Bittersweet Milestone

Bittersweet Milestone I just wanted to let everyone know that we just reached 1000 friends on the ministry's friends list. I'm happy about it in a way, but kind of down in another way. As we started the ministry, I invited friends and family and other ministires to our myspace. After that, my neice Rebecca invited her firends and my fiancee's son Zach invited his friends. You know how teenagers talk amongst each other, so seeing some of their moods and statuses on our home page everyday, you can imagine what I see. I didn't let it get to me though. Then, Zach and I started using friendtrains on the net to bring in more friends to the ministry's Myspace. I started seeing young women writing messages across their cleavage, or barely wearing anything, pushing what Myspace will allow. I also started seeing guys barely covering themselves with messages written across their bodies. I worried that other ministry members would see these young people on our friends list and quit our ministry, but I also started thinking of something else. These are the people that need to hear about God and Jesus Christ crucified more than anybody! If I can just get these people to read one blog entry or bulletin or someone's testimony, it will make it all worth it. These young people are so desperate to feel like they have so many friends, so desperate for attention, so in need of human companionship, that they flaunt their bodies or say outrageous things or use obscene language, or anything to attract someones attention. These young people are the ones that our ministry really needs to reach out to. So, if you see something on the friends list, that you find offensive, think a moment before you react please. I'm trying to police the pages that are links to inappropriate websites, but I'm not deleting people unless they start posting comments that offend other ministry members. I love to watch our ministry grow, but it really is a Bittersweet Milestone. I want to be happy, but it's so hard when you're seeing so many young people in need of God in their lives. Thanks everybody for being a part of our ministry; your friend and family in God, Pete. Pete 12-26-08