(*this picture was taken 2 1/2 years ago...)
I am so thankful tonight for a blog. I have the ability to go back and read much of what I have seen the Lord do in the lives of some many children we know. (including my OWN!!!!!)
The past couple of weeks have been rough for us as a ministry. So much warfare(as it always is on any mission field) to fight through. I needed some truth last night.( I need some everyday to be honest) As I was reading old blog post I came across some old pics/blog post of Delta and I with a few of the girls in our hood. Tears begin to hit my cheek as I recall meeting these girls and getting to know them. They were really babies( I mean they still are now but...) I mean kindergarten,first and second grade, some pre school. Now we are talking junior high school. I begin to think about all the Truths the Lord used Delta and I to share with them early on. The songs we sang, the conversation and fun we had. Then I begin to think about all the teen pregnancy that is happening within our community. All the talk about sex and boys. I begin to cry of depression within minutes. Oh, God, NO MORE!! Please bring an end to all this borkeness and never ending cycles of proverty.... I prayed and asked the Lord to help these girls remember these Truths as they got older. To remind them of all that they have learned, and been taught and seen in our lives as we try to live the gospel out before them. I am so scared for each of them, I find myself in fear most nights. I know I have to TRUST the Lord, he has promised to never leave them nor forsake them. I am thankful for all the past couple of years of having the priviledge to sow seeds of hope into their lives. Our hope is that this generation will hear the call of the Lord through hearing the word preached to them consistantly. Kevin brough up a very good fact to me today, he says " babe, these kids have been with us EVVERYDAY for the past 3 years, learning about God and watching us live out our faith before them..." That brings chills to my body. There is HOPE, becaus the bible says, How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?..(Romans 10) God is planting some serious seeds in the hearts of these kids.
I am praying tonight that they call on Him as he desires to tell them great and unsearchable things they don't even know.
*(last year pic of some of the girls from the above picture*)
Please pray for these girls, that they don't end up another statistic. Pray for their purity and faith in God. Pray as well for all the pregnancies we have had to come up within the past 3 weeks. Its overwhelming. I cant even begin to explain.
Lord have mercy!!!!!!!
Teen Pregnancy FACTS:
The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world. Teen pregnancy costs the United States at least $7 billion annually. Thirty-four percent of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20 -- about 820,000 a year. Eight in ten of these teen pregnancies are unintended and 79 percent are to unmarried teens. The teen birth rate has declined slowly but steadily from 1991 to 2002 with an overall decline of 30 percent for those aged 15 to 19. These recent declines reverse the 23-percent rise in the teenage birth rate from 1986 to 1991. The largest decline since 1991 by race was for black women. The birth rate for black teens aged 15 to 19 fell 42 percent between 1991 to 2002. Hispanic teen birth rates declined 20 percent between 1991 and 2002. The rates of both Hispanics and blacks, however, remain higher than for other groups. Hispanic teens now have the highest teenage birth rates. Most teenagers giving birth before 1980 were married whereas most teens giving birth today are unmarried.The younger a teenaged girl is when she has sex for the first time, the more likely she is to have had unwanted or non-voluntary sex. Close to four in ten girls who had first intercourse at 13 or 14 report it was either non-voluntary or unwanted.
Teenage Pregnancy Consequences
Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school (only one-third receive a high school diploma) and only 1.5% have a college degree by age 30. Teen mothers are more likely to end up on welfare (nearly 80 percent of unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare).The children of teenage mothers have lower birth weights, are more likely to perform poorly in school, and are at greater risk of abuse and neglect.The sons of teen mothers are 13 percent more likely to end up in prison while teen daughters are 22 percent more likely to become teen mothers themselves.