Go into all the world and share the Good News. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. These mandates “blow our minds.” It seems unachievable and beyond our imagination. That perspective, however, discounts what God can do—the God of all power and wisdom, who loves the world and knows when a sparrow falls.

There were many examples during the mission trips in the Dominican Republic this summer of God’s power to use Samuel’s Fund to share the Gospel and to love children in His name. One of the many blessings of a sponsorship is the opportunity to connect personally with a child—sharing emails, Facebook messages, letters, pictures, and above all a personal visit.

Mark is a sponsor who was able to visit his sponsored child, coincidentally named Samuel. He is an angry little boy, acting out at home and in school. Samuel’s dad has moved to another country in search of a better job and he knows that frequently fathers never return. “Do you have a Bible?” Mark asked. When the answer was no, Mark purchased a children’s Bible in Spanish. As he gave the Bible to Samuel, Mark asked, “Would you like another gift?” Mark shared the gift of God’s love and Samuel opened his heart to receive that gift, too. Mark comforted Samuel with the knowledge that no matter what happened, he had a heavenly Father who would NEVER leave or forsake. And a sponsor who would always love and never forget him.

Through Samuel’s Fund, we have seen how God is able to take a sponsor’s support and love for a child in a distant land and multiply the “little” we can do into the fulfillment of His mandate to each of us.

The summer intern program at Boothe Campus has been a major component of the activities calendar for over 40 years. Just before school lets out each year, three to five college students move to Boothe Campus for the purpose of becoming extra hands for Joel Bowden, Director of Student Ministries. The young adults remain on campus for 10 weeks, until just before classes are back in session again in August.

Joel began his career at STCH Ministries as a summer intern in 2012, serving three consecutive summers, and took on his current role once he graduated from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi. Joel is responsible for planning all student activities as well as coordinating volunteers. He describes his job as “a combination children’s and youth pastor – for kids who are here 24/7.” Summertime brings many volunteers to Boothe Campus: church groups spend days or even a week at a time leading vacation Bible school, hosting sports camps, and carrying out work projects. With so many things happening on campus, having the interns as extra help is beneficial.

Being a summer intern is hard work. The hours are long but the schedule is flexible, and there are so many things to do that no one gets bored. The most important work of all is the spiritual investment they make in the lives of children. The interns are encouraged to seek out friendships with the children and even lead Bible studies.

But it’s not “all work and no play” for the interns. The opportunities for residents and interns are plentiful: horseback riding, swim days, game night at the gym, and “dive in” movies at the pool are just a few of the options.  Off-campus activities this year included Hooks baseball games, summer camp, and even a mission trip to the Dominican Republic.

The team of interns includes members from across Texas. Each year two summer missionaries from Go Now Missions, a ministry of Texas Baptists, join the team. This summer, Jaci Fulton from Telephone, Texas, and Israel (Izzy) Pereyra, from El Paso, Texas, felt called to STCH Ministries.

Izzy says that God has given him a heart for young people. “To see so many kids and youth who have been hit by life at such a young age, and be able to show them the love of a Heavenly Father, is an amazing opportunity.” What impacted him the most, he says, was “the love the kids show you…even though they have every reason to shut out the world.”

Some interns have a personal connection to STCH Ministries that keeps them coming back, such as parents who work at the children’s home.  Intern Mark Nauman is the son of houseparents at Marshall Cottage. Benjamin and Leah Brewer are the son and daughter of a staff member from the development office. All three have served as summer interns previously and were welcomed back eagerly by the children on campus.

Leah says that being an intern has been a wonderful experience, and these experiences are what keep her coming back. “Living on campus gives me the opportunity to actively disciple the kids, to truly model the character of Christ,” she says.

These committed young adults have now completed their summer-long marathon of ministry. But even though they have returned to their college studies, they have left countless memories in the hearts of children in care at Boothe Campus.

This article was written by Karen Knowlton, Licensed Professional Counselor and Registered Play Therapist at STCH Ministries.

You would think that this title is an oxymoron, but I will explain this title as I go on with my story. Grief Share was introduced to me about two years ago. I had to participate in order to lead a group through the course. During that time, I was able to deal with some of my own unresolved grief. I had lost my Mom, my Dad, and then my brother-in-law that I had known since I was about eight years old. He became family when I was about eleven.

Going into this group I did not think that I had unresolved grief. I quickly discovered I could not deny my feelings. That group was the beginning of my grief journey. I didn’t start out my counseling career thinking I would focus on grief! As I sat there I thought to myself, more people need to be able to find the relief I did through this program.

Here are three stories from the Grief Share groups that I have led. This program has now served people from numerous communities in South Texas.

DORIS*

Doris joined Grief Share 14 days after her husband passed away from cancer. Doris was angry. Doris was very angry. The people in the group poured love into Doris every time she would lash out her anger at God, at the doctors, and at the hospital. Several told her that she may not be ready for Grief Share, but Doris insisted on staying and made every session. At the end of the Grief Share experience, Doris was mildly better and had her anger somewhat under control.

Doris came to the next round of Grief Share and during this time she was amazed that she did not remember seeing the videos or remember many of the discussions.  She was saved when she was young but had strayed from her relationship with Christ. Through Grief Share, her relationship grew deeper as Christ began healing. Doris was finally beginning to deal with the death of her husband. During this group she gave the testimony that if it weren’t for the previous Grief Share group she probably would have wrapped her car around a tree to end her misery. But, she wanted to come back to Grief Share and tell us that we were wrong and she was right in her anger! Doris admitted at the end of the second round of Grief Share that she was the one that was wrong and that she still needed help in dealing with her feelings of grief. She needed to learn how to move forward with her life, as she has a thriving business to continue to run and her only son had kept it afloat during this time.

Doris returned for the third round of Grief Share and was open to learning and sharing and helping others in the group deal with their feelings and anger. Doris just completed her third round of Grief Share and stated that if it wasn’t for Grief Share she wouldn’t be able to function in life.

MONA & JENNY*

Mona & Jenny are sister-in-laws who had both lost their husbands within a year of each other. One lost hers to a long illness, while the other discovered her husband in the fields where he was working, dead from a heart attack.

Mona was suffering from severe anxiety and could not drive without becoming hysterical. Jenny would drive her sister-in-law places and check on her, and then her own husband died unexpectedly, leaving the two women to depend on each other and God. The pastor of their church had heard about Grief Share in Beeville and suggested they contact FBC Beeville to find out about classes. They showed up during the 6^th session and fit right into the group.

After a few weeks Jenny related a story about having trouble with her children and processing all the legal ends of the death. One day after a particularly arduous day, she was driving home and pulled over to the edge of the highway. She pulled a gun out of the glove compartment that she always kept there and sat for two hours contemplating using that gun. Jenny felt as though she lost her husband and now was losing the relationship with her daughter and life just felt too hard to live anymore. She remembered her dog that she got when her husband died to help keep guard of their place in the country and wondered who would take care of her dog. She placed the gun back in the glove compartment and continued home that evening. Jenny stated that Grief Share has shown her ways to deal with her feelings, shown her that there is still purpose in her life.  She is now active at her church.

Mona testified at the end of the 14th session that she was finally able to drive in the daytime and had begun volunteering to help keep her mind off of her problems. She continues to be active in her church as well.

Both ladies now feel that they are ready to face their lives without their husbands, knowing that God isn’t finished with them yet. They say they are still lonely but have dealt with the underlying anger of being left behind by their spouses.

DESTINY*

Destiny came in on week 7 of the group. She had lost her mother nine months previously and her husband three months earlier. Destiny was feeling lost and lonely and was angry that she was alone. Destiny committed to Grief Share and opened up each time, sharing through tears of all the things that she was experiencing not having her husband to come home to every night. She talked through her feelings each week, with the other ladies sharing their similar feelings, and began her process of healing.

Destiny came to the celebration of Grief Share ending and stated that she had a story to tell us. She shared that before she came to Grief Share that she sat on the side of the bed one night with a gun in one hand and a bottle of pills in the other, trying to decide which was the best route to take to end her misery. Destiny was a dedicated Christian, and knew that this was not the right answer, but she was so lonely she couldn’t see going on any longer. She finally went to sleep and the next morning called the hospice group that had handled her husband’s case and they referred her to our Grief Share group. Little did any of us know that Destiny was that close to ending it all, and that our group was her last reach to God for help in her situation.

Destiny plans to return to our next session of Grief Share to continue her journey of healing.

* Names have been changed to maintain confidentiality.

I share these stories with you to tell you that I have learned two things:

1. Grief is every bit as life threatening as cancer and if left unresolved it can destroy a person.  Anger plays a huge part of grief.  Anger also destroys relationships.  Depression is also a part of grief and has a negative impact on the person who is grieving.

2.  Obeying God’s lead is so important.  When God plants that desire in your heart to do something, whether it is teaching a Sunday school class or volunteering for VBS or whatever the case may be, God has a plan and a purpose that is beyond your knowledge and following Him could save someone’s life.

The first time it was shared with me that one of these ladies almost chose death over life and gave credit to Grief Share and my leading the class, I took it with a grain of salt and thought it was coincidental. But God has always known that I require more confirmation than a one-time story.  He has allowed me to hear story after story.

Last night when I heard Destiny’s story, I shared it with my husband and I just broke into tears as he told me it was due to my obedience to Christ that these women are looking to me, trusting me, and listening to God again.  It was such a moving realization of the impact we have on people when we follow God’s lead and are obedient to His will.

Trust me, after working a full day in counseling and then adding three more hours in the evening, I have thought I’m not doing this again, but if you noticed, two of three of these cases came into group mid-way and needed to go through the course again.  Knowing that kept me going.

I feel so blessed by hearing, and finally believing after last night, that maybe I did make a difference in someone’s life today.  And that my friend is where I find that grief brings joy!

To find out more about Grief Share, contact STCH Ministries Family Counseling at 1.833.83.STCHM.