“We spent the night at a Children’s Home tonight and did a program for a few young women there. They all seemed hesitant to participate in our sing-a-longs at first. I was therefore not the most energetic at that program and I began to doubt if we were doing any good. It didn’t even seem like the girls were really enjoying themselves. Shortly after these thoughts entered my brain, God showed me that we did have a purpose there. All my doubts were quickly shattered when we started singing “Shout to the Lord.”  There were two girls that I noticed were singing along with us! They knew the words and were praising God with us. At that point I knew that God was still using me despite my doubts.
 
After our program we had the opportunity to spend some time with the girls in their units. We were with some girls who had not been at our program, so they asked us to sing a song for them. We agreed but told them they had to sing for us when they were done. Once it was their turn, they were really nervous. When they finally sang and opened up we were amazed at their beautiful voices and the songs they sang to praise the Lord. Later the pastor told me that it was really great for him to hear them sing like that and get them to open up to us. He also said that they had a wonderful time with us. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like we do much, but the Lord finds a way to use the littlest things!”
 
                                                                Katie Bessinger
 
Thanks for reading this excerpt from the journals of Captive Free East Lakes. Check out www.youthencounter.org/teams/ for updated journal entries and stories from the road from each of our thirteen ministry teams!