How to Help Your Hurting Friend

203 Pages·2010·1.21 MB·English

by  Susie Shellenberger

INVERT
HOW TO HELP YOUR HURTING FRIEND: CLEAR GUIDANCE FOR MESSY PROBLEMS
Copyright © 2003 By Youth Specialties
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the
required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of
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reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form
or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express
written permission of Zondervan.
ePub Edition june 2009 ISBN: 0-310-86251-5
Previously published and copyrighted as Help! My Friend’s in Trouble by Vine Books, Ann Arbor, MI,
2000.
Youth Specialties products, 300 South Pierce Street, El Cajon, CA 92020, are published by Zondervan,
5300 Patterson Avenue SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shellenberger, Susie.
[Help! my friend's in trouble!]
How to help a hurting friend : clear guidance for messy problems / by Susie Shellenberger.
p. cm.
Summary: Discusses how to make and keep friends and how to help friends deal with some of the difficult
issues young people face, including depression, sex, illness, homosexuality, and violence. Includes
bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-24972-2
1. Teenage girls—Religious life—Juvenile literature. 2. Problem youth—Religious life—Juvenile
literature. 3. Friendship—Religious aspects—Christianity—Juvenile literature. 4. Christian life—Juvenile
literature. [1. Friendship—Religious aspects—Christianity. 2. Conduct of life. 3. Christian life.] I. Title.
BV4551.3.S543 2004
248.8'3—dc22
2003016331
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible: New International
® ®
Version . NIV . Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of
Zondervan.
Some of the anecdotal illustrations in this book are true to life and are included with the permission of the
persons involved. All other illustrations are composites of real situations, and any resemblance to people
living or dead is coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—
except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Web site addresses listed in this book were current at the time of publication. Please contact Youth
Specialties via e-mail ([email protected]) to report URLs that are no longer operational and
replacement URLs if available.
Editorial by Rick Marschall
Edited by Anita Palmer
Cover design by David Conn
07 08 09 10 11 12 • 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
READ THIS FIRST!
How This Book Works
You already know that this is a book about helping your friends with their
problems. But to help your friend, you’ve gotta be a friend. And . . . well, you’ve
gotta have friends.
So Section One deals with some good ol’ basic fun stuff on making and
keeping friends.
Section Two deals at length with some heavy issues that some of your friends
may be battling.
Section Three is a collection of several problems you and your friends will
struggle with.
Hey, before you even begin reading this book, I first want to congratulate you
on even having it. I mean, just the fact that you’re holding this book tells me you
really care about your friends. That’s awesome!
There may be times you’re tempted to think,
“I’m just one person.
Can I really make a difference
in my friend’s life?”
You bet you can! All through history, “one’s” have been making a huge
difference. For instance, did you know: • Just one voted caused King Charles I of
England to be beheaded in 1649.
• One vote made Adolph Hitler head of the Nazi Party in 1923.
• Just one vote decided that Americans would speak English rather than German
in 1776.
• In 1845, one vote brought Texas into the Union.
• In 1868, one vote saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.
• One vote elected Thomas Jefferson president in 1800.
• Just one man, Noah, heard and obeyed God’s voice and was able to save the
entire animal kingdom and procreate humankind.
• She was just one—and single, too!—but Phoebe volunteered to deliver Paul’s
letter to the Romans. And how that book has influenced millions of Christians
through the ages!
• Just one man—the Son of God—the greatest gift of all, offers eternal life to
you and me . . . and your friends who are battling deep hurt.
You bet you can make a difference in your friend’s life!
ONE is extremely powerful—especially when Jesus Christ is the One doing the empowering!
God bless you as you seek to be Jesus to those around you, Susie Shellenberger
For Kathy Gowler
It was in a tiny,primitive village in the middle of the jungle at the end of the
world on one of our adventure treks that we learned the Kirikiri Tribe had a
special word for friend-oolie: one who carries me.
I think there was actually another syllable to the word,but that’s as much as
we could understand.And it’s stuck.You truly are an oolie.We have carried each
other around the world,jet-skied on the Indian Ocean,snorkeled the Great Barrier
Reef, safaried in Africa and laughed till our sides hurt Since this book is about
friendship,I can’t help but think of you as I fill these pages.I only wish everyone
the whole world over could understand that true depth in friendship smothered in
Jesus Christ produces oolieness-friends who carry one another-through midnight
tears,lost files and a multitude of prayers to our Father.
Thank you,Friend.
My Sisto.My Oolie.
CONTENTS
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright
Read This First
Section One:
Making Friends
Quiz: What Kind of Friend Are You?
Section Two:
Eating disorders
Depression
The Internet
Coping with an Illness
Self-Destruction
Sexual Abuse
Section Three:
Letters To Susie
About the Publisher
Share Your Thoughts