Have you ever wanted to make a difference in someone’s life? Be Jesus to someone? Teach someone something that will stay with them forever? Change the future?

Starting today, you have that opportunity.

Shepherd after school tutoring kicks off for the fall semester today at Shepherd Community Center. Volunteers from Grace tutor every Monday and Wednesday afternoon from 4:00-6:00 p.m. and preschool helpers assist with Shepherd’s preschool program every Friday morning from 9:00 a.m.-noon. If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, this may just be for you. Click here for the logistical stuff.

If you are already involved or don’t think this is for you, will you pray for tutoring at Shepherd this week?

What always floors me is that I approach serving opportunities like this after answering “yes” to all of the questions in the first paragraph, and those things do happen, but here’s what happens to me (and you):

We aim to make a difference in someone’s life, and then God makes a profound difference in ours.

We aim to be Jesus to someone, and then we see Jesus in them.

We aim to teach someone something that will stay with them forever, and then their story becomes part of ours.

We aim to change the future, and ours is changed.

Dive into serving this fall. You won’t regret it.

Earlier this year, several of our tutors serving at Shepherd Community Center expressed an interest in working more intentionally to help struggling students. This desire spurred us to begin weekly small groups, where a tutor would meet the same children for four weeks at a time. The small group leaders came up with many creative ideas, from bringing books to read with the kids, to games to help them learn math, to impromptu science labs to help the kids learn the five senses.

Image courtesy of shepherdcommunity.org

I was able to work with a group of 5th and 6th graders who needed extra help with division and fractions. I was definitely challenged to help the students who were interested in learning while corralling the others, who had no interest in paying attention. One boy actually joked that he was going to kill me if I showed up with another worksheet for them to do.

Coming off a particularly rough week, I was dreading another hour of trying to bring order to the chaos. However, as soon as I walked in, one of the students ran over and said, “Mr. Jeff! Mr. Jeff! You saved me!” Confused, I asked her what she meant. She explained that she had just finished her ISTEPs, and had come across a section on adding fractions (our topic from the week before). She said the hour we’d spent on the material the week before was a huge help to her. Even though I’d given up any hope on making an impact with my lesson, God used a simple hour of my time to make a difference in this young girl’s life.

Linda, one of the other Outreach team members who volunteers regularly, told me a similar story recently. When she arrived at Shepherd a few weeks ago, one of the students in her group ran over, excitedly clutching a piece of paper. Linda looked at the paper and saw the student’s report card. Her math grade had moved up a full letter, from a D to a C, and she was grinning from ear to ear. She was now passing the class! Linda was struck by the fact that for the first time, this student felt confident that she could succeed in math.

So what about you? Can you be a friend to a child? If you’d like more information about how to get involved in Tutoring at Shepherd, please visit our website.

I have the privilege of being able to serve at Shepherd Community Center each Wednesday as a tutor during their afterschool program. Shepherd is a Christian community whose stated goal is to break the cycle of poverty on the near east side of Indianapolis. They work towards this goal by inviting neighbors into their community and providing holistic services to meet their physical, mental, spiritual and educational needs. The afterschool program provides children with a meal and a chance to receive  tutoring from volunteers and Shepherd staff. Grace invites volunteers to tutor on Mondays and Wednesdays during the school year.

Over the past year, I’ve been spending time each week helping high school students with their homework. I’ve been blown away by how God is working in these students lives. Felicia is preparing to graduate this spring, and has already secured a full-ride to Indiana University in the fall. She will be the first person in her family to attend college. I always get nervous when she asks me for help, because although my degree is in engineering, the physics problems she works on each week are way over my head. Shepherd has helped give her the resources and confidence to achieve her dreams.

Sara has a mild learning disability, and has a hard time fitting in with the other students. When I first started helping her, she complained each week about how she had to “put up with me” and remained very cold towards my offer to help. In the following weeks, she noticed how I kept showing up each week, and that regardless of what subject, whether it was math or music, biology or Bible, I was willing to sit, listen, and lend a hand. We began to develop a genuine friendship, and I now know that if I miss a week, she’ll let me hear it the next time I come in. My time with Sara reminds me that often what the kids at Shepherd need most is not a rocket scientist, but simply a friend.

So what about you? Can you be a friend to a child? If you’d like more information about how to get involved in Tutoring at Shepherd, please visit our website. Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow.