Hebrews 13:3 "Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering."
Friday October 5th: we had our annual Retreat event at Youth Guidance Center in Santa Ana! A unique opportunity to eat pizza, play volleyball, have big group & small group discussions & activities with them for 5 straight hours!!!(we usually just get 1 hour) We had 21 young men & women participate. These teens are involved weekly in our Bible studies and church services. I had a chance to get to know some of the Probation Staff members also, they need LOVE too! I was reminded that even though our focus is the youth, God uses our words & actions to be His witness daily to the staff. They watch & hear everything that we do & say!The young men especially opened up to us more than usual that day, while they shared about their growing up experiences & their relationship (or lack of) with their parents/relatives & how it has positively or negatively affected them. Chaplain Rick did an excellent job at organizing this event & leading it.I helped lead the small group for the girls near the end & i shared about purity & how God views beauty VS what the world says beauty is. Shared parts of my painful testimony of eating disorders/depression/bad dating & relationship choices in the past & my journey to believe God thinks i'm beautiful & that i'm His masterpiece!
Psalm 139 says we are FEARFULLY & WONDERFULLY MADE!!!! RECEIVE IT & BELIEVE IT!
Saturday October 13th: Chaplain Rick Johnson & I went to the annual Hoopla Basketball Tournament event hosted by The Bible Church of Buena Park.(My favorite sport is basketball, i so wanted to play!!!!I used to play & coach for many years!) It was a fun field trip for 16 teen boys & Probation staff to leave their Youth Guidance Center & Joplin Youth Center facilities for several hours & play some good ol' ball outdoors & compete! 2 boys who were recently released showed up to join the rest of the boys to play also. Anytime we get a chance to spend time with the teens, i ALWAYS make sure they KNOW that God loves them, has a plan for them & has NOT GIVEN UP ON THEM! I always ask them if they want prayer & they rarely turn that down! So i prayed for them on the court sidelines, listened to their stories & struggles & shared verses of God's scripture w/them. It was great to high five them & cheer for them competing in something POSITIVE & see the teamwork between the players. We ate burgers with them & there was a guest speaker who shared the Gospel (guy in the middle of the pic!)
Friday October 26th: i attended the Graduation Ceremony at Youth Guidance Center (Drug Treatment Center for incarcerated teen boys and girls) It was my 1st graduation ceremony i have ever been to at a youth facility and it was so touching!! I was like a proud mama bear cheering for her teenagers! Several teenagers received their high school diplomas & gave incredible speeches. They were given a rose to walk into the audience & hand to the 1 person who inspired them/supported them. Tears ran down my face as i saw each teen locate their mentor/family member/teacher/supporter who meant the world to them, as both parties hugged & cried! Very emotional moment. There were also many teens who received their GEDs, which is still a huge accomplishment for them! After the ceremony i was able to meet a few of the teens' family members for the first time & let them know how proud i was of their son or daughter/grandson. Seeing them finish their schooling encouraged me & inspired me!!!! Against all their battles & obstacles they are facing, God gives them strength to do what many feel is impossible!!! I was honored to watch them all dressed up in suits, ties & dresses, walking proudly down the aisle with their heads up high, with bright hopes for their future!!!
Luke 1:37 "For NOTHING is impossible with God!"
As you can see, being a Para-Chaplain is NOT just a week day job! I never clock out! If i am not there physically at the 5 different Orange County facilities ministering with teens, i am in the neighborhoods of Santa Ana on the streets reaching out to gang members & their families, praying, fundraising, writing blogs(haha), preparing Bible study or church service lessons, studying the Word, etc. I thank God everyday for this honor, privilege & huge blessing to even be a part of these troubled teens & their families.
THEY INSPIRE ME!
In order for me to continue this awesome ministry God has called me to fulltime, i am in need of your prayer support and financial support! I depend on donations in order to pay for my living expenses/bills/gas etc. If you feel led to give, the info is on the right side of this site! May His peace & love be felt today.As the holiday season is here, the youth have a very tough time being locked up & we have several more events coming up soon to minister to them during Nov and December. Please keep these events in prayers!
Para-Chaplain Michelle Smith aka Rebel for Jesus!!!!
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