Need Prayer

All:

I haven't been around here for a little over a week because of some pressing issues at work and home, but things have gotten much more difficult over the last few days due to the suicide of a teenager who was involved with our youth group. He was not a member of our congregation, but he had many friends at our church and went to camp with our group and participated in mid-week activities.

There are many complicated factors surrounding his tragic death which I am not at liberty to share on a public message board, but suffice it to say there are some teenagers in our congregation who are dealing with tremendously difficult issues, with parents and youth workers working hard to pick up the pieces and support positive grieving without glorifying the horrible act of suicide.

This is the second suicide of a teenager with a connection to our youth group in the past 18 months and we have just recovered from the last one. Within the local high schools, there have been at least half a dozen teen suicides that I am aware of within the past two school years. We are working hard to present hope in Christ to the students.