If you mention the name Dean Sikes, over a thousand students in the Miss-Lou area will know exactly who he is.

Though Sikes’ trip to Natchez was a whirlwind, he and his assistant Keith Hammons, the pilot Bart, and volunteers Charles and Gloria Wilkerson from Carthage were all part of God’s work here in the Miss-Lou. This team changed the lives of 1,601 young people. In the 48 hours that they were here, they had nine speaking engagements.

Sikes speaks candidly and relevantly about suicide, forgiveness, and abuse. He engages the teenagers, and they are remarkably focused and attentive as he speaks. In one school, the only movement in the entire group was the pen of a lady taking notes. Sikes is truly gifted with a unique ability to connect with teenagers. Here are the statistics from Dean’s speaking engagement in the Miss-Lou area from Sept. 27 through 29:

4Students engaged: 1,601.

4Students acknowledging the need to forgive someone: 1,108.

4Students struggling with suicide who acknowledge the need for help: 110.

4Students who signed the YouMatter Pledge: 1,092.

4Students who have sought help from school administration since the event: more than 50.

At Natchez High School, Sikes was only able to speak to some of the students; the others were testing. NHS Principal Tony Fields wants Sikes back to speak to the rest of the students. Additionally, there were schools at which Sikes was not able to speak this past trip to the Miss-Lou area, but Dean will be back.

Sikes comes free of charge; he has partners who believe in and completely fund his ministry. However, we would like to show him Natchez hospitality and cover his expenses so that his ministry can go to other schools who cannot afford to reimburse him.

It takes a lot of money to fly from Chattanooga to Natchez and provide lodging and food for the team. We will be collecting money to have Sikes return to the Miss-Lou area in the spring of 2016. Also, Sikes has an excellent devotional for teens. With funds, we can provide this devotional to all the public school students in the Miss-Lou area.

Please support the Sikes ministry in their return to the Miss-Lou and help us provide this devotional for all the students in the public schools. The youth are our future. Let’s take care of them. If you are interested in helping Sikes return to Natchez or helping provide devotionals for our public school students, please contact Patsy Collins at 601-442-7072. Thank you to the following companies and persons for providing for Sikes and his team while they were in Natchez: Holiday Inn Express, The Malt Shop, Cotton Alley, and FBC Natchez staff, especially Dan Ratcliff and Marlee Howard.

 

Pasty Collins

First Baptist Church member