The teenage years are hard. But then again so is adjusting to college…the first years of marriage… those years where your kids are babies… empty nest, etc. Life can be hard. Often times we try to hide this from others, especially in the Christian realm. We think we shouldn’t have problems although this is clearly against what Paul speaks about in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” Claudia is doing just this. She struggled in junior high and the first part of high school but she isn’t just hiding her problems away. She started a support group for other junior high and high school students at our school so that they can have the support and encouragement she didn’t have. Last week 14 seventh and eighth graders came to this group to share their struggles and to learn God’s design for getting through them. I watched this young lady respond with more compassion and wisdom than many adults. She’s doing an amazing job and I am so proud that she cared enough about others to share her struggles even though it was not easy. Pray for her as she leads this group for 3 more weeks and then begins the six-week support group for high school.
Archives for November 2016
Ada
Eight years ago when Shannon and I visited Honduras, I was introduced to a church in Catulaca and told “this will be your church.” I love it there. I love the children who run up in the street to hug me. I love the women who I once knew as teenagers but are now fantastic moms. I love the teenagers that are struggling to finish school but are do just that… finishing. However, this is not my church. It is the people of Catulaca. We have been waiting and praying that there would be a leader who would want to teach the children and young people. Sunday, I sat and watched as this prayer has been answered. God is training up local leaders who want their children to know Him. Ada is one of those leaders. Ada is an amazing mom and wife with two sons. Like any mom, she worries about her kids. She sheds tears over them. She teaches them to sit in church even when they are too little to understand. Ada’s desire for her kids to learn who Christ is, is now spilling over to the other kids in the church. She is now team teaching on Sunday mornings with Edith. It is times like this that remind me of why we came here to begin with. We are not here to be the church leaders but are here to support the Honduran leaders that God is raising up. Continue to pray for Ada and this group of kids at Catulaca as Ada learns to teach and lead them.