on having Destry come over and help us again and then about three girls from the Pittsburgh group came with us. We were ready to have a great day. In the beginning, the kids as a whole were fine. There were a few new girls who came, supposedly friends with one of our 13 year olds. I could sense there was something amiss with the group of teens because they wouldn't participate, they wouldn't listen, and they were causing trouble with the boys. I knew it was the devil trying to make waves and that made me angry. I continually had to talk to the girls and then a few minutes later all Hell broke loose...

The teenage girls were talking to our boys and one of our 12 year olds was threatening to smack one our our boys and such. While I was helping the younger ones fill water balloons, I kept my ears alert to the goings on behind me. All of a sudden I hear swear words coming from behind me. My head shot up and I turned to see one of our older boys cursing out the 12 year old who threatened to smack him and push him around. Now this boy was a little rough around the edges but with a little love and appreciation, he has become respectful and helps out when we ask him. He goofs off with us and makes Taira and me crack up. He's got a good heart, it's just getting him to show that to the world instead of the hard shell he's built around himself.

I walked over to him and asked him to stop cursing. When he wouldn't, I asked him to go over to the field with the other guys and calm down. I said, "Just hang out with the boys as I take care of this." He continued to curse but he listened to me and went over to the field.

I then turned around to face the girls and called them out. I called the 12 year old out, asking her why she was acting like this when before this she was a sweet girl. She's supposedly a christian, going to church and just returned from church camp. After I said what I said, I know she was convicted and she started her crocodile tears. I thought, oh boy, here we go. She threatened to call her mom and she did. The other girls said to me, "You should be talking to him..."

I stopped that disrespectful attitude right there saying I ran the place and know how to discipline without their say in the matter.

I went into the kitchen to notify Taira of the situation. Before I could finish the story, we see a car pull up to the field where the boy was. The 12 year old's mother comes out of the car and starts cursing the poor boy out. The youngers were crowded around them and it honestly looked like a scene you would see in a middle school. Seems as though the mother is as mature as our kids! Despicable.

Destry was with the kids and I felt so bad seeing him in the middle of this turmoil. I rushed outside and stood on the hill, trying to figure out what to do, making sure a fight didn't break out. In the turmoil a whisper came into my mind. It was God I knew. While I was uncertain about the situation at hand, He was still there and I could feel Him right next to me.

"Get the young ones out of there."

I called to the Pittsburgh girls to help me. I stood on the hill and called for the ones not involved to come to me. They listened and came to me. I asked them to assemble in the front lawn because I had something to say. A young girl, Taris (sweetest thing ever!), herded the kids and reminded them of what I said.

After the mom pretty much destroyed our boy's confidence, she came up the hill and told her kids to get their stuff together because they were leaving. I talked to her privately and said her daughter should know better than to act like that. Surprisingly, she agreed with me. The mom doesn't go to church but her daughter does. I said we'd like to have them back because they need to hear about Jesus just as much as the other kids do. I didn't touch on the subject of her acting immature and cursing out a 14 year old kid. Let God handle that one. The kids have been put in my charge by God and that's who I care about.

The boy, after being humiliated, called his brother and had him pick him up. I felt so bad and wanted to talk to him but he left before I could.

After the mom and her kids left, I assembled the kids in the front yard and gave them an ultimatum. They could behave and we would continue the activities planned or they could go home right then and we would cancel everything. We had no problem doing either. The kids, taken aback by my discipline tactic, asked for the former.

Remember those teenage girls who caused the trouble? Yea, they left after lunch. After they left, though, it was like a breath of fresh air. Everything went well! The kids loved the water balloon fight and Taira and I sprayed the hose at them, getting them extremely soaked.

The mom's kids returned in time for the water fun and I even sprayed their hair funky colors. We had bought colored hair spray and they loved it! The 14 year old returned but kept at a distance, talking to one of our other boys. He left just as quickly as he came back. I didn't get a chance to talk to him...

Taira and I talked about the situation that occurred and I felt horrible, knowing instead of wasting my breath on those who were deaf to what I said I should've spent the words on calming him down.

I was scared we would never get him back. I called my youngest brother that night and cried over the phone while telling him the story. He reassured me it was the devil trying to destroy what God was doing. He encouraged me to pray about it and see what happened on Monday. I felt so torn up and honestly felt defeated. There was a smidge of faith left, though, that kept me pushing on. Up til today, I asked myself over and over again what the point was of doing the club if all we do is discipline and stop fights from occurring.

The song I Still Believe by Jeremy Camp has been stuck in my head since Thursday night. I think it's God's way of telling me not to give up. That, though there is hardship, He's in the midst and all I have to do is keep the faith the size of a mustard seed and He will work. The key word is faith. Without faith, I'm nothing. God brought those kids to us and He brought the 14 year old, too. Just because the kid left for the day doesn't mean God can't bring him back.

The kid is sort of like the prodigal son. God will bring him back into the fold and we will rejoice that he comes back. I'm going to have faith and trust that God will bring him back in His time and if it be His will.

This week I learned to trust God. Not only to trust God but to have faith in the storms that seem to come out of the blue. As I reflect back, I can see the evil that was trying to come in. But, I can also see the Lord standing next to me and giving me the words to say. I can see Him speaking through me and showing me how to handle that bad situation. He held me back a few times but He also let me go a few times, too. I think the biggest scene that is sticking with me right now, as I type, is when I stood on that hill, looking at the kids and asking what I should do...God was there, standing with me the entire time and He gave me the solution for the time being. He's still working out the problem and I'm hoping and praying we will get to see our 14 year old again. I pray for a breakthrough in that boy's life and I ask that ya'll reading this will pray for him, too.

Pray also for a 5 year old we have. Ayla and Nichole talked to her about Jesus and she told them she wasn't special. They fixed the problem and shared the Gospel with her but there are still some problems we need to work out. Pray for her as well.

Pray for Taira and me as we start the third to last week of kid's club. We want to see God's Hand in every situation and we want to know how to go about telling as many kids as we can about Jesus. I feel as though we have made an impact on these kids' lives and because of us being used by God, nine kids have accepted Jesus so far.

My greatest desire is that those who were unsure of accepting Jesus will accept Him and, upon acceptance, will see the joy and the fulfillment Jesus brings. There have been so many triumphs in that place. The very last entry, I will tell how the kids were in the beginning and then share how they are now. Right now, we've seen changes happen in how the kids behave and treat us. I praise God for the changes and ask for more work. Our work isn't completed yet. We still have three weeks and in those three weeks, we're expecting a mighty work from God. Pray for that work.

Ciao!