Graduation was today up in Komarivka for 14 ninth-graders. They are now off on their own.
We’ve been getting ready for graduation for a couple of months. Janna and Meisha put together presents for all 14 graduates. Duffel bags, towels, a Bible, watch and a few other essentials as well as some pictures from their last year in school. We’ve all been working towards getting a house ready for some of the girls so that they can live in a Christ-centered home, finish high school and get the life-skills they need to actually gain independence in life.
The graduating class on the last day of school.
But two days ago, Meisha told me that I had been elected to say something at Graduation for our organization.
My Russian is ok, and its getting better, but I’m not ready to really be doing public speaking. I’ve only been trying to speak Russian for two years.
But how to speak wasn’t my biggest dilemma, it was what to say. Graduation is actually a super depressing day in general. What do you say to a group of kids who are too young, but are about to leave the only supervision they know? What do you say to graduates of a school that totally failed to give them an education? What do you say to kids who are in a orphanage because, for the most part, their parents just didn’t want to deal with the responsibility. What do you say to a group of kids who will, for the most part, end up as teen moms, criminals, alcoholics, and so on?
These were the questions I was wrestling with last night until 1:00 in the morning. I kept asking God, what do I say to them that isn’t negative, but is also not empty words.
The ceremony today was full of empty words. Kolya, our new house dad, told me that every one said pretty much the same thing, and they all pretty much said nothing.
So, I had three points. They had to be simple because that’s where my language is, but I take encouragement from the fact that God uses the simple things of this world to show himself (1 Cor 1)
God loves you.
That’s why we are here. God created them, he has a plan for them. And he loves them. Remember that. Don’t forget that.
I want to give you wisdom
It’s the best gift I could offer. But I can’t give it. Only God can.
Wisdom and God are always connected.
If we have wisdom, we will seek God and if we seek God we will receive wisdom. So seek God. Because he loves us.
I told them that we would be praying for them. And my prayer is that they reach out for God and wisdom when life gets hard. Because I know that very soon life will get very hard for these kids and they haven’t been prepared for it.
We gave them our numbers, and hope that this isn’t goodbye, but for many it usually is.
This is why we want to built and support Christ-centered homes for these kids. We want to be able to teach them, encourage them, disciple them and then actually have some hope when they step out on their own.
We’ve been getting ready for graduation for a couple of months. Janna and Meisha put together presents for all 14 graduates. Duffel bags, towels, a Bible, watch and a few other essentials as well as some pictures from their last year in school. We’ve all been working towards getting a house ready for some of the girls so that they can live in a Christ-centered home, finish high school and get the life-skills they need to actually gain independence in life.
The graduating class on the last day of school.
My Russian is ok, and its getting better, but I’m not ready to really be doing public speaking. I’ve only been trying to speak Russian for two years.
But how to speak wasn’t my biggest dilemma, it was what to say. Graduation is actually a super depressing day in general. What do you say to a group of kids who are too young, but are about to leave the only supervision they know? What do you say to graduates of a school that totally failed to give them an education? What do you say to kids who are in a orphanage because, for the most part, their parents just didn’t want to deal with the responsibility. What do you say to a group of kids who will, for the most part, end up as teen moms, criminals, alcoholics, and so on?
These were the questions I was wrestling with last night until 1:00 in the morning. I kept asking God, what do I say to them that isn’t negative, but is also not empty words.
The ceremony today was full of empty words. Kolya, our new house dad, told me that every one said pretty much the same thing, and they all pretty much said nothing.
So, I had three points. They had to be simple because that’s where my language is, but I take encouragement from the fact that God uses the simple things of this world to show himself (1 Cor 1)
God loves you.
That’s why we are here. God created them, he has a plan for them. And he loves them. Remember that. Don’t forget that.
I want to give you wisdom
It’s the best gift I could offer. But I can’t give it. Only God can.
Wisdom and God are always connected.
If we have wisdom, we will seek God and if we seek God we will receive wisdom. So seek God. Because he loves us.
I told them that we would be praying for them. And my prayer is that they reach out for God and wisdom when life gets hard. Because I know that very soon life will get very hard for these kids and they haven’t been prepared for it.
We gave them our numbers, and hope that this isn’t goodbye, but for many it usually is.
This is why we want to built and support Christ-centered homes for these kids. We want to be able to teach them, encourage them, disciple them and then actually have some hope when they step out on their own.
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