Church Camp and Deadbeat Parents

[Sailor]

I feel your pain.

I was on the board of directors for a YMCA camp for 5 years or so. Many problem children would attend, disrupting the other campers. There was always a fine line between working with them or sending them home. It was likely the only positive attention they may get from adults/counselors that these kids may have had in a long while.

 

[gregr]

I feel your pain.

I was on the board of directors for a YMCA camp for 5 years or so. Many problem children would attend, disrupting the other campers. There was always a fine line between working with them or sending them home. It was likely the only positive attention they may get from adults/counselors that these kids may have had in a long while.

Yeah, an awful lot of kids don`t really have much of a chance, when you see what their parents are about.

 

[Gluemanz28]

I have a story to share with you BM

We had a teenage neighbor living next door to us. He was all of 13 years old when they moved in.

His parents had an opportunity to move to a better neighborhood and get out of the inner city.

Ricky is his name and his was a bright young man. We invited him to church and he said he'd like to go. We talked to his parents and got the ok from them.

We took Ricky to church for five years with us. His parents never too or picked him up once.
We gave him rides to school if he missed the bus and took him to work or picked him up when he couldn't find a ride.

Ricky's parent split up. Mom moved in with a boyfriend and Dad sat in the house drinking all the time.

Ricky graduated high school a year later and moved in with his sister. His sister and boyfriend were dopers and before long Ricky was sliding down a slippery slope.

We didn't hear from Ricky for about a year, then one day he knocks on the door and falls in our arms weeping. He said he needed help getting his life back.

I made a call to a good friend that is the Director at North Central Indiana Teen Challenge.
Rickey was in the program the following day.

Rickey just graduated the program and is headed to Kansas City to be part of the International House Of Prayer Ministry.
During the banquet Rickey said that the time that he spent in church gave him the strength to seek help and over come the addictions. He said that going to church was only possible because of neighbors that were more than neighbors, they were parents to me.

I can can tell you that I moaned and groaned a lot during the five years of hauling Ricky around especially when his parents car was parked in the drive as I drove to go get him or take him to work.

Mrs Glueman is what kept me ground and reminding my that we are supposed to store our treasures in heaven and not look at earthly rewards.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I have a story to share with you BM

You remind me that talk is cheap. Too few people actually walk the walk, like you and your wife.

 

[churchmouse]

Glueman.....I can see you doing this.
Far to many people have children and are not parents.

 

[Gluemanz28]

You remind me that talk is cheap. Too few people actually walk the walk, like you and your wife.

Glueman.....I can see you doing this.
Far to many people have children and are not parents.

I'm not in any way trying to brag on myself because it's not about me it's about the people in my life that taught me and were living examples of good men that were backed by great women.

When I was young I grew up in Muncie. We had a neighbor that was an old German guy. He kept to himself and would take his wheelbarrow and walk the one block to Cap and Cork liquor store on the first of the month and load up on supplies for the month.

We we never saw people come and see old Mike until the summer when his cherry trees got ripe. Then it was a full blown party with 20-30 people there. When the party was over the cherry trees and grape vines were bare of their fruit and Mike was alone again.

It was during a hard winter one year that Dad decided we should check on old Mike. Mike was skin and bones, he had been living on V8 vegetable juice and saltine crackers for the winter. No family to check on him.

Mom would fix a plate of food and I would take it to Mike. He would start crying every time I took him food.
It was hard for a kid to see and I didn't understand all of it until later in life.

Dad made me and my older brother promise that we would never let that happen to him.

Im just a sinner saved by grace. God has done a lot of changing in me but I'm still a work in progress. He has tons more work to do and that come out when my buttons get pushed.

 

[churchmouse]

I'm not in any way trying to brag on myself because it's not about me it's about the people in my life that taught me and were living examples of good men that were backed by great women.

When I was young I grew up in Muncie. We had a neighbor that was an old German guy. He kept to himself and would take his wheelbarrow and walk the one block to Cap and Cork liquor store on the first of the month and load up on supplies for the month.

We we never saw people come and see old Mike until the summer when his cherry trees got ripe. Then it was a full blown party with 20-30 people there. When the party was over the cherry trees and grape vines were bare of their fruit and Mike was alone again.

It was during a hard winter one year that Dad decided we should check on old Mike. Mike was skin and bones, he had been living on V8 vegetable juice and saltine crackers for the winter. No family to check on him.

Mom would fix a plate of food and I would take it to Mike. He would start crying every time I took him food.
It was hard for a kid to see and I didn't understand all of it until later in life.

Dad made me and my older brother promise that we would never let that happen to him.

Im just a sinner saved by grace. God has done a lot of changing in me but I'm still a work in progress. He has tons more work to do and that come out when my buttons get pushed.

We are all the sum total of our lifes experiences. Everything we have seen/done/been.
How we share this is what matters.
The OP is making a difference. You are doing the same. There is a lesson in this.

 

[BE Mike]

I have a story to share with you BM

We had a teenage neighbor living next door to us. He was all of 13 years old when they moved in.

His parents had an opportunity to move to a better neighborhood and get out of the inner city.

Ricky is his name and his was a bright young man. We invited him to church and he said he'd like to go. We talked to his parents and got the ok from them.

We took Ricky to church for five years with us. His parents never too or picked him up once.
We gave him rides to school if he missed the bus and took him to work or picked him up when he couldn't find a ride.

Ricky's parent split up. Mom moved in with a boyfriend and Dad sat in the house drinking all the time.

Ricky graduated high school a year later and moved in with his sister. His sister and boyfriend were dopers and before long Ricky was sliding down a slippery slope.

We didn't hear from Ricky for about a year, then one day he knocks on the door and falls in our arms weeping. He said he needed help getting his life back.

I made a call to a good friend that is the Director at North Central Indiana Teen Challenge.
Rickey was in the program the following day.

Rickey just graduated the program and is headed to Kansas City to be part of the International House Of Prayer Ministry.
During the banquet Rickey said that the time that he spent in church gave him the strength to seek help and over come the addictions. He said that going to church was only possible because of neighbors that were more than neighbors, they were parents to me.

I can can tell you that I moaned and groaned a lot during the five years of hauling Ricky around especially when his parents car was parked in the drive as I drove to go get him or take him to work.

Mrs Glueman is what kept me ground and reminding my that we are supposed to store our treasures in heaven and not look at earthly rewards.

You are true Christians and I'm sure your treasures in heaven are piled high! BTW, it is very human to gripe a little when doing good, so don't beat yourself up. It all worked out in the end.

 

[BE Mike]

I'm not in any way trying to brag on myself because it's not about me it's about the people in my life that taught me and were living examples of good men that were backed by great women.

When I was young I grew up in Muncie. We had a neighbor that was an old German guy. He kept to himself and would take his wheelbarrow and walk the one block to Cap and Cork liquor store on the first of the month and load up on supplies for the month.

We we never saw people come and see old Mike until the summer when his cherry trees got ripe. Then it was a full blown party with 20-30 people there. When the party was over the cherry trees and grape vines were bare of their fruit and Mike was alone again.

It was during a hard winter one year that Dad decided we should check on old Mike. Mike was skin and bones, he had been living on V8 vegetable juice and saltine crackers for the winter. No family to check on him.

Mom would fix a plate of food and I would take it to Mike. He would start crying every time I took him food.
It was hard for a kid to see and I didn't understand all of it until later in life.

Dad made me and my older brother promise that we would never let that happen to him.

Im just a sinner saved by grace. God has done a lot of changing in me but I'm still a work in progress. He has tons more work to do and that come out when my buttons get pushed.

Some people expect perfection from Christians. I'm not one of them. Far from it, I expect them to have many, many faults. Being a Christian isn't about trying to gain perfection, it is about asking for forgiveness. Good works aren't required either, but it sure is a great witness to your faith.