Each month, I enjoy sharing stories of how God is at work in the hearts and lives of the high-risk and fatherless youth we are reaching. In our Bible study in the juvenile center this past week, one of the high school guys wanted to share how God has been transforming his heart. Here is his story.
“I’ve spent much of my life angry at my parents. I’ve felt they gave up on me and didn’t provide for me all the things I needed to make it in life. Eventually, the conflicts and struggles in our home led to my parents making the decision to place me in foster care. I felt abandoned. My anger grew worse after being in and out of a few foster homes and now in juvenile detention. But as we’ve studied the Bible together each week, God has been transforming my heart. I now realize that not all of the issues in my life were because others may have failed me. Much of my struggles come from my own heart. As I’ve given my life to Christ and been growing in Him, I realize I have so much more to be thankful for than I ever realized. So, I have chosen to forgive any hurts of the past, and I’ve been writing letters to my parents and each of my foster families that have invested in me. I’ve taken time to thank each of them and also to apologize for my actions and attitudes when they were trying to help me.”
There’s change, and there’s transformation. This story is a story of transformation. When our heart changes and our thinking changes, we know that God is really at work and He is transforming us into the person He has purposed us to be.
Please keep these youth in your prayers! God is doing great things.
Over the next few months, we have some special ministry projects and will definitely need the support of our ministry friends. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we will provide hundreds of Bibles, devotional books, spiritual resources, and gift bags to teens in IL, IN, and TN juvenile centers. I’ll get more details to you soon, but please pray for these important outreach projects. I can’t imagine anything more important than planting the seed of the gospel in the hearts of 500-1000 youth over the next few months.
God is doing great work in the hearts of fatherless and high-risk youth weekly, and the prayers and support we receive make it all possible!
Thank you for all your prayers and support! It’s because of you and your partnership and the faithfulness of God we can reach fatherless youth.
In Christ,
Ken Turner
PS. If you haven’t made a recent gift to help bring the hope of the gospel to fatherless youth, please consider donating today. Give at https://kenturnerministries.org/give/
*The names mentioned are not their real names to protect the privacy of these minor youth. Please keep in your prayers the outreach ministry in Normal, IL; Peoria, IL; Galesburg, IL, led by Rob Skow; the outreach in York, PA, led by Tom Vietti; the outreach ministry of Joshua Goodling in Knoxville, TN, and the outreaches that continue to flourish in Nashville, TN, Memphis, TN, Dandridge, TN and Indianapolis, IN.
Our mailing address is:
Ken and Jennifer Turner
High Impact Ministries
PO Box 375
Benson, IL 61516
