The beginning of transformation through compassion

This is my second week at Kingswood, and I am BLOWN away at what God has done. I am overwhelmed by everything that has happened. I could share so many stories and so many emotions that I have felt these past couple weeks, but instead, I'm going to start where I am, today. For one of my classes, Intro to Compassion Ministry, we have been given the task of writing 30 consecutive days of journalling how we have shown compassion for the day. So I thought I might as well post my Compassion Journal entries so you could have a little peek into what God's been doing in and through me...... and just a little preface for the day: Harvest House is a Christ- centered drug rehabilitation center.

September 12, 2012 

 Today I got the opportunity to go to Harvest House for the first time. I didn’t really know what to expect. Sometimes I like not knowing, but sometimes it drives me crazy. Today was one of those days I wasn’t really sure. We got to lead worship for the first class in the morning, and then had a time of testimonies, a message, and the opportunity to talk and pray with people. Emily and I got to talk and pray with a man named Rico who had only been in the center for about two weeks. I could tell that he wasn’t quite to the point where he was able to let go and be vulnerable, but I could see that he is starting to change. It was the first time he was sober in months, and he said that he is happier than he was before. He told us that he loved it at Harvest House, and I hope he really meant it.  He said that his parents are Atheists, so they never let him go to church. I don’t think he’s ever really heard the truth. I hope that he lets the truth transform him now. He was really open to us praying with him. He told us about his little brother, 17 years old, who has been trying to follow in his footsteps, selling drugs and committing crimes, but Rico is trying to tell him to straighten out his life. So we prayed for his brother, too. His other two brothers were killed in a gang fight. There is something so powerful about hearing people’s stories, especially when you know that someday God is going to take that story and use it to impact people in big ways. I don’t know if anything we said or did made a difference in him today, but I pray that God will continue to transform him.