In June of 2004 my church of about 20 members moved to the Parramore area in Orlando, FL. While we were cleaning up the building, I realized there were so many children in the neighborhood, walking around with nothing to do, but to get into trouble. These children were cursing and fighting on the streets like you would never believe.
My parents raised me in a normal middle class family, but I was never brought into neighborhoods such as this unless I was going to church. So this was definitely a shock to me. All that night it bothered me to see 10 and 11 year old children out in the street talking like dirty old men. That's when the Lord started dealing with me.
The building our church moved into was a small room, the size of a normal bedroom with nothing in it. So I used $1500 of my own savings to decorate, and buy games for the children.
I let the children come and play the games until it actually turned itself into a Summer Camp. It lasted the whole summer with about 15 kids daily. I ran the Summer Camp during the day and I worked nights to fund it.
3 years later...
New Image Youth Center now has its own building right next door to our church. The children still come and enjoy the center, just like they did the first year.
Either Them or Me
The 2005 year was a struggle for me; I graduated from college with honors in July with my B.A. in Criminal Justice. But, I had a really hard decision to make.
I had to decide whether to further my education or to close down the center. So, of course I decided to keep the center and put my education on hold, because I could not see myself leaving these kids outside again with nothing to do. Im happy to announce that I was able to start Grad school in August of 2006. Now just believe with me that God will help me with these student loans. I believe God can do anything but fail.
