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ministries Let us consider how to stimulate one another to loveand good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together. Heb. 10:24-25 (NAS)

By RACHEL MARI

Founded by Steve Grissom of Church

Initiative, a Christ-centered, non-protministry, Divorce Care is a network ofrecovery support groups that offers helpand healing for those experiencing separa-tion and divorce.

Groups follow a 13-week, Bible-basedvideo series that includes group discus-sions and workbook exercises.

As Angie Fetrow attests (testimony onthe right), the support offered by the pro-gram is key. For this reason, CommunityBible Church in San Diego (www.sandi-egocbc.org) runs its Divorce Care programmultiple times throughout the year, saidPat Rusheen, a facilitator for the program.Special attention is given to the timing ofthe cycles, so that they are offered duringholiday seasons and summers, when mostministries shut down and individuals maybe feeling alone. For example, a new cyclewas started May 1, providing support dur-ing potentially difcult holidays such asMothers Day and Father s Day.

Rusheen relayed how one participantexperienced dramatic change: Whenshe started the program, she cried dur-ing the entire session for many weeks,said Rusheen. But as the discussionsand videos continued, we began to see ametamorphosis take place. She began totalk about her pain and the horrendouscircumstances around her separation anddivorce proceedings. And the more she wasable to do this, the more we saw her heal.She is still on the road to recovery, but can

now smile and be engaged in life again.She has grown closer to God through herpain and has learned to trust Him throughunbelievable circumstances. She draws herstrength to continue from the Lord.

Along similar lines, Pauline Blas, facilita-tor of the Divorce Care program at the RockChurch in San Diego (www.sdrock.com),indicated that the program has become keyin congregational care. Rock Church hasapproximately 12,000 attendees each Sun-day, she said. With that amount of people,there are many married couples who arefacing some sort of marital crisis. DivorceCare has been a most valuable toolbe-cause of such an overwhelming requestfor counseling for those who have been

confronted with divorce unexpectedly. Weare like an emergency room for the brokenhearted. The church also offers DC4K,(Divorce Care for Kids) for ages 5-12 (www.dc4k.org) and a seminar called Survivingthe Holidays.

We have seen people come to JesusChrist, rededicate their lives, and theirlives which were once shattered, arehealed, said Blas. There have been mar-riages that have been restored. Many ofthe former participants are now servingand involved in other ministriesPeoplerealize that God often uses tragedy andsuffering to help us grow.

Like Fetrow, once individuals have ex-perienced healing in their own lives, theyoften are passionate about showing others

the way. For Sher Takahashi and his wife

Healing Hearts:Divorce Care provides support for hurting individuals, familiesBarbara Webster Takahashi, co-leaders ofthe Divorce Care group at Skyline Churchin La Mesa (www.skylinechurch.org), the

ministry is something that is close to bothof their hearts, because they each experi-enced divorce in the past. Ive been onboth sides of divorce and know what bothsides go through, said Sher Takahashi.Its through our marriage that we showothers that there is healing and hope inwhat the Lord has planned for us.

And in addition to ministering to thecongregation, the group has proved to bean effective way to reach the community.The outreach has really brought in a lotof people from the community that havenever been to Skyline and have stoppedgoing to church, said Takahashi. Theyare suffering from rejection (the persongetting left) and guilt (the person doing theleaving). They are all looking for answers.The answers are in the Bible and this isgetting them there.

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For information about Divorce Care or groupsin your area, visit www.divorcecare.org.

Just a couple of months before I came to Heart Healers, I found myself lying on a cold bath-room oor, crying until there were no tears left. As I faced the end of my 17 year marriage, Ibelieved it was actually possible to die of a broken heart. I felt like I had fallen down ve ights

of stairs in slow motion, into a pit that I didnt want to be in. I had three small children to carefor and I wasnt quite sure how I could possibly manage that.I needed relief for my pain quickly! I somehow made my way to Heart Healers, a member of a

club that I never wanted to join! I felt like I was in a coma, wearing a T-shirt with a big Don the front. This was the last place I ever expected to nd myself. My emotional pain was sointense that I didnt speak to anyone in my group for months. I cried a lot!

When I came to Heart Healers, it was as if I was carrying a heavy backpack full of issuesthat weighed me down. Most of those issues had been with me for so long, it was as if skin hadgrown over the backpack and the issues had just become a part of who I was. As I went throughthe Heart Healers programs, the Lord began to work in an incredible way in my life! In orderto get to the issues inside the backpack, God had to peel off that skin one layer at a time.The process was so painful! It was like having heart surgery without anesthesia. But, as Godworked in my life over those months, I was nally able to unload my backpack and nd per-sonal growth and healing.

Whats the end of my story? I have no idea, because God continues to work in my life andwrite new chapters all the time! I do know that I am a much different woman than the one whowalked into Heart Healers nine years ago. God has used this ministry to stretch me and changeme. Most of all, God has provided me with the HOPE that only He can bringHOPE for heal-ing in the midst of a broken life and a broken heart. God has asked me to pass on the HOPE thatI found to people just like you! As you openly trust Him in your pain and patiently wait to seewhat He does in your life, I guarantee that you will be surprised by the results!

Angie Fetrow, a Divorce Care leader in the Heart Healers ministryat Emmanuel Faith Community Church, Escondido

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wasnt optimistic about the success of anyeffort, let alone an actual attempt at havinga Christian club during the lunch period.

Im not shy, he says, Ill talk to any-body. But without fellowship there reallyisnt any point.

And then fellowship hit this young man,hit him hard, and he decided to try.

RENOVATE is dened as making newor as if new again; to repair, reinvigorate,refresh or revive and the word is as ap-propriate for your soul as it is for your lawn.Anthony Monahan found this out when heattended a Renovateworship event, startedby students just like him and supported byUrban Youth Collaborative, where PastorDan Bauch is on staff.

Renovate is an event where students sometimes 300 to 400 from Christian clubsall over come together to worship andshare the love and ministry of Jesus Christ,Bauch explains. Weve seen tremendousresults, lives not only being changed, butlives being saved.

Anthony saw the same thing, and he

believed something similar could be doneon his own campus. Getting permissionwasnt the easiest thing because he couldntimmediately nd a teacher who wouldsponsor the club, and then when the clubactually got going, It seemed like monthsand nothing really happened.

And then one student came, and then an-other, until there were seven! They stayedin touch through email, praying that Godwould do something which, of course,he did. He came up with The Hot Seat.

ANGELYN KING was one of the seventhat came up with the idea of having achair in the middle of the room the hotseat where a student could sit if theywanted prayer. This, however, was not justyour classicOh-Lord-bless-our-friend typeprayer, this was intense Lord-we-beseech-you! prayer.

On the count of three, Angelyn recalls,everyone in the room would start prayingas hard as they could for the person sitting

in the chair.Word traveled around campus that the

Christian club was going to do somethingvery different, and when it came to theday of the hot seat, a modest crowd ofsixth graders had gathered in the class-room during lunch. What happened next,though, can only be explained as, well, aGod-thing.

There was this guy, Anthony andAngelyn begin, excitement creeping intotheir voices as they describe somethingthat happened nearly two years ago, bothtalking over the other as they think of theday when you could feel the Holy Spiritrush into the room.

This guy was a notorious student at themiddle school, who was at the very leasta bully, and some students consideredhim wicked to the point of bordering onsatanic. Yet it was this student who askedto sit in the hot seat.

So he walks to the chair in the middleof the room, the story continues, and hesits down and one of the students is playingworship music and we go 1 2 3! And

everyone starts praying for this guy!Enough students returned to school fromlunch that day sobbing especially theguy who had been in the hot seat that theschool administration decided somethingneeded to be done.

I TOLD THEM IT WOULD NEVERHAPPEN AGAIN, Anthony rememberstelling the school, but I knew I was lying.I wanted it to happen again!

And it did. Word of the bullys courage

in seeking prayer, and the student afterstudent who followed his lead to the centerof the room for 1 2 3! Prayer, attractedso many students that a second classroomhad to be assigned. And still they came so many that you had to get a pass to gainadmission to the rooms. Prayer had to bestopped 10 minutes before the end of the30-minute lunch period so students could

compose themselves before returning toclass. And still students came so manythat the school nally allowed the Christianclub to meet in the auditorium.

All this because one student believedin the power of fellowship and was will-ing to try.

ANTHONY AND ANGELYN havemoved on. They have turned their effortstoward a new focus called Project 25, whereChristian clubs see what they can do with$100 to reach others for Jesus. The two MiraMesa High School sophomores put theirtalent toward a successful local fun run tobenet a mom whose husband recentlydied of cancer.

They are also looking forward to the

June Renovate, the worship outreach thatstarted it all for them, way back when theywere sixth graders learning stuff in middleschool. They learned the OK stuff and thenot so OK stuff, but their lives will neverbe the same, because they allowed God tohelp them learn the awesome stuff!

NEXT: whose side are you on?For information on the June RENOVATE

event, go to the Urban Youth Collaborativewebsite at www.uycollaborative.org.

Mike Ritter

760-917-1123

mike@towerseekers.com

www.towerseekers.com

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Continued from page 1

Middle school ministry . . .

6 Good News, etc. June 2013 nc/sd