Recently, I was asked to participate in the RAP program at our local Boys & Girls Club (Humboldt). As a CEF local director, I have organized official CYIA activities there for several years, mostly in the summer months. However, on this occasion I served as concerned citizen and missionary.
The RAP program is designed to share Christian morals and ethics with the children who go to the Boys and Girls Club at this location. I applaud Mrs. Robinson, their executive director, and the local board for implementing this program. Often, we hear people out in the public complain about “how things are” with crime rates soaring, violence among our youth, and a seeming apathy to do anything about it.
So, I decided to be part of the solution, not just one of the nay-sayers out there. This month, we spoke to the children about forgiveness. I used various scriptures, some music, and props to make valid points to the children in the room. Here is the song that I used. It is publicly displayed on YouTube. Oh, I own the song too, by the way.
I hope my choice of music didn’t shock you too much. I am a lot more diverse in my musical tastes than you might believe 🙂 I used this music to organize some inductive questioning to get the children to interact with me. This is a tough concept to get across to children sometimes because they typically do not see “turning the other cheek” modeled by their peers. So, let me finish this post by sharing a verse of scripture and echoing some of the words of the song. Both apply to all of us universally. Yes… they do.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:14-15
WE ALL NEED FORGIVENESS, FORGIVENESS
NO MATTER HOW LOST YOU ARE
WE ALL NEED FORGIVENESS, FORGIVENESS
NO MATTER HOW HURT YOU ARE
WE ALL NEED FORGIVENESS, FORGIVENESS
NO MATTER HOW WRONG YOU ARE
YOU ARE NOT TOO FAR
FROM
FORGIVENESS
