Last Sunday in Church
Submitted by Halo on 2003-02-18 05:21:33, Tuesday
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I feel I have to post this for several reasons. Our church has a large youth congregation, as well as large family groups as well. We have a missionary pastor as part of our church (can't say which country he's from). Anyway, he encourages us to express love for one another through hugs, etc. But this Sunday he also insisted that as we are part of the "Body of the Church", we had to tell each other "We need you". I feel uncomfortable sometimes, as I'm relatively new, I speak to a couple of people there. One works with older teens (18-21) who have behavioural problems. Another is a dad of 3, who also says he's not judgemental of anything & he knows I've had problems with Elekid & Ginger in the past. We were joined that morning by a family with two boys aged about 15 & 12 (the older boy was fairly tall for his age & the minister said their name aloud in the service). I have been searching for who might be my next yf or mission & hoped that maybe I could get to know these boys in time. The father is a man of great faith, judging by the way he worshiped. So during this "I need you" session, he approached "me" put an arm around me & said "I NEED YOU" & then prayed for me. I in turn went to another father, who I've met the week before, when he seemed upset with something (his boy is about 6) & asked him if he was alright, again. His response was a huge smile & he said "WE NEED YOU to continue to be concerned for our welfare & the lives of others" (or something like that, meaning the church as a whole I asume). After the service, I was drawn to my first friend (the dad of 3), to chat about the forthcoming "CHILD PROTECTION TRAINING" that they were looking into later that day (something I couldn't attend myself, due to work. I was uncomfortable with what I was going to say. I started off by explaining a bit about what it was about (CPT), as I know bits. I then proceeded to tell him about my sports problem & the ban imposed on me following allegations by my former employer. He wasn't shocked or angry or upset, nor did he make any feelings of worry about me being around children (not even his I should say, even though I've never met them or any kids in the church - apart from one). His wife is a LEO (as are several other members) & another church member is a prison officer. He prayed for me, telling me that we've all done things in the past that we're ashamed of & that I also had to forgive my former employer for what he's done & let go of the problem I've been wrestling with. He then proceeded to talk about his son (who's 7) & the other members of his family. His bit about his wife being an LEO, brought back a memory from 10years ago with Tyrogue. Which I will share here. (The Tyrogue story is a long one & I haven't written anything since April 2002 on my other boards.) It was the final of a major football (soccor) competition & my team was playing. Tyrogue knocked & told me that there was this abandoned car in the garages that needed to be moved or his step-dad was going to beat the crap out of him if it wasn't moved by the morning. So reluctently, I went with him after the game had finished (this was the middle of the evening & it was dark). We got to the old car, a mini, it had 4 flat tyres & wouldn't budge for the trying. We tried everything & must've caused some noise as an elderly lady looked out of her window. Shortly after a Police car pulled up & two LEO's got out. (The LEO's were not good friends of Tyrogue, at all, he hated them.) One of them went over & spoke to Tyrogue, the other approached me & said "Halo, what are you doing here." It was a friend from my Church. I explained to him what had happened, he took notes & saw the funny side of it. They left soon after having felt happy that nothing was wrong. I guess that it was another example of God working in my life, during my time with Tyrogue, who was one of my closest yf's. He's about 19 or 20 now, after fathering twins at 14, he'd been serving time at a youth detention centre for various offenses when they were born & vowed to go straight. I told my friend I didn't know what God had planned for me at the church, but it was probably involving the kids there. I just don't know. He said to pray about it & see what comes up. Love & regards to all (comments welcomed & encouraged) Halo |
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