Helping Relationships

It seems that every new year, I still manage to write down the wrong date once in awhile.  It's 2016, not 2015.  Although the experiences of the past now fade, their memories strive to revive truths about the world we live in.  It feels like yesterday I was in college.  But it's been six years!  As I recall favorite memories with some of the kids here, I realize that the frequency and depth of those experiences weigh much more heavily on their young lives.  I've known some of them for almost five years and they grow up right in front of my eyes.  I cannot emphasize enough how a simple encouraging word or moment of grace can bring light into a life.  Following through on a thought to call someone or pray for them is something that the devil loves to rob me of or distract me from.  That TV show isn't more important, or that football game, or that sense of laziness and comfort.

In continuing my counseling education, this semester I'm taking one class called Helping Relationships.  So far, I have been challenged to focus on other people before myself as well as convicted of my own tendencies to shy away from any real conversations, any real talk.  Many of my friendships are based on common secular interests (sports, music, news), but rarely on how we both are experiencing life and how we can be pointing each other towards Christ.  God has been using these classes to reveal parts of my heart that are dark and guarded heavily from letting God take over.  One in particular includes my fear of man.  I'm often way too concerned about what others think of me.  I can simultaneously wallow in both self-pity as well as pride.  There are even times when I want people to see my efforts in trying not to care about what people think of me.  

This morning I read Matthew 6.  If you have time, read it.  I'm a slow reader and it took me like ten minutes.  Jesus expounds on the theme of the hypocritical man who does things so that others may see.  They give to the needy in streets so that they may be praised by others. (6:2).  They pray on street corners that they may be seen by others. (6:5).  They disfigure their faces when they fast so their fasting may be seen by others. (6:16).  God knows the depth of our hearts and can see through our actions to know our true motives.  Are we living for ourselves or for him?  If you asked me whether or not I love people, my first thought is, absolutely I do, but when I think about my interactions, I seem to be less concerned about what's actually going on in their life and more concerned about not saying anything stupid or awkward.

I know there's grace for me and I need not spend any more time wallowing.  Please pray that my life would more and more reflect that of Christ's.  He loved in grace and in truth.  Every time I open my mouth is an opportunity to love, encourage, and reveal the truth of the gospel to someone.  I don't want to blindly walk through life unaffected by the death and resurrection of Jesus.  I'm here for but a minute and then I'll be swept away to eternity.

Ferrell, Agel, Christian (in red), and Mekhi taking a water break

December in Jacksonville showed some great weather for us (sorry).  We had another Boy's Day where we went to the Andrew Jackson High School track and played some flag football.  At our after school program, the boys often play football and have to play two-hand touch because of the cement ground.  It was fun to see them enjoy a little more freedom to jump, dive, bump, and hit on some "soft" grass.  These are the days the boys have told me they love the best, days away from the program, somewhere they don't usually get to go.  This shared experience only adds building blocks to their already strong friendships.

This past school year, I've been absent from most of the fun Friday activities in order to focus on school work.  However, last Thursday substituted as the day for a fun activity due to no school that Friday.  I got to lead in one of my favorite activities, cup stacking.  Three teams tried to build for height and durability.  Midway through the building process, I snuck around the room with a nerf gun and attempted to knock them down.  Aware of this, teams enrolled one or two teammates to guard their structures from destruction.  It was a very fun experience.  Kids got excited and into it as I tried to surprise them by hiding behind corners and curtains.  The times that I most cherish in ministry are those shared fun experiences that I can then share with the kids in future years.  "Remember when we played flag football?" or "Remember when we stacked cups up to the ceiling?"  It is my prayer that as these kids get older, what they reminisce about will include very significant encounters with God and how he has changed their lives.  I'm not always sure exactly what my role is in their lives, but I trust God to make it more and more clear as I continue to seek him in my life.

Biblical Interpretation in Community

How often do you read the Bible in a group setting?  Before you think of your answer, eliminate the times the pastor at your church reads passages of Scripture out loud to the congregation.  Now how often do you read the Bible in a group setting?  You may have once been part of a Bible study, read through a book of the Bible or through a Christian-themed book, but now find yourself a part of no group of believers that feed on the word of God.  You only now occasionally read for yourself.

I'm talking to myself a whole lot here.  My Bible reading is either on my own in times when I'm alone, when the preacher says, "Follow along while I read," or recently when I have an assignment for my classes.  Nowhere in that list includes a time when I read the Bible with another human being in hopes to study, learn, interpret, and apply the word of God to my life.  "But Andrew, it's a good thing to spend time reading the Bible on your own, especially in quiet times."  I agree, this does often reveal a heart that longs more and more for a deeper relationship with the Lord.  However, I would like to use this blog to communicate the importance of reading Scripture in community and point out why it can be dangerous to avoid such a great opportunity.

One of my exam study questions asked for us to identify five reasons why biblical interpretation in community was important.  Here I go, without looking back at my notes.  First, our sin can cause us to approach Scripture willfully blind, seeing, reading, and learning only what we want to see, read, and learn.  This can warp our interpretation and can cramp our ability to apply the Bible to ethics in relevant ways without seeing the totality of a theme across Scripture.  Second, as brothers and sisters in Christ, we are our brothers' and sisters' keeper.  It is our responsibility to encourage and lift one another up in word and truth.  Third, we have the limitation of one human life's experience at looking at Scripture through our one lens.  Reading in community will provide many more perspectives in understanding not just "what this passage means to me uniquely," but rather "what aspects of the text am I missing or have an unclear understanding of?"  Fourth, everything that is written in the Bible, at its original written time in history, was meant to be read to the masses or specific churches, not individuals.  The body of Christ has many members, but is of one body.  If our personal application of Scripture does not stack up to the mission of the church as a whole, our application is misinformed.  Finally, the gospel message is meant for people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (Rev. 5:9).  If our reading of the Bible is with a group of believers with similar social, cultural, racial, historical backgrounds as you, this will also create some blind spots to interpretation.

I can get wrapped up in my own understanding of Scripture and haven't taken time to appreciate that different views people have of the word doesn't mean that they are necessarily wrong and that mine are right, it just means that they bring with them a unique lens in which to view Scripture, which shouldn't make interpretation foggier, but should reveal the richness and depth of God through Jesus Christ.

In hopes to go in the right direction, my wife and I are going to start attending a Bible study class at our church.  I'm excited because the group will be filled with fellow believers who look, act, and think differently than we do.  Please pray that going in this direction challenges us to learn more about God, our spiritual family, each other, and our own selves.

Meeting with Ruth earlier today on Skype right before she
was going on a roadtrip to meet with Jonathan.  Don't worry,
she drove safely and kept her eyes on the road.

For those of you who don't know, the executive director of 2nd Mile Ministries, Ruth, is in transition to step down and allow our new director, Jonathan Blackburn, step in to take over.  Their leadership will overlap so a successful handoff can occur.  For more about the new director, you can go to http://www.2ndmile-jax.com/ and read about his story.  Ruth will be missed by many, since she was one of the founders of the ministry all the way back in 2003.  There will probably be a future blog devoted just to her as she leaves for good.  Pray the transition goes smoothly.

In conclusion, think about creative ways in which you could read and interpret Scripture in community if you haven't already.  It could be as simple as starting with your own family.  Maybe your church provides small groups to join.  If not, maybe God wants you to step out in faith and ask people you know to start reading, with the intention of loving God and his people better.  I will pray for you, whoever you may be.

"Worth is more than a picture"

If you see a kid in your care standing up, facing the corner of the room, and crying, what would you do?

If you see another kid quickly sit to the ground with an pouting face after getting out at four-square, what would you do?

Semajah, a 4th grader,
getting ready to write a response
to what she read

Every year I'm with 2nd Mile Ministries, God blesses us with unique situations where we cannot trust in ourselves, only God.  Frustrating times as they may be, when the dust settles, God has us shake off the dust, and follow Him.

Like many people might do, I tried to talk to the first kid, ask what was wrong, or what happened.  Nothing.  No answer, no movement, nothing.  Even with asking him easy yes or no questions, nothing.  This went on for at least a half hour.  Seeing my own ability and strength to handle situations fail is very hard to go through and labels the day as "bad" when I go home.  With the second kid, every little thing bothers them.  Complaining and falling to the ground in disappointment rule their world.  It can get annoying when I see their reaction to something that is not a big deal.  I do remember crying one time that I got out in a fun family game of plastic baseball when I was like 5 or 6, not 4th grade.

Creation to Revelation spans a long time.  The events of Revelation haven't occurred yet, so we are chronologically between these two passages.  For anyone who has read the Bible, attempts to bridge the events to our current world are almost innate.  Either you go into a reading session trying to go from your circumstance to a nugget of wisdom from the word, or in your reading you realize that there are things in your life similar to the events of scripture.  This past to present or present to past path is what makes the Bible worth reading.  The Holy Spirit leads us towards wisdom when reading scripture (1 Cor. 2:6-16).  However, I've noticed that sometimes I'm quick with "knowing" what a passage is about when really, considering the original context, I have a very fuzzy understanding.

In my Biblical Interpretation class, I've seen the value in dissecting text from big to small.  Let me explain.  One of our assignments was to read the entire book of Acts and pick five possible themes.  I had never done this before.  I've read Acts in its entirety, but a chapter at a time, not altogether.  Then, after finding the themes, we were to dissect Acts 8:26-40, when Philip meets the Ethiopian eunuch on the road.  (Take time to read it).  If you were asked what the main point of this passage of Acts was, you may say that it was an account of when an old prophecy in Isaiah was explained by Philip to a man seeking to know the truth.  The gospel was shared and the eunuch, after being baptized, went on rejoicing.  Great story!  However, having read Acts altogether, I noticed that this section is the only time when one person shares the gospel with one other person.  All other places talk about the disciples preaching to crowds of believers, unbelievers, in the big cities, and before the authorities, but never to one person.  Seeing the bigger picture allowed me to more closely perceive why Luke included it in his book of Acts.  Salvation was no longer set aside for Jews, but was opening up to Gentiles as well, even the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).  The depiction of the eunuch's strange ethnicity and social standing would serve to declare that the gospel is to be shared with those outside our own understanding.

To go even further, reading the book of Acts in the context of the entire Bible would be quite the feat as well.  Knowing that the same God who wrote the Old Testament had plans to redeem his chosen through Jesus in the New Testament helps us understand not the main point of Acts, but God's main point.

We may read a blurb about David, a man after God's own heart, and hope to emulate his devotion (you know, before he went bad).  But the story of David isn't about David at all, it's about God.  Reading scripture with this new mindset I believe will help me understand more clearly the nature of God and keep me from reading scripture with my own point of views.

I turned in a paper yesterday for my Dynamics in Biblical Change that had me write extensively on a time in my life where I've experienced significant suffering.  It was hard to do, relive a painful memory.  However, when I started to remember a specific moment in my life, other memories from different times in my life popped up that were similar to that time.  My reaction to the "suffering", if not grounded in Christ, would lead to false interpretations of the world.

In similar ways, analyzing one moment in these kids' lives will not get me very far.  Understanding their patterns and the usual reactions to situations will slowly but surely provide more clarity on what they are experiencing and more importantly, what they are not believing about God.  How they react to whatever they may be experiencing and suffering may show a glimmer of what their false beliefs are.  For the first kid, this behavior is brand new.  Last year, they were so helpful, quick to be goofy.  We don't know what changed and why they feel the need to stonewall when "suffering."  For the second kid, we see this behavior a lot.  It's easier to see they may find their worth in being more athletic than everyone else and getting out in four-square (or plastic baseball) reveals flaws and weaknesses.

I'm excited to see how God shapes my story from birth to death, from completely separated from him to enjoying my new heavenly body in heaven (2 Cor. 5).  Pray as we seek to share the gospel with these kids.  Pray God would soften their hearts to receive him and that their "sufferings" would one day be given to a completely sovereign Lord.

Jovan, our other 4th grader, helping transport mulch during our Action Day.
He's a beast.  He probably did more work than the adults.

Take Some Time

I'm a person who is willing to open up, but often don't.  I keep to myself.  I'm quiet in big groups, even small ones.  However, if you ask me a specific question about something going on in my life, I feel blessed with the freedom to be open and share.

In the past two weeks, I've started my biblical counseling classes and the material I'm reading is transforming my approach on the word of God.  In just the past two weeks, I've already read more than probably the last year combined.  In CrossTalk, a book written by one my professor's, he concludes every chapter with discussion questions (either for the reader or for small groups to answer).  Despite not having direct communication with the author, taking the time to answer his questions helps me open up to myself, revealing things about myself that I don't often think about.

I want to ask you some of these questions, but more importantly, I want you to answer them.  These questions have much to do with your intake of God's word and are helpful to highlight tendencies and motivations.

-Which verses, passages, or books of the Bible do you tend to return to again and again? Why?

-Are there parts of the Bible you have never read? Why?

-What does your "intake" of Scripture look like? Do you have a reading plan? Do you tend toward reading larger chunks of Scripture or toward more focused study? Why might both approaches be important?

-Have you read the Bible for cover to cover? If not, what keeps you from doing so? If yes, do you continue that discipline on a regular basis?

I'll be honest, sometimes the Bible is not something I want to pick up and read.  Much of the book is confusing, even with a special study Bible.  I don't know where to open up and read, what reading plan to do, how much to read.  These questions are not to intimidate you, but to encourage you to be honest with yourself and with God about your relationship in accordance to Him and His word.  I've written two papers already for my classes and they have been a pleasure to work on.  My most recent paper's objective was simply What passage of Scripture has proved most significant for you, either lifelong or recently? What makes these words relevant? What do these words address in you and in your circumstances? What does it say about God that you needed to hear? How exactly does this passage make a difference? How have you been changed?  It felt like doing maintenance on my weary soul.  Taking the time to revel in the memory of a powerful interaction from my relationship with the Lord was like catching up with a good friend, remembering the good times, but so much better than that.

If you take the time to answer any of these questions, no obligation, but I'd love to hear about your time with the Lord.  It's good to share with brothers and sisters about what God is doing in our lives.  Let's encourage one another!

God has been speaking to me through these counseling classes and he isn't finished yet.

In reducing the amount of responsibility I have at the after school program in order to focus on these classes, I do miss seeing the kids on Fridays (Fun Fridays).  Last week the kids constructed houses, buildings, and other architectural creations out of boxes and cardboard.  Below is my favorite, for obvious reasons.

Check out this basketball arena that Jovan made during a building project at the after school program! Awesome!

So it begins!

Welcome to the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year!!!!  We are currently in our first week of school here in Duval County and the two:fiftytwo After School Program is underway.  We have 15 kids enrolled and 12 of them are returning students!  There were questions as to whether or not a few of them would come back due to some families moving away.  Thankfully, for right now, those few are able to continue in our ministry and continue to build relationships with us and God.  As the kids get used to structure once again at school and our program, please pray that they get acclimated smoothly and that our relationships with their families and teachers would help create a safe environment in their lives where they can Live the truth of the gospel, Learn as scholars, and Lead their community forward.

This is Amaria.  This is her second year with us and she is now in 3rd grade.  I had the privilege of reading a book called Pool Party with her Monday and Tuesday.  When we got to a part in the book where the dog couldn't see color, Amaria started asking questions about colorblindness.  She wanted to know what her dog saw when it looked at her.  Here are the pictures I showed her.  She giggled saying, "That's weird."

Something else that has been encouraging me lately is the number of former two:fiftytwo students there are in our Connect Middle School Program.  Now that I help out with the middle schoolers every Monday and Thursday, I get to continue those relationships and talk through some more "mature" subjects.  Middle school is another whole ballgame.  If you have taught both elementary and middle school, you know exactly what I mean.  At Connect, there are more advanced Bible lessons, life skills, cooking classes, art lessons, games and sports, as well as guest speakers.  While I was in Wisconsin a couple weeks ago, I received this picture in a text while the middle school program was going on.  There goes Diallo waving while they were in the middle of a cooking lesson.  Diallo was an usher at my wedding and I'm blessed to have the opportunity to spend time with him, at least a couple times each week.  Please pray that these middle school students start their year off with good first impressions, discover more and more about who they are and how God created them, and that they learn to put others before themselves.

For all you students, teachers, parents of students, parents of teachers, etc., may God bless your school year and may you acknowledge him in all your ways.

No Other Purpose Than This

What is it about nature that draws us to it?  Looking out into the ocean or staring up at a range of mountains.  Hearing a beautiful song played by a cello choir, seeing so many species of birds in one place, so many trees.  I envy the first man, Adam, at times.  He got to experience all of God's creation as it was intended to be, uninterrupted by cars, not torn up by paved roads.  Just Adam and the trees, the waters, the creatures of the air and the creatures of the sea, and God.  Growing up, my family would vacation frequently in Colorado.  I'd stare out the window in awe of the size of the rocks and trees as we drove through mountains to get to where we needed to go.  Not only on vacation, but I often imagine what an area looked like before all of man's creation took place.  Five hundred years ago, before this Target and it's huge parking lot and competing businesses were here, how tall did the trees grow?  What animals roamed the earth?  Because I grew up in the suburbs and now in the big city of Jacksonville, I can start to believe that most of the earth is now tainted with the works of man.  That thought get completely obliterated when I fly in a plane.  As we take off, people shrink as though ants, then invisible.  Cars shrink as though fleas, then invisible.  Streets, small neighborhoods, big neighborhoods, even big cities, become as small as insects.  I quickly realize that my problems, my network of relationships, my goals compared to the vastness of God's creation are nearly invisible.

I was fortunate in the past couple weeks to travel with my wife and her parents on an Alaskan cruise.  Talk about a large piece of creation barely touched by man.  There are many places that people live in Alaska that can only be reached by boat or sea plane.  Very few roads.  When Alaska was purchased from Russia, it was thought to be a dumb purchase, a waste of money (despite only paying two cents per acre), until gold, oil, and other minerals were discovered.  As we took a nine-hour long train ride one day, there were references to the 9.2 earthquake of 1964 that completely demolished certain areas.  From that earthquake, the trees created a time table based on where and when those trees began to grow again.  Dramatic shifts in the earth were pointed out by our guide on what altitude some land used to reside.  I just seemed very small.  Very very small.  In one hundred years, "Andrew Vollmer" will probably not be talked of again (referring to me, I realize I don't solely own that name).  I'll be gone, yet it will still rain, the earth will still rotate, life will carry on.  So what's the point of all this?  Why am I even here?  God sees a thousand years as a day and a day as a thousand years.  He knows when the next volcano will erupt, when the next forest fire will happen, where the glaciers will melt to.  We play but a very tiny role in eternity.  I like this quote from Dead Poet's Society. "To quote from Whitman, 'O me! O life!...of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless...of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?' Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?"

We are mortal beings.  We will die someday.  There's no getting around that.  I talked about the trees, the waters, the mountains, the animals, all that God had made.  But He made one thing is his own image.  Man.  As I've contemplated my life the past few years living in Brentwood, ministering to those that have needs and pains and struggles, I see so many metaphors running into each other in a beautiful symphony of colors and sounds and tempos and tones and timbres.  Ripples (my actions can impact my sphere of influence).  Mirrors (the light of Christ reflects off of me for others to see).  Instruments (we are to be used by God for his song).  Although it is tempting to move to Alaska, build a cabin, and hunt and fish in seclusion for the rest of my life, just me and God, that is not my purpose.  To put it plainly, my purpose is to make disciples of Jesus Christ, make it known to others that he exists and that he has come to walk on his creation to save his creation from the evils of the world and our hearts and is alive today, still at work.

As a new school year is around the corner, I'm excited at the opportunities to continue to build relationships with the kids, their families, and making Christ known in this neighborhood.  At times when I just don't think they are getting the gospel or making any progress, God blesses me with signs of hope.

Ripples grow.  Mirrors reflect.  Instruments play.

Check out this Alaska Cello Intensive cello choir all made up of kids between 6 and 16.  They are really good.  We got to see them play (but not in the snow).

One Year and Four

Today is Sunday June 21st, 2015.  Exactly one year ago, I married my beautiful wife and it has been an amazing experience since then.  It has been full of blessings and trials.  We definitely recognize more and more not only our differences, but also how selfish we each can be at times, especially me.  Some of our well-intentioned words and actions can be misinterpreted and create some conflicts.  Although many people have advised us of this, communication is definitely important in understanding each other's desires as well as intentions.  So why am I spending time today writing a blog and not spending time with her currently?  She has been working very hard at her job and has been doing lots of hours.  She is a much harder worker than I am and the people she works for love her.  She is working right now.  She often comes home tired but I feel her level of frustration has plummeted from a year ago.  I don't get to see her at work or everything that she does, but I'm proud of how she has grown this year.  Being married to me can't be a cakewalk either.

I love when we are goofy at the same time.

June 5th, 2015 also marked another less-exciting "milestone".  The two:fiftytwo After School Program completed its fourth year.  This past year was the first year that I led the program on my own and I definitely grew from the experience.  I've never talked in front of a group so constantly and consistently before.  I found that my biggest struggle was not getting sucked into one-on-one interactions when I had to oversee the whole program.  Despite learning a ton, I did recognize that being the front lead guy was not for me.  I know God had me there for a reason and I'm sure that the experience has helped me develop confidence and a voice that I haven't used as much before.  My future plans currently are to remain with 2nd Mile Ministries, attend the after school program and take a smaller role, start attending Connect (our middle program), and take a couple counseling classes.  I've been curious about counseling for a few years now and I'm hoping God will either open or close this door definitively.  At times I can be a very quietly opinionated and judgmental person, but often when someone is going through a difficult time, I've visually seen God's power heal people just through simply listening and praying with people.  Philippians 4:6-7 has become reality for some people in my past, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Many kids in this neighborhood go through so much mental and emotional struggles that often translate into some very negative life decisions consequently.

Please pray for Missi and me as we approach our second year of marriage still learning the ins and outs of scheduling, communicating, resting, and being intentional with our lives and each other.

Lastly, I want to mention Summer Day Camp (SDC) coming up!  In exactly 8 days, approximately 65 kids between the ages of 5 and 12 will walk through North Pearl Baptist Church's doors to enjoy Challenge Circle, worship, healthy snacks, dancing, music, education, reading, sports, art, and Bible lessons.  The past two years, I've led the Sports Station and helped with the Music Station.  This year, I'll be venturing new territory by leading the Education Station, the Bible Station, as well as leading a circle in our loud and active Challenge Circle game.  Pray I don't lose my voice too many days.  I feel like this will be the very best year of camp so far because we will be focusing on continuing their learning, reading, math, and writing skills that are so often forgotten and not worked on over the summer.  Last year, we experimented with a Book Reading Program that had huge success, even awarding the top 6 student participants a day at Jacksonville's Adventure Landing (an awesome water park)!

If you have any interest in donating sports equipment, art supplies, or Dollar Tree toys/school supplies/etc., they can be sent to North Pearl Street Baptist Church at 4003 N. Pearl St., Jacksonville, FL, 32206.  If you'd like to donate financially to the camp, or even the ministry as a whole, you can at 2ndmile-jax.com and click the "Donate" tab and make a one-time or monthly donation.

Now that I've caught you up on the vague details of my life the past few months, I'd like to tell you about Boys Day.

Boys Day is just how it sounds, a day with just the boys, and male leaders.  All 7 boys were able to come which was the most we've ever had for a Boys Day.  Dionte, Mekhi, Ferrell, Christian, Jovan, Caden, and Agel were picked up, driven to Firehouse Subs where they paired up and shared sandwiches, then driven to the beach where they all ran into the ocean and began playing "Moss" with the football (to Moss somebody is to make an incredible catch with others going for the catch as well, like wide receiver, Randy Moss).  Unfortunately, some very dark thunder clouds caused us to leave twenty minutes later.  All of the boys were behaving, having fun, and including one another in their games.  In years past, the new kids to the program often got left out.  I'm glad we waited until the school year was out.  It was awesome to see certain boys previously exiled now included and building their friendships.  We drove back to the church and played board games and Moss outside.  Despite the unpredictable weather, it was an amazing end to a solid year of the program.  Although there were times throughout the year that I wanted to strangle a kid (figuratively), I left that year with a genuine love for each and every one of those kids.  It is incomprehensible the feeling of being clearly used by God.  He doesn't need us in this neighborhood to display His love and power, but I can see where Mekhi was in 2nd grade, often sad, medicated, occasionally throwing chairs in anger, fidgety and now he's going into 5th grade, often laughing, no longer medicated, creative, rarely angry.  I see a 2nd grade Challah, so kind-hearted and full of joy, now finishing 5th grade getting to put that kind-heartedness to use by making friends with some of the unpopular girls in the program.  Even though there are new 2nd graders in the program who have problems with conflict and their academics, I now have evidence, experience, and confidence that God can and will continue to use us in their lives as well as their family's to bring them closer to Jesus.