Monessen: Final Thoughts

Monessen is a place that I have been unable to get out of my head since I left, because here are the facts.  Since the steel industry closed in Monessen, there have been few jobs which is why poverty is at a high in that place.  Most of those kids we loved on there are never going to get out.  Chances are those kids will either join a gang and/or get killed, or the nicer kids will be eaten up by that enviornment.  These thoughts nag at my soul every day now. 

Though in my heart, I have always known that poverty on this level existed in our country, this was the first time I have been face to face with an almost hopeless situation.  Without the jobs, there is little hope for these kids and some are already the products of where they live.  They are angry and abused and neglected.  In some cases, kids who you may never have thought could dabble in drugs, are earning money to feed their families by watching out for the police while the dealing takes place.  Is this child wrong to do this?  There are parents and siblings to feed and he is maybe making $50 a night to help with that. How long before he is the one doing the dealing?  This is all this child knows.  He won't go to college and will maybe even drop out of school early. Where are the answers for these children, who are all God's children?

I'm thinking of writing to Shalon, the sweet little girl I befriended the first day at Kid's Club.  I'm not sure what to say to her, but I only hope to strike up some kind of mentorship.  Though Shalon is only one child, I want her to not fall into the trap.  I don't want her to get pregnant at a young age by some dealer on the streets.  I don't want her to drop out of school or to be eaten alive by Monessen and it's problems.  She is too precious for that.  They all are.  Yes, some of the kids are bullies, but what does that tell me?   That they are being bullied at home.  Abused even.  They have to be tough just to survive.  And maybe as the summer progresses and there is a new group of teens with YouthWorks each week, they will let down their guard a fraction, but in September, the groups stop coming until next summer.  So for nine months, the choice of role models is scarce.

Pray with me for Monessen and it's children.  Pray for those that strive to make a difference there, like Kelly and Butch and Jason. 

Prayers may be all they have at the moment, so it's important.