Hi, my name is …(not mentioning for personal reasons)… I am 14 and came to CG (Children’s Garden) just the beginning of this semester. I am a son of a single mom and one of 7 other siblings.
Why am I at CG? Well Kooyah (phrase we are called often, kinda like amigo or brother) I was involved in many bad things growing up.
I learned to smoke very early and got involved with many drugs like marijuana and rugby (glue used to sniff and get a buzz) Things only got worse from there. I learned how to deal and sell drugs to earn money, I would gamble my money on fist fights I would participate in and I was involved with the wrong crowds of people.
It was two years ago when my brother died on my dads birthday that really caused a lot of struggle to occur in my family. My dad hurt from this. I didn’t know how to take it but when the next year came around and he passed away only a couple of days before his birthday I broke down.
I started doing really bad things. I stole a motorcycle to sell for drug money, got in more fights and was so addicted to drugs my mom said she was going to send me to a rehab facility.
That was when I was given a chance to come to CG Kooyah. I was given the chance to come here for a semester before I would go to a rehab facility.
Sense coming here things have been wonderful. Aunty Sharon (director of CG) and all the helpers of CG have shown me who God is and given me hope. My favorite verse is Luke 1:37.
We do devotionals multiple times a week and the great thing about CG is that almost everyone has a history like mine.
Though it’s hard to not fight and get angry at times I see how this is better for me than what I was doing on the streets. I see Hope.
What is my favorite thing about CG Kooyah? Outreach! I love serving people. The feeling it gives me is amazing and hard to explain. Its a way of giving thanks to God and I can’t be more thankful right now.
This is a summarized story of one of the boys from CG that I have grown close to. His story is a tough one to hear and relate to because I have never really been involved in the things he has done all before being a teenager while I’m in my mid 20’s! Yet what I want to emphasize is a key point that impacted me. His biggest joy now is -Serving People-
Not only a young boy but one who has been through serious circumstances, has hit the nail on the head of life. He discovered and enjoys the foundation towards a life here on earth and one in step with God, serving others.
Please pray for this boy as he goes back home this holiday to visit his family that the work God and CG has done in him may not be shaken. Also pray that he will decide to stay at CG rather than go to a rehab facility next semester. He is on the fence towards which one to do and I see this Faith based household of brothers and good influences being much more beneficial to his future than the other.
?Thank you Children’s Garden for what you are doing.
