Goals!

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

We try to teach the boys we work with that God wants to give them hope and a future, so they need to have goals to try to reach. One of our boys just brought one of his first papers home from school for us to look at. He got a 10/10 and had an excellent comment from the teacher. She ask them to write a paper in English about their goals for school and their future. Also what they want to get out of her class. I would like to share a portion of his perfect paper, he was so very proud of.

* My goals for school would be to graduate high school. Pass all of my required classes so that I can finish High School. Then when I turn 18 and have my High School diploma, I'm going to enlist in the Army or some type of branch. For the simple fact that it will guarantee me a job when I get out of the Army or any other branch. Then I feel that God is calling me to ministry with youth....... I just want to learn what you teach me and I will try to my best ability to learn how to do it. I hope we do a lot of reading cause I really like to read. I may not be good at it but I like to do it. *

This was just a portion but the main thing I wanted to point out, is that this is a young man that about 2 years ago just wanted to give up on life, and was a very angry boy wanting to make everyone else around him miserable. God has done some remarkable changes in this boy's life and we are blessed to be able to witness these changes because of some of you who make this ministry possible.

His teacher replied with a little note that says: James, You seem to have the insight and maturity of people much older than you. You clearly bring a wealth of wisdom to this class and I'm happy to have you here. Let me know what I can do to help you reach your goals!

This is exactly the encouragement he needed to start this year out, because at the end of the year last year, we saw a little sign of him giving up on his school work.

Please pray for James schooling, anger issues, rejection issues and an unspoken issue that he needs to work on.

We see this look on his face a lot more than we see the look in the top picture. We like the new look. What about you?