Answer to a Half Hearted Prayer

"Why don’t you pray for him?" Those were the words God spoke to me last spring when I was standing next to a person who I really struggled to like and even more to love.  He really annoyed me, was disrespectful, and had a fowl mouth.  And when we had faith nights, he was so disruptive.  I really couldn’t stand being around him, and now God was challenging me to pray for him. 

So I started to pray for him.  But after a while I forgot about praying for him and continued on like normal. I actually started to get along with his friends after working with them during the summer. When he was around I would try to be pleasant enough, but then move along before something inappropriate was said or I got aggravated. 

A couple of months ago during our Lifeline Programme, I was struck by one of my co-workers being extra interested or caring towards him.  “That’s nice,” I thought, but I’m going to continue to keep my distance for now.

A couple of weeks ago at a staff meeting, Tony mentioned that this particular young person was going to be up for a week doing work experience.  He asked if anyone had anything for him to do.  I jumped at the chance of having extra help at our p7 confirmation retreat.  Later I started questioning if this was going to be more of help or a hindrance, but I knew from summer schemes that he was brilliant at working with kids. 

The morning of the retreat, I consciously chose to be positive about him being around.  I knew this would be a great opportunity for him to serve and maybe even grow in his faith.  He was brilliant… all day long!  He was willing to sit next to the kids who were challenging, did anything that I asked him to do, and didn’t even swear.  We were even able to have a conversation about what it means to have the Holy Spirit active in your life. 

At the end of the day, our retreat team took time to honour one another.  To my great surprise, he honoured me for always being energetic even on early summer scheme mornings.  He was sure that I took EZ and vodka for breakfast. This left me in stitches (laughter), and I explained that God was my true high.

Later he told me a story about a time in which I was talking to him and he was off his face (drunk).  I didn’t have a clue, yet he remembers talking to me.  I told him about the time I started to pray for him, in which he concluded that ‘I hated him.’  This continued being the running joke for the week. (True Belfast humour)

As the week of his work experience went on, I was struck by how much I enjoyed having him around and how often I thought about him when I went home at night.  He was challenging the way I did and thought about youth work without even knowing it. Often I try so hard in my job, yet often it’s by just being myself and accepting young people right where they are at when my youth work is most effective. 

What you get when you ask two teenage boys to make you a cup of tea!
They later coming out laughing with real cups of tea.
The joys of youth work.  #afternoontea

Part of the agreement for his work experience was that he would go on our volunteer residential.  It was so good to have him along especially since his normal group of friends weren’t there.  We talked about how he had been cursing less since being up at YI, and I was so proud of him for all the effort he had put forth during the week. 

One of the things I love about our young people is they know exactly where YI stands on faith and God even if they don’t believe in it themselves.  Earlier in the week he said that Sacred Space (Holy Nights) was his least favourite nights yet he still came up because he knew the staff cared about him. During the residential, his team created a summer camp as an activity to get young people off the streets. He left me in stitches when he emphasised the importance of the chapel being central to the camp.  Yes maybe he isn’t really into his faith but he knows that’s important to who Youth Initiatives is. 

On the Saturday night of the residential during the Lord's Day dinner, we share a blessing from our week.  I had been thinking about this a lot over the weekend. On Friday night, I was moved to tears when I was sitting next to Jordan and he told me that he was glad that I lived here.  I was so beyond myself that God had changed my heart and our relationship so much.  A few days of a half hearted prayer and this is what God had done!  My heart overflowed with love for Jordan and other young people like him.  So during our time of thanksgiving, I shared that he truly had been my blessing of my week and taught me more about youth work than I ever could have imagined learning from a young person. 

I’m going to keep praying for Jordan and the other youth I work with.  I’m excited to see what God is going to do and I am honoured that I get to witness the hand of God at work.