To have those first few years of work with slow growth but no fruit, I can imagine the discouragement and countless times a grower may want to throw in the towel. Imagine if that plant gets a disease, dries out, or stops growing just before the fruit was about to come. The gardener can only do so much to ensure fruit comes. This reality is probably why it is suggested to plant many seeds of dragon fruit or to replant the mature cactus stems so that you don't put all your hope in one seed, one stem.
In this last decade of ministry, there have been months, years of amazing fruit, growth in individuals, in relationships and then all of a sudden, some of those people for one reason or another, are gone from our lives. In many cases, this is due to those students and families moving away. The past 18 months of the pandemic have really tried to throw a wrench in the spokes of how we've done ministry in the past. With new variants to the virus popping up, it's uncertain when things will go back to some sort of normal.
However, one of my favorite occurrences in ministry has been when students return after a long time gone to either rejoin our programs or just come back and say hi. Last week, I walked in through the doors of the church and saw a somewhat familiar face walking out. This face had a mask on but I could see his eyes smiling. Honestly, at first glance I thought he was someone else that I worked with at camp a few years prior. This young man had facial hair, was about my height, but had the same boyish charm he had had when he was in our after school program as a 4th grader. He is now 19. That day I had a lot of work to get done, but he challenge me to one on one, and whenever someone challenges me to one on one, I will almost always accept that invitation to connect via a game. He was in our program in 2011, the first year of the after school program. He even came to our middle school program for some months but has since been off the map. We reminisced about that first year. "That was the best year of my childhood," said this barely-adult adult. After our game, he video-called his younger sister and brother, who were also both in the program that first year. I was surprised at how quickly they recognized who I was and how joyfully the memories flooded back to their eyes.
As we start this school year, we hope to be able to build into whoever walks through our doors. We pray they experience the love of God for years to come. It was a tremendous encouragement to me to see this family again.
Prayer request: With the two:fiftytwo After School Program starting next week (with a program director new to 2nd Mile and students new to 2nd Mile), and the BLOCK Middle School Program also beginning next week, pray that God would bring exactly the right people and the right number through our doors in order to do his work.
Another prayer request: Max has started Pre-K! (I know, right?). The bus systems all across the country are out of whack with shortages in drivers. Two of Max's drivers already quit, making transportation and balancing mine and Missi's work schedules a difficult road to navigate and make routine. He goes to a school about 15 minutes away (the closest school with a qualified nurse to administer his tube feedings), so travel gets annoying with all the miscommunications going on between buses, schools, and us. I blame no one, it's just an unfortunate circumstance. Pray that God would provide reliability in the bus system enough to allow both of us to continue our jobs without disruptions.
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| First day! Pre-K! |
