Boldness from the Lord!

When I came to In the Gap, I was hoping to be able to work with all younger kids, but when I found out that I was on the list to teach a 6th grade class, I was seriously scared. The first week of teaching went smoothly, but I didn’t want to talk much so I let my teaching partner do most of the talking. The 6^th graders seemed to be staring at me with their intimidating faces. To say I was a bit shy would be an understatement. But this week was a little different. You see, I asked the Lord to give me boldness to overcome my fears. He did! This week the classroom went amazingly well and I could already feel my confidence rising. After our teaching time, I headed to the cafeteria to go eat with the kids. When I arrived, I sat at a table with one girl from my 6th grade class. I had just started up a small conversation with her when three other girls from the same class came up to sit down.

“Hey, you teach our class” one pointed out. Just minutes after they were seated, one girl opened up and shared her heartbreaking story of how both of her parents and one of her older brothers had died just 6 months ago. She went on to say how she now lives with her Aunt, and that her older sister is “pregnant and she shouldn’t be”. Only one of her five siblings has any sort of relationship with her. As she continued her story, my heart was overwhelmed to hear what this young girl was going through. When she finished, she added that her favorite thing to do was to come to school on Thursdays—which is the day that we teach her character class! I am so thankful that God gave me the boldness to talk with her and just to listen to her story. Please continue to pray for the children we work with and even children all over the world who have similar stories as this 6^th grader. Pray that God would give them a desire to know Him!

Emily M.