I was raped when I was little. After that everything around me just felt like a waste and my grades started dropping and I didn’t really care about others. To be honest I hate all men and I was always in fear of it happening again. I was hurt and at the time I didn’t realize why God had let this happen to me. I think to say this and have people know was the hardest thing for me. Now that I look back I realize that I know how other victims feel and I want to help them. I don’t want them to live in shame like I did for so many years, I want people to stand up for them selves because thats the only way that will make the pain go away. Originally if you would have asked me what I learned I would have said not to trust people so much but now that I’m older I think God was trying to teach me that, yeah bad things happen but you need to stand up against those things and you shouldn’t be afraid all of your life. I’m not going to say that I’m glad that happened but with out it I think I would let my self get pushed around without a second though. Now that I realize this I want to help others through the same thing. I think through my gift of writing I can save so many people and help them find their way.

It is important that we study persecution to stay in tune with what is going on around the world with other Christians. Also to keep us from being naive and thinking that Christians are no longer persecuted like they used to be but they still are. I also think it is important to see other people standing up for their faith and we can have them as role models.

I class we came up with a list of what our perfect church would look like. We had things like snow mobile, candy, pool private island ect. (Things that only middle schoolers would think of.) Then we made a list of what the early church was like. This list had things like being together, sharing everything that they owned, put God and other before there possessions. Then we compared and contrasted how they were similar and how they were different. I think that if we focus on the same things that the early church that we might have better connection to God. I think we are more focused on having fun and what would look cool than what church is really about. Giving to God. Maybe not cancel all the fun things in church but maybe be more focused on God than your own wants.

We put sticky notes on posters that we thought that we struggled in. The one that I think I struggled in was empathize with humanity. I feel like I am more of a person who understands what people are going through but I don’t always know how to react. I now know that you have to put your self in their shoes and try and feel what they feel and try and help them through your knew found knowledge.

I saw God in some one who pulled over to the side of the road to help a person change their flat tier. I was just so at awe that they would take time out of the day to help some else.