Heather Dunn was barely seventeen, alone and pregnant. A newcomer in a small mountain town where she knew no one, the last place she wanted to go was church. But wanting to get out of the house, she accepted an invitation to attend the Wednesday night youth outreach event at Happy Zion General Baptist Church in Annapolis, MO.
“I had my defenses up,” Dunn said. “I was a pregnant teenager and a high-school drop-out, so I expected shame, judgment and ridicule, because that’s what I got everywhere else. But, my stomach was hungry, and I was also very lonely, so I went.”
What Dunn found was the exact opposite of her expectations. “Everyone was very loving, warm and kind. My own family didn’t show me these emotions, so I was shocked that people in the church would treat me with such compassion. I continued to attend for the few short weeks before my son, Jacob (JJ) was born.”
The birth came early and JJ was very ill, near death. He was moved to a children’s hospital two hours away. Dunn remembers receiving cards and visits from church people she didn’t even know. Additionally, when she returned, the adults from the youth meeting came to her tiny trailer and brought her food and encouragement.
“I had zero skills as a mother and even less maturity, but the ladies in the church would sit and talk to me and listen to me. They prayed with me and helped me. They spent time teaching me how to take care of JJ, not only did I learn how to be a mother, but I also learned about the saving grace of Jesus Christ.” Dunn became a regular youth at the weekly Wednesday ministry.
Because of Happy Zion’s youth outreach, the local public school was filled with children who attended on Wednesdays. Due to the friendships she made with these high school kids, and encouragement from the Principal, Dunn re-enrolled in high school and graduated. “All the while, even through my immature ugly periods, the men and women from Happy Zion continued to show me love and help,” she said.
When she was twenty, she was asked to help with a pre-school class on Wednesday nights. Because she related well to junior-high age and teenagers, she was almost immediately tapped to help with the older youth, where she eventually became the High School Director, leading a number of children to the Lord, and helping others as she was helped.
That was nearly twelve years ago. Dunn, who is now in her late 20’s, has since married and had more children.
Russ Collins, deacon at Happy Zion, remembers the early years of the Wednesday night program.
“It began in 2002 when our pastor’s wife invited three or four un-churched children to come on Wednesday nights for snacks and a Bible story. Those three or four children each invited four or five more, and before we knew it, we had about 100 un-churched young people on Wednesday nights, many who came from broken homes, living in difficult situations with little knowledge of who or what Jesus might be.”
From 2002 until 2015 Collins says the weekday ministry has steadily grown, and the church eventually added classes for all ages, 3-18. The average attendance ranges from 50 to 100 per week. The children play for half an hour, then are provided a meal, followed by Bible teaching and share time. Additional Bible study classes have been added for adults, many of whom came because of their children’s involvement with the youth program.
In the past twelve years, over 100 children have accepted Christ because of the weekday ministry. The church eventually added community-wide events three to four times a year which include Back-To-School Bash, Out-Of-School Bash, and other things such as lock-ins, bon fires, trips to the zoo and delegations to Dare To Share. The community events regularly draw 150-250 people. Considering the town’s population is only 350, this is a large-scale crowd for the area.
Collins said in the beginning of the program, the church prayed the Lord would send families with children. “What we found,” he said, “was God often sent us children with no parents attending.”
Individuals within the church rose to the challenge and took on the leadership of providing love, discipline, care, opportunity and accountability. “Many of these children lacked family structure. It was our responsibility to love them, train them, nurture them and teach them. We had to give them what they couldn’t get anywhere else.”
Heather Dunn, for one, is extremely grateful.
“Without Happy Zion, I don’t know what would have happened to me, or to JJ. They not only shared their love with me, but they shared the love of Christ, which has defined who I’ve become as a wife, mother, friend, and servant of the Lord.”
As proof of God’s faithfulness, both of Dunn’s older children recently accepted Christ and were baptized. JJ, who is almost twelve, and Dunn’s middle child, Emma, who is six, are regular attendees of the Wednesday night program. Dunn still has a leadership role with the group.
Dunn concludes, “My years in the Happy Zion program made me see I absolutely had to raise my children in a Christian home. There was no question, I had to do the right thing. Had it not been for Happy Zion and the people there, I would have never even known what the right thing was. God used them to change me forever. The salvation and baptism of my own children are proof of what Wednesday nights did for me.”
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Source: http://www.redshedwriter.com/
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