Gila Mission Day 5

On Day 4 in the evening we cut up onions, mashed potatoes, chopped nuts and prepared for our thanksgiving meal. This morning we got up and cleaned and decorated the fellowship hall. There were a lot of things going on at the same time. Some where cooking, some where cleaning while others decorated.

That evening we all were ready for our children, VBS and Revival. The kids began to arrive for the last night of VBS. The opening was great and the children excited. I will not write about one of the most scary and real events of the trip. If you would like to know about that please email me.

During that night my class just consisted of Darin (Girl) and Shaylyn. This night like most "Last night" events was an eye opener. Shaylyn and her cousin began to explain things about thier future and the life they live.

Darin - She lives in a neighborhood where she hears gun shots all night. There are sirens a lot that seem to follow the gun shots. She has no ideas for the future. When I asked her why she said "I don't worry about tomorrow because I may not be here tomorrow." My heart about sunk down to the floor when she said that. On the up side she liked to write poetry but it too was riddled with death, suicides and other issue she had seen.

Shaylyn - She is going to be putting her self into boarding school to get away from things at home. I think there was some abuse of some kind but she didn't say anything. She also has had friends that have committed suicide. A lot of her friends are in a gang (she was at one time). She keeps those friends for fear of leaving the gang. She was into cutting at one time. She showed me her arm and there were scars all over. She used poetry as an outlet too. Hers were just as disturbing as her cousins.

That night we did very little of our lesson. Me, Scott and the two youth just spent time talking. I can't say I wasn't shocked about all of this. We kept our cool and then when the went to crafts me and Scott looked at each other with the "I don't know what to do with all of this" look.

That night when it was time to leave Shaylyn began to cry. She didn't want to leave. I felt such a burden for her and her cousin. The group got together that night and discussed a lot of issues. We prayer walked the whole area, reading verses and singing. The Lord was there but so was Satan and his demons. When we had just about finished Woody pulled up and pray with us in Navajo. It was almost as the spirit of evil lifted.

The rest of the night the group just had a good time. We goofed off, ate and spent time in much needed encouragement. Oh yeah and the toilet stopped up for the 3rd time. I had to go in there and cast out the demons.