Giving Hope to the Hopeless.
The capacity for us to connect to one another has never been greater, yet, I surmise that collectively, we have all never felt so alone. We have supercomputers that fit into our pockets and give us the ability to video-chat with someone on the other side of the world (for free at that!), yet we live in a world experiencing an epidemic of despair. Depression and self-harm are on the rise across all age groups and socioeconomic classes. Suicide is a leading cause of death for today’s youth. In 2021, 30% thirty percent of American teenage girls considered committing suicide. Fifty-seven percent felt “persistently sad or hopeless.” “Coming of age” now means getting your own cell phone. HeartBound recently expanded our efforts to reach youth by hiring Grace Hall as our Youth Program Coordinator. Grace’s chief focus is our Little Readers program, but she also serves in the local youth detention center working with incarcerated girls. These youth are coming home one day. Grace does arts and crafts with them, listening patiently as they talk about their latest crush or favorite movies. She then shares a Bible story with them and fields questions. The art activity is designed to help put them at ease and help them build trust with the instructor. The real purpose is to help them know that they are loved by their Heavenly Father. Their own father might not be present, or he might be an abuser, or a perfectly normal dad, but regardless, there is always one Father who they can turn to - One who will be there for them on their darkest day. If you would like to support Grace and the HeartBound team on our mission to help incarcerated youth, please consider donating to HeartBound Ministries. Over 84% of our funding goes directly towards our programs that remember the forgotten – the prisoner - and bring the love of God to those who so desperately need it…and don’t we all need it? When you give, we hope you know that you are making a HUGE difference. Our Songs in the Night fundraiser is November 30, you’ll see and hear directly from the people you are impacting through your gifts. Tickets are available at www.heartboundministries.com/tickets Thank you and may God bless you and give you all His grace, Spencer Shelton