This Christian's Worldview

For the past few weeks our church, well ten members of our church has been preparing to go with the Bill Glass Ministry for its Weekend of Champions Event here in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.

Six of our team was sent to the Dawson State Jail, Three of us went to youth facilities and one would not be able to make it due to the distance involved. Now granted I had requested that all of our team go to the Dawson State Jail, God has his own plans for us and we were sent not by mistake, but I believe by divine guidance to the other facilities. I can't speak of the others experiences, but I can speak of mine and that is what I plan on doing here.

I went to the Letot Center again, a Dallas County run facility for kids who are not really hardened criminals, but kids who have missed court dates, are runaways, and some who are truant from school too many times. They may not have committed horrendous crimes, but they are still separated from their families and locked away for up to three months at a time.

So this time there were 28 kids there. Twenty girls, 8 boys, with white, black and Hispanics all represented. They ranged from 12 years to 16. Most came from broken homes, or foster homes, some had one or both parents in prison or did not know where their parents were. All of them were hurting in one way or another.

What we did was spend two solid days loving on these kids. Playing games with them, listening to them, and at times, telling them about the Good News of Jesus Christ and how God loves them, no matter how they bad they thought their lives were.

Some felt that they did too many bad things to get into heaven. Some didn't have a clue. Some believed in nothing at all. And some preferred the fast lifestyles that some teens live. Personally my heart broke for each and everyone of them.

When all was said and done, we had 21 decisions to follow Christ, including 12 first time decisions. The rest, I am not sure what happened, but I do know that seeds were planted, hopefully to be watered by someone else.

When you pray next time, say a prayer for the kids at the Letot Center in Dallas. The group I saw this time may not be there, but there will be a group of kids there. And they, like the group I was able to love on, will be hurting. They need your prayers too.

Eric