Moving On

Things seem to change so quickly. Two weeks ago I wrote about a tragedy that shook our community. Today that seems like a distant memory. The family is still hurting, and our volunteers and staff still make an extra effort to connect with the children two or three times a week, but other than that it seems like life is back to normal and Kathleen is spoken of in fun memories and matter-of-fact stories rather than with tears.

The repercussions of her death are still coming, though. Volunteers have had their eyes opened, and children have had their tongues loosened. I’ve had volunteers calling me this week about two different 10 year olds involved in self-mutilation: they are noticing these things now and want to know how they should respond. Two mothers in the community have broken their self-sufficient façade and asked for help in dealing with the issues in their lives. Trainers from a suicide intervention course called us and offered their services at a reduced fee to train our staff and volunteers, which we in turn are able to share with other community workers who feel so alone in their work. We are finding more and more openness to cooperation through out different organizations in the North End as we see that the need is bigger than we can address on our own. And through it all the sun shines, children laugh, volunteers continue their piggy-back rides and games of tag while we tell of Christ’s love which has the power to change lives. It really does. So in the end the piggy-back rides, counselling sessions, suicide intervention training, and swimming lessons all pale in comparison to the reason behind everything we do: to bring the good news that Jesus is ALIVE, that He is POWERFUL to save, and that in this crazy world of ours, He notices us and LOVES us.