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Angela’s acceptance
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my story
ngela Decator is not afraid to step outside herself. The Reed City teen’s outgoing spirit endears her to people she’s known all her life, as well as new-found friends.
Her confidence is fueled by her faith, but it comes full circle: In giving of herself, she receives. “Getting to know people makes you closer to God,” Angela said. Angela is the daughter of Dan and Anne Decator of Reed City, and has three siblings. She is a freshman at Reed City High School – a time of transition when everything can seem confusing and in flux. It’s a time when parents pray their sons and daughters will come out on the other end of these wonder years as balanced, loving individuals.
A childhood rooted in faith has given Angela a head start. It’s not always easy: Faith can be the root of rejection by others. And yet, that same faith helps teens to deal with rejection; to use it as a way to connect with God and with other like-minded teens. “Some of my friends aren’t religious, so they don’t always understand what I’m talking about or why I go to church,” Angela said. “With friends who do go to church, it’s easier.” But Angela plows through any rebuff, accepting all. That’s the other side of faith, acceptance and kindness toward everyone, whether they accept you or not.
Angela (shown on ladder, top right) poses with members of a church youth group on a mission to the Red Lake Nation Reservation in northern Minnesota, owned by the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. In July, Angela joined a church youth group on a mission to the Red Lake Nation Reservation in northern Minnesota, where, by some reports, about 40 percent of residents live below the poverty line. Angela traveled with six other teens and four adult chaperones from St. Philip Neri Parish in Reed City, and nearby mission parish St. Anne, Paris, to help paint and repair homes on the reservation and build porches. About 300 teens from across the U.S. participated in the Red Lake Workcamp Mission Trip. That week, new friendships were formed, some of which continue on Facebook. “It was a lot of fun – I met a lot of people. But what I learned the most is the mission revealed by God through others. At times, it got emotional,” she said. Devotions and group gatherings happened every evening. A youth-group discussion that stands out in her mind had to do with this question: “What keeps you from seeing God?” Angela’s answer? “Being selfish, self-serving – putting ourselves ahead of relationships with others – that keeps us from seeing God,” she said. By Molly Klimas | Photos by Kathy Denton