rejoice, pray & give thanks always

Why PDAS

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD.

…but if you’re that bored, that warning has not effect on you.


Project Destiny Autumn-Spring (PDAS) is my Church’s [Boston Chinese Evangelical Church (BCEC)] free drop-in tutoring program for middle school and high school students. 

I have been shawdowing for some months now, and soon will be a counselor. EEEEK! It’s a nerve-racking thought - to be a counselor to mostly middle school students. Middle school students, I think, are the hardest to work with. They’re done with learning the basics, so that gives them the right to “know everything.” So arrogant, the students at this age. I can attest to this because I was once this kid as well. I really did not want to work with middle school students because I thought it would be hard to help them with homework, to talk to them, etc. I questioned why I wanted to do this, why God put me there, etc. Christ has this big heart for them and soon enough I started to understand why. These students need more than just tutoring counselors, they need HOPE, only which can be found in Christ. 

I think most of the people I follow/who follow me on Tumblr are from BU, so they might not know about this article. Most of the people from my high school, Boston Latin School (BLS), have been posting this all over Facebook. It’s about two brothers from Dorchester who go to BLS: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2011/12/18/brothers-seek-way-and-out/cih5tdmtC5Wl65rXXpXb2L/story.html 

This article is such a sob story - I don’t know if it’s because I’m super sensitive or this article is just biasedly written (maybe both!)…

It is great that these kids can depend on this after school program and some mentors or whatever, but I couldn’t help but stay sad because they’re looking for some hope and thinking that they can find it by being successful (aka make it big/get rich). 

The students at PDAS can relate. I’m sure that most of the students don’t have the same family issues but who knows - I haven’t been able to get more personal with them yet. One important difference between the students at PDAS and those brothers is the school they all go to. Most of the students at PDAS go to Josiah Quincy Upper School (JQUS), one of the many regular middle/high schools. BLS is an exam school with much better education than the others. There might be some sucky teachers at BLS but honestly speaking, the education there is much higher. A student from a regular school may ace every class but it isn’t much when compared to an exam school. Exam schools receive more money than the others, especially BLS; so unfair to the rest. 

Exam school students and regular Boston students are so different. A lot of the kids at PDAS are unmotivated; they rush through their homework to play games. Some of the kids come from the exam schools; I witnessed and hear stories of how some of these kids make fun of the JQUS students. This of course makes them want to get into one of the exam schools, but sadly for some, it’s too late (you can only get in 7th or 9th grade). They become even more unmotivated…

I feel like just like the two brothers, they’re all searching for this hope and don’t know what it is (I think they’re too young/don’t care). Luckily for them, they come by to PDAS, which is held at Church. Here at Church, they have access to hope, which can only be found in Christ, because they get to hear the gospel. I wish the two brothers and all those kids in which the article mentions who are in the same type of situations as the two brothers can hear about what Christ offers. Yes there might be after school programs that keep students off the streets (it’s cool that these people have a heart for the students) but PDAS offers something more than counseling. Other programs don’t have Jesus and PDAS does. The Lord has open my eyes to the reason why I am doing this. 

Pray with me for the PDAS kids to have their hope grounded in Christ, and for those who go to after school programs that one day they’ll find their way to God.