The two workshops I went to were Gatekeeping and Unplugged
Opening Rally had the Pink Lady preach on Hebrews 10:23.
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Anchors keep you secure in the midst of the waves. They don’t make the waves go away.
Anchors provide hope in the midst of circumstances. Our hope is in Jesus.
Gatekeeping
1/3 Women and 1/5 men have been sexually abused.
Church’s volunteer screening processes aren’t as tight as they should be.
Christians are too trusting of other people. There needs to be better screening of volunteers.
Anybody could be a predator. Police checks only catch 10% of them, so they are basically useless. Christians and predators look the same on the outside. Just like it’s hard to tell the difference between an M&M and a Skittle. Predators want to have sex with kids. Abductors have attraction to kids. Neither of these situations is good. They come up with excuses like “The kid came on to me.” “The kid never said stop.” It’s still wrong.
Molesters take advantage of natural compliance. They groom kids for sex. They groom the gatekeepers (volunteer youth leaders) for access. Often it’s the last person you would think it would be. Even more scary. Do you feel equipped to protect children?
Women get abused more than men. If you’re in a situation where it is about to happen or is happening.
- Don’t cry. Crying stops thinking.
- Get to a safe place.
- Talk about it with someone trustworthy. Don’t keep quiet.
Listen when you hear about these situations. Don’t shh. Then they would never talk when they need to.
There’s more grooming of gatekeepers than there is of kids. Gate keepers who have been accidentally groomed need forgiveness. We can’t recognize grooming except if we know the behaviors.
Abusers will try to be involved in kids programs and be helpful, reliable, and trustworthy to the gatekeepers to gain access to kids. Then they may meet needs of a kid to gain trust of the kid.
Next comes Isolation of the kid like a sick gazelle on the edge of the heard. Gatekeepers should pay attention to the less connected kids.
Rule breaking and pushing of boundaries between the abuser and kid then follow. Could introduce nudity and strange conversations of sexual nature. Alcohol could also be involved. Keeps introducing new rules to break. Sex jokes, touching, other gross things of that nature.
Finally, the abuser convinces the kid to keep quiet so they can keep their gross thing going. Shame is used to get rid of descent.
98% of accusations are true. Listen! Often kids who are being abused will be touchy with you.
Often there is a particular age range or gender the abuser prefers. When a person only wants to work with kids and not any other ministries in the Church, that can be a huge clue. Peer to peer abuse is higher than adult to child. Don’t do sleepovers. Pray over your youth.
Pink Lady Workshop
What you’re doing is important in spite of the outdated computer you’re working on and the lack of support in the budget. Keep going with your vision. Have your encourages and realistic people as you go through your vision. You need the Body of Christ.
Unplugged
Skits and science experiments keep kids involved. Decorations go a long way. Be enthusiastic and the kids catch it.
Closing
The Anchor sits away from where the boat is. You need to make sure you have the right kind of anchor for the place where you want to drop it. Same with ministry. Hope is the nylon that carries the weight. Our hope is in Jesus.