A Mentor Speaks Out About The ROCK. .
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I love my Rock girls. They are all so special to me. God has given me a burden for not only the girls in my group, but for all our children. I am very humbled that He would use me to help them. Many of them are dealing with situations in their lives that no child should ever have to experience. But they do, so I want to help make their lives better. They need healing and so do their families. That healing can only come from God and His plan for salvation. I strive to do my part and allow God to use me to share His healing love with them.
Some of my girls are very well behaved and others are very disruptive and unruly. But I know they all need to be at the Rock. The children that are the hardest to handle are usually the ones that need love the most. It is such a joy to see them grow in the Lord and their behaviors improve. In fact one of my girls that gave me the most problems just a few months ago has made great strides in improving her behavior. I made a point of telling her how proud I was of her and gave her a big hug. She grinned from ear to ear. Her smile was worth more than you can imagine.
Sometimes I feel inadequate, like I am flying by the seat of my pants, so I do a lot of praying. I just keep asking the Lord to help me and guide me and he always does without fail! Praise the Lord!! For example we usually have between 12 and 15 girls in our group and when I first started as a mentor it was always very chaotic trying to get the girls to settle down during our fellowship time. It took so long to get everyone to stop talking and goofing around or fussing with one another that we did not have much time left for a meaningful conversation or lesson. Keeping them all focused can be quite a challenge to say the least. So I really began praying in earnest for God's guidance in how to use our time better. He impressed upon me to use his word. I began to start the fellowship time by reading a few verses or short passage from the Bible about the topic of the evening and it had an amazing, calming effect on the girls. When I start reading God's word almost all of them settle down and pay attention and join in the discussions that follow. We now get into some good conversations but we just have to have some structure or itís chaos. I pray each week for the topic God wants me to talk with them about and use the scriptures as the basis of our conversation. We focus a lot on practical and spiritual advice on how we all should live and how God can help us. Some of the topics we have covered are being kind, loving our enemies, prayer and using the Bible, when we are afraid, salvation, how to behave in the Lord's house, etc.
Our meeting last week is an awesome example of how God is working at the Rock and helping us. Our topic was temptation. After the Bible reading we talked about who is tempted and how and why we should resist it, one of the girls gave me an example of being tempted. She shared that her friends ask her to smoke cigarettes. She said no to them, but she also said she was worried for them and that one or two of them were part of our group there that night. You could have knocked me over with a feather. These girls are only ten years old! She didn't want to embarrass them my naming them, but it opened the door for us to talk with all the girls about it. But there is even more to this story. It never ceases to amaze me how God can use the worst situations in our lives for good. It just so happens that I was late to the Rock that night and did not think I would be able to be there at all. The reason was that I had been at the doctor all afternoon with my precious 21-year-old daughter that I love with all my heart. She was extremely ill due to a chronic lung disease she has. It was so bad she could hardly draw a breath, yet she smokes. The doctor told her that she was living on borrowed time if she doesn't stop smoking, and that she does not have an option, the cigarettes are killing her. If she doesn't quit she is going to die. Needless to say this was a very painful and fresh personal story, but it is also a powerful real life story that God gave me to share with those girls that night. This is the kind of awesome things that God does at the Rock!!
We all do a lot of praying for the Rock program, the workers, the children and their families. We couldn't do it without God's help and guidance. There are lots of battles but there are also lots of victories. What a blessing to serve the Lord and love these kids. There is always laughter, hugs and love all around even on the craziest of nights. We are busting out the seams of our little church with all the children there on Wednesday nights. Praise the Lord!!! It doesn't matter if I don't feel well or am tired or just burdened, when I go to the "Rock"; I am blessed and my spirit is lifted before I leave. There is nothing like helping others and doing God's work to make you forget all your troubles. You haven't lived until you have experienced a sanctuary full of children singing praises to the Lord with all their youthful energy and enthusiasm. Most of them know the words by heart. And what really puts a lump in my throat is when I look around at them and realize that without this "Rock" program many of those children might never be in the Lord's house singing His praises, learning about Him, and ultimately accepting His salvation cause that's what it's all about. I highly recommend the experience to everyone!!!
God Bless,
Lisa Daugherty (Tie Dye)