Email: Stephanie Pashby

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.
- Psalm 126:3

Dearest Friends,
           
The past two months have whirled by me, and it is now time for another update. I’m grateful for your thoughts, prayers, and responses from my last newsletter. They are so encouraging to me.

I’ve had a challenging time during the past couple of months. My heart is broken that our middle school boys would rather skip school and eat pizza than attend class. They have so much potential and yet are not motivated to go to school. I remember my teachers in high school and how their passion made me want to come to school every day. The boys in my neighborhood do not see where going to school will get them in the future. Joining a gang brings instantaneous belonging and makes it a challenge to motivate them to go to school or work.  What’s the point of going to school when at the end of high school college will not be in their future? I don’t place these questions in your mind to discourage you, but rather to illustrate the frustrations that my roommates and I have felt at the vast obstacles that the children in our neighborhood are facing. It is hard to see kids with so much potential not have their talent encouraged or cultivated. They were so surprised to find out that I play the piano, or that one of my roommates was a ballet dancer. I hope in the coming months to encourage them to explore things they want to learn more about.

In regards to interacting with our neighborhood boys, I have battled feelings of inadequacy for some time. What do we have in common that I can reach out to them?  It has taken me some time to discover that God has already given me everything I need.  He has brought me here for a reason (some days I wonder…) and will use me as He has planned. Everything I have is enough; His grace is sufficient and will provide the rest. I like to think of my gifts, faith, and love comprising 10 percent of what get the job done, and God’s grace takes me the rest of the way. There are days when I wonder if I even have 1 percent to give!

Reading through Hebrews this past week, I stumbled across some encouragement: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (10: 23-24). I have been tempted to let go of the hope found in Christ and take matters into my own hands. But God is faithful, and has brought me to this place to lovingly spur these boys on. All hope I have of doing this can only be found in Christ, my inner strength.

Sharing of the joy

The past two months have been joyous times in our neighborhood. We have seen much progress with one of the younger boys, a 5-year-old I’ll call Oscar. Oscar’s parents are my age, and he has a younger brother who is around 15 months old. When I first began to interact with Oscar, he would not listen to what I was saying, and when he didn’t get his own way threw terrible tantrums. He would not do what his mother asked him to do; he would do the opposite and do what he wanted to do. When he came to the community house, he would grab at our paint, books, playdough, and food without first asking us if he could use them.

Oscar now gives us hugs whenever he sees us. My roommates and I sang at a Lenten service about three weeks ago, and we invited some of the kids in our neighborhood to come with us. We were worried that Oscar was going to be a distraction during the service, as he is very active and does not like to sit for long periods of time. We had brought a picture book of the Bible along for one of the girls who does not understand very much English. Oscar and one of the other boys began to fight over the book right after the service started. Oh no, I thought silently.  I began to pry the book away from Oscar’s hands. “Oscar,” I calmly whispered to him, “We need to give the book to Zuri, because she can’t understand the service.” Then I pulled out the program and told him where we were in the service. Oscar started to watch the person who was singing up front, his attention redirected. Then came the pastoral prayer, at which time one of the younger boys got a nose bleed, and three of the girls decided they had to use the bathroom, even though they hadn’t needed to go before the service. This occupied the attention of two of my roommates, and Oscar started to squirm. I gently folded his hands in mine and told him that we were praying. Then I asked him if there was anything he wanted to pray for. He shook his head no, and so I quietly began to whisper in his ear, “God, I thank you so much for Oscar and the boy that you have made him to be. Thank you that he’s here with us tonight.” And as I prayed, Oscar fell asleep in my arms. Oscar slept through the rest of the service.

Ever since the Lenten service, I have seen Oscar’s increased responsiveness to me and my roommates. Throughout Lent, we have put on a prayer walk at our house with several different stations. The walk is open on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Oscar first walked through the prayer walk about three weeks ago with one of my roommates, and the next day he brought his mom and younger brother back through the prayer walk. He was rushing them through each of the stations, eager to show them the next one. I was able to pray with his mom, who asked me to pray for Oscar. Oscar is so rough with his younger brother that when he wants to play nicely, his younger brother will cry anytime Oscar approaches him. I prayed over the two boys and then also prayed over the mother, who is my age, expecting her third child, and trying to support her family by working at Starbucks.

The next week Oscar came back by himself and walked right up to the confession station, which has some rocks and a bucket of water. The station invites you to think of your sin and ask for God’s forgiveness, after which you drop a rock into the water. Oscar’s little eyes were shut, and he was grasping the rock tightly as he dropped it into the water. At the intercession table he told my roommate he wanted to light a candle and pray for his family and his brother. I am so encouraged by Oscar and all of the progress he has made! It is only the Lord, who is doing a good work in him. Please pray for Oscar and his family in the coming months. I cannot think of any more sacred ground than the ground we have been able to walk with Oscar and his family.

Again, thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Please do not hesitate to send me prayer requests that you might have. I would love to stay connected to all that is going on in your lives.

Prayer requests

Our neighborhood kids - prayers are especially coveted for the boys in our neighborhood, that God will work in them and minister to them through us.

English classes - they have come to a halt. Please pray for continued motivation on my part to motivate my students, who have cancelled class with me for a month now.

My internship - please pray for a continued presence of the Lord there. Especially, for a woman who is not in my department but works in my office, that she will come to know the Lord.

Connectedness - that my roommates and I may stay connected to the Lord and each other.

Safety -  There is a gang war going on close to our neighborhood.  Prayers are appreciated for a covering of safety for me and my roommates, but most importantly for the families in our neighborhood. I am very safe, and do not want you to worry.  Pray for the boys in our neighborhood, that they will not be tempted to join up with one side or the other.

Peace,

For more little stories, visit my blog. For more information about homelessness, visit the Web site of People Assisting the Homeless.