From Here:
Betty said she had run away from home a week earlier after a violent argument with her mother. Shivering and sullen-faced, she vowed that she was not going to sleep by herself again behind the hedges downtown, where older homeless men and methamphetamine addicts might find her.
The boys were also runaways. But unlike them, Betty said, she had been reported missing to the police. That meant that if the boys let her stay overnight in their hidden tent encampment by the freeway, they risked being arrested for harboring a fugitive.
“We keep running into this,” said one of the boys, Clinton Anchors, 18. Over the past year, he said, he and five other teenagers living together on the streets had taken under their wings no fewer than 20 children — some as young as 12 — and taught them how to avoid predators and the police, survive the cold and find food.
“We always first try to send them home,” said Clinton, who himself ran away from home at 12. “But a lot of times they won’t go, because things are really bad there. We basically become their new family.”
2 comments:
Ministering to youth must be challenging. I work at a library and some have suggested that I teach or tutor mathematics (I noticed it is one of your interests and I have been searching blogs with similar interests) The thing is I couldn't imagine tutoring students younger than college age. My memory of younger students comes from my own K12 days, and students that age can lack discipline and respect for teachers etc. I don't think I have the patience for that. I'd want to be strict with no tolerance for nonsense. I guess that's why I ruled out teaching.
It certainly is challenging, just like anything else worth doing. It definitely isn't for everyone, but I don't think it's quite as difficult as most assume. The trick is to make sure your heart is in the right place. If you work with youth and really are invested in seeing them succeed--whether it's working with youth at a church or tutoring a high school student in math--then it's easier to have some grace and understanding when they are not as respectful as we would like. However, this does not mean that we shouldn't have high expectations. Here's my basic mindset: if I set high expectations for the youth I work with, I also need to be prepared to equip and empower them to meet and exceed those expectations.
You use a key word: patience. If you end up tutoring or teaching, be prepared to have your patience tested. I have my patience tested just about every week. The important thing for me to remember is that I should have high expectations not for the purpose of making my job easier or so that I can feel more respected, but rather so that the youth I love and minister to can be as successful as possible--which by my measure is becoming more and more Christlike every day.
By the way, at first glance I really enjoy your blog. One of my favorite classes in college was a research class, and we did some work on game theory, which of course has applications in economic theory. Rather than continue on in mathematics, I accepted a position two months after graduation as a youth pastor. I love what I do, but often miss learning math every day. Now, much of the knowledge is difficult to recall, but I do remember enough to tutor high school students in math (and have a great time at it!). If you do end up teaching younger students, you would be an asset. It is difficult at times to find math teachers who truly understand what they teach and are willing to be creative in explaining it so that students can understand.
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