February 2006
PO Box 2561, Suwanee, GA 30024 Acct. #6137
404-358-6766
Hey everybody!
I'm a high school student at Parkview. Weekdays I go to work at Oakbrook Pointe in Norcross. It's located about thirty minutes away from my house. I started a week before Christmas and now everything's in full swing at the mission. We have around twenty-three kids in our program. I help them with their homework and school projects. The children are elementary school age. After doing homework, we make a craft and I incorporate a Bible story. Today we made crowns and I wrote on them that “Jesus is the Prince of Princes.”
The kids are great and don't cause me much trouble. Then there's Kyrone. He's a fourth grader who can't stand not having ALL the attention. This Monday he wouldn't do his homework, started hitting the younger girls, jumped on the table, and bothered the other kids who were studying. This was unacceptable. I said he “had to go home and could come back tomorrow.” But he wouldn't leave! Adam Webb, my partner at the mission, tried to peacefully take Kyrone out but he started screaming and BIT Adam on the arm leaving visible bite marks!
I took Kyrone by the arm and tried to lead him home. When I attempted this, he retaliated by kicking, punching and biting me as hard as he could. All I could think was “Oh, God give me strength!” I took Kyrone half way home and went back to the mission. Ten minutes later he was back banging on the doors and stuck a stick in the mail shoot. Of course this disrupted the students, so I went out and told him to “Leave and come back tomorrow.”
It wasn't long before everyone in the mission heard a big BANG on the door. I opened the door and there was a hand written note from Kyrone. It said, "I hate you Ashley. You stupid. I'm going to kill you tomorrow. 11 o' clock you're dead!" All this from a fourth grader! I went outside but he was gone. It makes me so sad that the "bad" kids who need the most love are the ones who have to be sent home first.
This new mission can be frustrating but in the end it's so rewarding. Sometimes when I'm driving to work, I think about all the things I need to get done like my homework and my projects. I feel like I'm not making a difference in these kids’ lives. I feel overwhelmed. Spiritual warfare has become intense in my life. Yet once I drive into the complex and the kids start chasing the car yelling, "ASHLEY! ASHLEY!" I remember why I'm called to do this. I love them.
Please pray for me to have patience with these hooligans and the strength to keep going back every day! Thank you for your financial support. I need your help!