Observations from work and around

Hello everyone! I have been observing and doing some talking about "felt needs" at work. First let me say that I work most closely with 20/25 females. I do go out to visit school and talk with high school students, but never get into serious discussions about anything other than their education. Out of the 20 women, about 8 are actually living out their Christian faith. Of the others,one is a cultural Jew, five are homosexual or living with their boyfriend, two are divorced, and the rest are married and have children and fit into no other category mentioned before. Several of the women have problems with their school aged children and several with their relationships with their adult children. Some are caring for ill family members. Some want a connection, but feel alone and feel they are "too far gone to be connected to a church". (Wrong!) The ones who feel that way probably just need someone to come along side of them and invite them to church or church activity and stay with them. It is difficult to be alone and come to a new place. On several occasions, my coworkers have asked me to pray for a particular situation. (My pleasure!) There is a spirutual need here for sure. We know they need Jesus.I would suspect that in Laurel there is a need for English tutors for adults since we have so many Hispanic families. Also, divorce care is probably another need, since in our community and church this is an issue. Many feel isolated or rejected after a divorce. I would suspect that many in our community (and my work) need some help with financial planning/budgeting/money matters. About everyone I know could use some help with parenting. Raising children is very difficult and sometimes we feel we should naturally know how to do it right. (Wrong,again!) I see that others have mentioned small groups, and I am a fan!! These are just my observations and thoughts so far. Judy

Last night's prayer group was small so it gave me an opportunity to ask some questions regarding our church and other things. What do people struggle with and what are their needs? They struggle in a secular world that has little or no regard for Christ. They need a supportive church family, which we agreed we have, that holds each other accountable.
We discussed that Christians struggle with all the stuff that non-belivers do, we just know how to deal with it. People need to be loved, appreciated and respected. We also discussed how many of our home bound are very lonley with no friends who check on them. Be a friend, then bring that friend to Christ. I'll be back later. Greg