In
Search of Abundant Life
Jesus warned
in John 10 that the enemy’s intention is to “steal,
kill, and destroy,” but even that warning does not adequately
prepare me for the young lives I see stolen and destroyed day
to day inside the juvenile correctional facilities. Today it has
impacted me more than usual as I was just called to counsel a
young man on suicide watch. His name
is Darrin. He is 16 years old. His only desire is to die.
Clearly the enemy has stolen his hope, killed his spirit,
and destroyed his relationships….at least for the moment.
I may never know what happens with Darrin. I can only pray that
my opportunity to talk with him was but one of the details that
God will use to bring this young man to an understanding of the
“abundant life” that Jesus lived and died to give
him.
On the flip
side of Darrin’s story is Josh, a young man whom we met
at a birthday event in February at the facility where he has been
incarcerated almost a year. Josh too is 16 years old, and his
greatest desire is to learn to be a good father to his little
girl. When God gave me an opportunity to talk with him two months
ago, his heart was prepared to hear
the hope of an abundant life in Christ. As we
have developed a relationship with Josh over the past 3 months,
he has come to know God in a new way as depicted by the artwork
below which he was anxious to give me when I saw him a couple
weeks ago. In spite of his circumstances Josh is convinced that
the Lord knows his destiny, and he is at peace with that.
Kids like
Darrin and Josh are in every facility in this country—over
100,000 of them this very minute. Every one of those young souls
is precious to God although forgotten by much of our society.
The fields are ripe for harvest but the laborers are few. Please
consider what you can do to help us to plant seeds of hope, to
reclaim the kids like Darrin, to encourage the ones like Josh,
and point them all to the abundant life!
God
Talk: Inside the RAV—How Great
|
Dear
Crosswalk Family,
ONE
MONTH OF PUNCH: Jesus said in Matthew 10:42, “And
if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these
little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the
truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”
Want to give a cup of cold water in His name? Crosswalk
uses about 20 gallons of Hawaiian Punch every month
for the birthday events. Including cups to serve it
in, this cost comes to about $50. If you read the story
about Josh to the left, you understand that these events
are about so much more than cake and punch and birthdays.
This is where relationship is born—with us and
ultimately with Jesus. Would you, you and a friend,
or your Sunday school class consider sponsoring 1 month
of punch? Let us know at info@crosswalkusa.org
Thank
you for all that you do!
Gina
|
|
