Story of the Week: An Hour Of Hope

Like many Kids Hope volunteers, Sandy finds deep joy and encouragement in the hour she spends as a mentor each week.

Sandy Lenzen knows the difference one caring adult can make in the life of a young person. With guidance from her grandma, Sandy came to truly know the Lord as a child.

After moving around frequently for many years, Sandy settled in Colorado Springs in 2005 to be closer to her daughter and son. “I had some really tough years,” she recalls. After losing her daughter in 2007, Sandy’s grandchildren were given up for adoption. “I asked that they be adopted into a Christian family,” she says, “but that didn’t happen.” She didn’t hear from any of her grandchildren again until the last few years.

Sandy has always loved children. When she started attending Woodmen in 2017, she had the opportunity to dive into serving kids: “I helped with Kids Camp two months after joining.” She spent years caring for boys and girls as part of the Woodmen Kids team on weekends.

KIDS HOPE

In the summer of 2023, the Woodmen ACTS team opened up opportunities for Woodmen mentors to come to local schools and spend time with an elementary school student each week. The ministry is called Kids Hope. The aim is to connect with students who might need a helping hand, reminding them that they matter and they can dare to hope!

“I was matched with a little girl who comes from a Spanish speaking household,” Sandy says. Jessica, the student Sandy mentors, speaks English and Spanish well, but her parents only speak Spanish. Sandy remembers a time when Jessica expressed embarrassment about it early in their relationship: “I told her she can be proud of her heritage and that she’s blessed to know two languages.”

Over the last three years, Sandy believes the hope of Christ has shone through in this relationship. “You can’t talk about the Lord directly, but you can live it out,” Sandy shares.

She prays in her car each week before she goes into the school to spend an hour with Jessica. Sandy wants to make sure their conversations are uplifting and pleasing to the Lord. Simply through her actions and kindness, Sandy has been able to communicate gospel-centered values and Jessica’s God-breathed dignity and worth. Sandy notes, “She’ll sometimes say, ‘I know what you believe,’ even though I don’t say anything about it.”

WE ARE FAMILY

Through Sandy’s consistency in Kids Hope, she has not only become close with Jessica, she has impacted the whole family. Sandy recalls the first time she met the girl’s father at an end-of-year party: “The kids were having fun and he worked hard at speaking English with me. My student was so proud of him for using English the whole time.”

Jessica’s little brother now wants a Kids Hope mentor, after seeing the relationship between his sister and Sandy. Jessica’s mother even offered to bring lunch for Sandy when she brings her daughter’s lunch.

Spending time with Jessica has become the highlight of Sandy’s week. She loves that they get to laugh together and have serious conversations. Sandy says, “She shares issues that she has. And I bring books so we can read together.”

Sandy sees their relationship as a sweet gift from God. “She says she thinks of me like a grandma. I didn’t have a chance to be with my grandkids when they were little, so I think of her like a granddaughter too.”

A TWO-WAY STREET

One mentor. One student. One hour each week. It’s amazing what a big difference this humble equation can make in the lives of two people. Every year, Jessica asks Sandy if she’ll be back again next year and Sandy responds, “If you want me to!”

While students are clearly blessed by mentors who love and care for them, it’s a relationship that goes both ways. Like many Kids Hope volunteers, Sandy finds deep joy and encouragement in the hour she spends as a mentor each week.

Sandy notes, “There are challenges at times, but even that is something that can stretch and grow the faith of the mentor.” She adds with a smile, “My student is more of a blessing to me than she thinks.”

For confidentiality and protection purposes, the student's name in this story has been changed.

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Interested in finding out more about Kids Hope and how you can get involved? Get started HERE.

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