...
I’m facing a bit of a dilemma right now, and I could use some prayer.
A little background first of all. While I was in Canada, one of the guys here decided to move in with family. That was a good decision on his part. He was making some bad choices and causing problems in the house...I was actually thinking I might have to ask him to leave. In the end he recognized that the lifestyle he was leading was not going to be possible with us, and so he left. We’ve maintained good ties with him and we continue to pray for him. He’s come back for supper a couple of times, so that’s good.
One other fellow moved in with his family as well. That was a better situation. I would have enjoyed having this young guy continue with us, but living with his parents was not a bad choice. Over the past year or so, he’d built a good relationship with them (after not really knowing them for most of his life) and felt like he wanted to be closer to them. The only thing I’m a bit concerned about, is that he hasn't come to church since he left. He has a girlfriend and a young son, and they were all coming to church each week. I could really see God at work in them. But since he left, he’s been working Sunday mornings, and we haven’t seen him.
The third situation was the most difficult. We’ve known for awhile that someone was stealing in the house. I was fairly sure it was one of the two guys who’d moved in recently (this past year). We’d had no problems at all before that. This caused a lot of stress for the rest of the guys. Stealing was a bad problem in the home they came from, and to have it start up here was making them angry. In the end there'd been enough things stolen, that we made the decision to ask a friend who’s a police officer, if he could help us out. We told the guys what was going to happen, and that the guilty party had two more days to come clean. It was a tough decision, but we couldn’t allow the situation to continue (at that point we’d lost close to $1000 worth of money and stuff). No one confessed, but early in the morning of the last day, this young fellow took off (with a full backpack).
It was one of the saddest moments yet for me. I really like this guy. It sounds weird I know, but I truly think he has a good heart. He just got caught up in temptation and his past. The most interesting part of this story, however, is what God did in the midst of all of this. That first night when I spoke to the guys and explained what was going to happen, one of the guys especially, was upset. He was angry that, after everything the guys had received, someone was choosing to take more.
At the end of the meeting, I asked him to pray. He started off kind of quietly, but as he prayed, he prayed more and more fervently and with a lot of emotion. When we were finished, he came and talked to me. His whole body was shaking, and he told me that he felt that the Holy Spirit had spoken to him, and that in the end, God would make everything clear and we would know what had happened. I put my hand on his shoulder and said that, then we could have peace and know that God was going to deal with this.
After he left I was like, “Okay God...you need to deal with this! We need to know!” =) I don’t know about you, but sometimes it’s can be a bit stressful when you go out on that limb of faith with a young Christian. But I felt like it was the right thing to do. Did I trust and believe that God had spoken to this fellow or not?
There was one other guy who was also especially upset. He was pretty sceptical that we’d ever know who’d done this. I’d talked and talked to the guys, and no one had come forward. In the old home, no one was ever caught for stealing and the situations were never resolved. So he was of the opinion that I was being a bit foolish in saying that this would be figured out. The night before the guilty kid left, this guy was reading his Bible and praying. He told me the next morning (before he knew what had happened) that, for the first time in a long time, he’d gone to bed feeling completely at peace.
So in the end, when we talked about all of this, I was able to point to specific moments when God was working, throughout the experience. I explained to the guys that we were never alone, even in our anger and frustration. It was cool to see how God...and really for one of the first times that they recognized...had spoke them in a powerful and direct way.
We also had the opportunity to talk about how we were going to respond to this...how important forgiveness was. Not just for the kid who left, but for us as well. I started to say that our things were not as important, and before I could finish one of the other guys said, “...as this guy’s life...”.
Exactly.
Interestingly enough...that got put to the test the next Sunday when our young friend who’d left, showed up in church...wearing all new clothes and a new pair of shoes. We were all a little surprised to say the least. =) But the guys did great and talked to him as a friend. I did sit down with him later and spoke to him fairly strongly about what he’d done. I’m not completely sure it’s completely sunk in...what he’s lost. We’ll continue to pray for him and work with him...but he won’t be able to live and study here.
Well...my “little background” turned into a bit of a novel. Suffice to say that I now have three empty beds and five guys who want to move in. I have to make some decisions in the next week or so...and it’s really tough. What I choose is going to deeply affect the lives of each one of these guys. A couple of the guys have made some bad choices in the recent past. I can see the potential in them, but I’m not sure it’s fair to put the guys who are here at the house through another potentially difficult situation. And yet...the situation for both these guys is serious. If they don’t move in here, they’ll lose...well, everything.
One of the other guys is in another home, but his situation there is deteriorating as well. The home isn’t that well run, and the other day two guys returned drunk (and probably high), picked a fight with him and broke his nose.
The last two guys are very deserving and I’d love to help them. They can both probably survive on their own, but in jobs that they hate and that will, in the end, take them nowhere.
So...yea. I have no idea what to do. Put up a tent in the backyard? For sure I’d appreciate your prayers. I need a lot of wisdom and discernment. As well, if you could pray for these three young guys who’ve left us. They all have great potential. I know that God will continue to work in their live, but it’s going to be a difficult road.
Thanks everyone, for taking the time to read this. And as always, for praying. I'll keep you updated on the situation...
I’m facing a bit of a dilemma right now, and I could use some prayer.
A little background first of all. While I was in Canada, one of the guys here decided to move in with family. That was a good decision on his part. He was making some bad choices and causing problems in the house...I was actually thinking I might have to ask him to leave. In the end he recognized that the lifestyle he was leading was not going to be possible with us, and so he left. We’ve maintained good ties with him and we continue to pray for him. He’s come back for supper a couple of times, so that’s good.
One other fellow moved in with his family as well. That was a better situation. I would have enjoyed having this young guy continue with us, but living with his parents was not a bad choice. Over the past year or so, he’d built a good relationship with them (after not really knowing them for most of his life) and felt like he wanted to be closer to them. The only thing I’m a bit concerned about, is that he hasn't come to church since he left. He has a girlfriend and a young son, and they were all coming to church each week. I could really see God at work in them. But since he left, he’s been working Sunday mornings, and we haven’t seen him.
The third situation was the most difficult. We’ve known for awhile that someone was stealing in the house. I was fairly sure it was one of the two guys who’d moved in recently (this past year). We’d had no problems at all before that. This caused a lot of stress for the rest of the guys. Stealing was a bad problem in the home they came from, and to have it start up here was making them angry. In the end there'd been enough things stolen, that we made the decision to ask a friend who’s a police officer, if he could help us out. We told the guys what was going to happen, and that the guilty party had two more days to come clean. It was a tough decision, but we couldn’t allow the situation to continue (at that point we’d lost close to $1000 worth of money and stuff). No one confessed, but early in the morning of the last day, this young fellow took off (with a full backpack).
It was one of the saddest moments yet for me. I really like this guy. It sounds weird I know, but I truly think he has a good heart. He just got caught up in temptation and his past. The most interesting part of this story, however, is what God did in the midst of all of this. That first night when I spoke to the guys and explained what was going to happen, one of the guys especially, was upset. He was angry that, after everything the guys had received, someone was choosing to take more.
At the end of the meeting, I asked him to pray. He started off kind of quietly, but as he prayed, he prayed more and more fervently and with a lot of emotion. When we were finished, he came and talked to me. His whole body was shaking, and he told me that he felt that the Holy Spirit had spoken to him, and that in the end, God would make everything clear and we would know what had happened. I put my hand on his shoulder and said that, then we could have peace and know that God was going to deal with this.
After he left I was like, “Okay God...you need to deal with this! We need to know!” =) I don’t know about you, but sometimes it’s can be a bit stressful when you go out on that limb of faith with a young Christian. But I felt like it was the right thing to do. Did I trust and believe that God had spoken to this fellow or not?
There was one other guy who was also especially upset. He was pretty sceptical that we’d ever know who’d done this. I’d talked and talked to the guys, and no one had come forward. In the old home, no one was ever caught for stealing and the situations were never resolved. So he was of the opinion that I was being a bit foolish in saying that this would be figured out. The night before the guilty kid left, this guy was reading his Bible and praying. He told me the next morning (before he knew what had happened) that, for the first time in a long time, he’d gone to bed feeling completely at peace.
So in the end, when we talked about all of this, I was able to point to specific moments when God was working, throughout the experience. I explained to the guys that we were never alone, even in our anger and frustration. It was cool to see how God...and really for one of the first times that they recognized...had spoke them in a powerful and direct way.
We also had the opportunity to talk about how we were going to respond to this...how important forgiveness was. Not just for the kid who left, but for us as well. I started to say that our things were not as important, and before I could finish one of the other guys said, “...as this guy’s life...”.
Exactly.
Interestingly enough...that got put to the test the next Sunday when our young friend who’d left, showed up in church...wearing all new clothes and a new pair of shoes. We were all a little surprised to say the least. =) But the guys did great and talked to him as a friend. I did sit down with him later and spoke to him fairly strongly about what he’d done. I’m not completely sure it’s completely sunk in...what he’s lost. We’ll continue to pray for him and work with him...but he won’t be able to live and study here.
Well...my “little background” turned into a bit of a novel. Suffice to say that I now have three empty beds and five guys who want to move in. I have to make some decisions in the next week or so...and it’s really tough. What I choose is going to deeply affect the lives of each one of these guys. A couple of the guys have made some bad choices in the recent past. I can see the potential in them, but I’m not sure it’s fair to put the guys who are here at the house through another potentially difficult situation. And yet...the situation for both these guys is serious. If they don’t move in here, they’ll lose...well, everything.
One of the other guys is in another home, but his situation there is deteriorating as well. The home isn’t that well run, and the other day two guys returned drunk (and probably high), picked a fight with him and broke his nose.
The last two guys are very deserving and I’d love to help them. They can both probably survive on their own, but in jobs that they hate and that will, in the end, take them nowhere.
So...yea. I have no idea what to do. Put up a tent in the backyard? For sure I’d appreciate your prayers. I need a lot of wisdom and discernment. As well, if you could pray for these three young guys who’ve left us. They all have great potential. I know that God will continue to work in their live, but it’s going to be a difficult road.
Thanks everyone, for taking the time to read this. And as always, for praying. I'll keep you updated on the situation...
2 comments:
I will pray and you need bunkbeds.
Ha ha...what I need is for some of my Canadian friends to come down here and build me a bigger house.
And to bring me chocolate bars... =)
Thanks for praying Kate!
Post a Comment