At the beginning of each day and each week, I ask God to completely use me up for His purpose. I ask him to leave me totally drained, to the point where I can ONLY rely on Him for strength for another day.
Be careful what you wish for! Prayer works! I love knowing I'm completely pouring myself out to be a living sacrifice for God. But I think I've been a little too tired and busy for blogging! So let me explain the situation. The fifth week was the week of the fourth of July. It's really hard for us to get teams to get in, so only four teams running one site each came. Because we wanted to minister to as many kids as possible, we ran Whittier with only staff. So it was basically a really relaxing week for me, which was a blessing after and before huge weeks! I did crafts with Amber, a semester missionary who came back this particular week to hang out with us. We had a grand old time! I was pretty heart broken about having to leave my kids, so week five was a beneficial experience for me. I ended up having a wonderful time, and of course I fell in love with the kids! I focused on forming relationships with them and not being bitter about being away from my kids. I might have to leave Kendrick for the last week of club for cross training opportunities, since I'm interested in returning next summer, so this helped me realize that I'm going to have a just as wonderful, if not better, experience. If I'm with kids I'm not used to, I'm probably going to put more effort in to ministering to them without even realizing it. Whatever happens, I know I can trust God with where he takes me.
Week six was our biggest week yet (well, until the week that we're currently in. But I'll talk about that another day). Kacie and I were finally back together at Kendrick! We had a returning team who were extremely sweet and passionate. There are a couple of really cool things that I'm going to touch on. The first was that our team was talking about these two boys who came to club last year, but we had not seen all summer. I thought they were thinking about kids at a nearby site, but on Monday when we were walking to get kids, a woman walked out of a house we had never picked up kids from before and said, "I think the boys are coming today!". It was such a God thing, because this team remembered and LOVED these boys. What I didn't realize until we met their mother was that Pastor Tim had told me about this family. Last spring, one of the missionaries at Kendrick was walking up to their house and there was an ambulance outside. A baby girl had died of SIDS. The boys' mother still sent them to Bible Club that day. I am so thankful that God is allowing us to continue to minister to this family! The second neat event was that we finally started doing discipleship clubs. One of our staff, Erica, goes out to every site and meets up with the kids who have accepted Christ AT Bible Club. The first one she went to was ours! She met with a couple of kids and did a more in depth study with them. They really enjoyed it, and I'm so happy for them.
We're getting so close to being done. I can't believe it!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Week Four
God tested Street Reach with a huge week. We hosted 120 missionaries and ran nine sites, opening a brand new one in a different area of the street Brinkley Heights is on, Rosamond Ave. Having so many people, and people I knew, was definitely tough. We also had various meal problems that made the staff more tense than usual. But I am praising God that He kept His hand on me, the staff, and this ministry.
I ran Kendrick by myself and it was totally fine! I missed having Kacie, but we're utilizing one of our 13 year olds, LS, to help out. 13 is technically to old to come to club, but it's okay if the kid acts as a missionary-in-training. So LS will do water for the kids, line them up, control them at lunch, play with them, walk down the streets with team members, etc. I had to step up in discipline, and I think I learned a lot this week. A New Bethel member told me my leadership skills had really improved. I thought that was a pretty neat compliment!
This next week, there are only four teams at Street Reach, because it's 4th of July week. So Whittier will be a staff-run site, and I have to work there, while Kacie is running Kendrick with a returning team. I love Whittier, and I'm so relieved I will be working with staff rather than a mission team, but I'm heart broken about missing my kids. So please pray for me that I will not be selfish about this.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Week Three
We are really in the thick of things now! God showed his faithfulness last week and it knocked us to the ground. We've been praying that we could break 400 kids ministered to in one day. Last summer, 300 was only broken once. This summer, we've only NOT broken 300 three times. So we were dreaming big. On Wednesday, God gave us a good "Christian tease" (Street Reach staff inside joke, pardon me) by sending out 399 kids. So of course, on Thursday we were extremely pumped up to break 400. As Jason said, we broke it and slapped it in the face with 447! We haven't counted up the numbers from Friday yet, because Jason was gone for the weekend, but we know it's even more than 447. Kendrick itself broke records by going from 36 on Monday to 63 on Friday! I believe Kendrick only got to 40 kids one time last summer. It's just amazing to see God expanding our ministry and using us as His hands and feet. Tomorrow we are opening a new site, and in a couple weeks we plan on opening a 10th site. We are truly blessed.
Boanerges Baptist Church from Old Fort, TN worked Kendrick last week. I was so impressed with their passion and dedication to this mission. They were a returning team from last year, but they had doubled, so we had a lot of people who had heard about Street Reach but not yet experienced it. They all loved it and were affected by this community. God used them to gain us tons of new kids; I believe we met at least two new kids a day, with some days bringing in six or seven! They also worked hard to reach out to our older kids, and a few of them were saved. It's just such a beautiful thing. Now these boys and girls who were saved can reach out to their friends who don't attend Bible Club, and their families as well. I was so proud of my kids, my team, and myself! On Thursday and Friday I ran Kendrick without Kacie. It was more stressful, because I didn't have someone to share the responsibilities with, but it went smoothly as ever. This week I will be running Kendrick alone, but New Bethel (my church) is the mission team there. I know that with them and God on my side, I will be able to manage things.
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4:6
This verse and today's sermon at Brinkley Heights were things I really needed to hear. The sermon was about why we should fear God, and that means. I've always struggled with feeling spiritually week, even though my faith wasn't wavering. It's because, without always knowing it, I don't give everything up to God. I just go, go, go, trying to do everything myself. Some nights I get too tired and I don't pray. I feel ashamed, but I don't always do anything about it. Here, I'm starting to learn how to continually go to the Lord for strength and guidance, and to put my trust completely in him. You will be worn out if you don't!
So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. Galatians 6:9
This verse also came to me at just the right time last week. We were praying to get more numbers, and we were tired from working. But this reassures me that God will provide for us.
I will try to be better about blogging this week. Keep Street Reach in your prayers, and God bless you!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Memories from Week 2
Northwest, our team from Week 2, put together a video from their week at Street Reach. This is all of my kids at Kendrick, and they're video clips! I thought you should see how ridiculously adorable Kendrick kids are. :)
http://vimeo.com/25458006
http://vimeo.com/25458006
Monday, June 20, 2011
Street Reach Videos
Here are a couple more videos that I just realized y'all might like to learn more about Street Reach and Brinkley Heights. This first video is a promotional video made about Street Reach Ministries. The really cool thing about THIS video is that it was made by a mission team member who came in last summer, and he was here the week my church was! So there are various shots of my youth group in it. The second video is about Brinkley Heights Urban Academy and it was made by Union University. This one is cool because a lot of people realize what I'm doing at Street Reach, but they don't know about the school that has grown out of our ministry! It's pretty awesome. Enjoy!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Father's Day
Oh, Daddy, I am not with you
on this Father's Day.
I miss your smell,
your pancakes,
and the funny things you say.
As always, Daddy, I love you;
I am your baby girl.
And this poem is a shout out
to how you've rocked my world.
But Daddy, I'm not with you
'cause I'm in Memphis, Tennessee.
I've been living here for three weeks;
let me tell you what I see.
At ten o'clock I go knocking
on families' little doors.
I'm ministering to the broken,
the lonely,
and the poor.
The mamas come to answer me,
the children show up with a smile.
But they're not always happy;
they haven't seen daddy in a while.
People here need the Father,
of this fact I am sure.
They cry and wallow in sin,
'cause they ain't living in the Word.
But who could help these young boys
and protect these little girls?
Who could make these mothers want
respect and joy in their world?
Oh Daddy, life here could be so sweet
if there were more men like you.
The only dads I see on the street
don't have your worldly view.
They're smoking,
stealing,
fighting,
selling,
and they're not caring for their children.
And Daddy, you've made mistakes, too,
but we ain't been where they've been.
Daddy, more than ever,
I am happy you're in my life.
Your love for me,
my brothers,
and my mother
is beautiful throughout all our strife.
My dream for all the kids here
is that they'd have a daddy just like you.
So I want you to know,
I love you, Daddy,
and thank you for loving me too.
on this Father's Day.
I miss your smell,
your pancakes,
and the funny things you say.
As always, Daddy, I love you;
I am your baby girl.
And this poem is a shout out
to how you've rocked my world.
But Daddy, I'm not with you
'cause I'm in Memphis, Tennessee.
I've been living here for three weeks;
let me tell you what I see.
At ten o'clock I go knocking
on families' little doors.
I'm ministering to the broken,
the lonely,
and the poor.
The mamas come to answer me,
the children show up with a smile.
But they're not always happy;
they haven't seen daddy in a while.
People here need the Father,
of this fact I am sure.
They cry and wallow in sin,
'cause they ain't living in the Word.
But who could help these young boys
and protect these little girls?
Who could make these mothers want
respect and joy in their world?
Oh Daddy, life here could be so sweet
if there were more men like you.
The only dads I see on the street
don't have your worldly view.
They're smoking,
stealing,
fighting,
selling,
and they're not caring for their children.
And Daddy, you've made mistakes, too,
but we ain't been where they've been.
Daddy, more than ever,
I am happy you're in my life.
Your love for me,
my brothers,
and my mother
is beautiful throughout all our strife.
My dream for all the kids here
is that they'd have a daddy just like you.
So I want you to know,
I love you, Daddy,
and thank you for loving me too.
Week Two
You want to talk about time flying when you're having fun? Last Sunday and the beginning of week two FEELS like it was forever ago, but MAN did time fly this week! I just need to say; I currently have the best job in the world.
Kendrick hosted another awesome team. We had Northwest Baptist Church from Gainesville, FL run club. They were a team of 8, two adults, four youth girls, and two youth boys. They loved on the kids like crazy and a few of them are really interested in returning as staff next summer! I am so proud of them. One of the girls, Aimee, is going to start a backyard Bible Club in a trailer park where she lives. She said that her church has been trying to start it for a while, and she's been putting it off. Now she's ready to head it up! The best part of club was probably the music station. Al, the youth pastor, and Andrew led music. Andrew brought his guitar, and Al would teach the kids songs that they learned and sang throughout the week. The kids seemed a little skeptical at first but ended up LOVING it. We heard from Cody's (one of our regular Bible Club attendees) mom that he was singing the songs at home and teaching them to her! Music really is a beautiful thing, and it's amazing how God works through it.
Our highest number of kids was 39 on Friday, and we picked up a lot of new kids during the week. Tomorrow Kacie and I are expanding the routes to pick up kids, so hopefully we will get even more! The number of kids that Street Reach is ministering to overall is simply amazing. Besides our 39 on Friday, there was a total of 393 kids at all sites! One of our sites, Guernsey, will almost definitely be breaking up into two sites soon. One of the Junior Staff members will be leaving their site to go run that one, so there's a good chance it could be me. Jason is really proud of what Kacie and I are doing; he believes I could head up a site by myself. I am ready to go wherever the Lord wants me! Please keep this in your prayers.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Week One
As you can tell just by watching this video, the first official week of Street Reach's 2011 summer program was AWESOME.
Pastor Tim challenged us to pray that God would let us what HE sees. It's amazing. These are the most beautiful children. It breaks my heart to go pick them up and never see a father figure, to see them wearing the same clothes days in a row, and to realize that they have not been taught basic manners or habits. But they are so smart! I am teaching them things, and they're teaching me. I'm really learning how to handle these kids. I can't wait for our relationships to grow over this summer. Tomorrow they will realize that the mission team from last week is gone and that they'll meet new ones every week, but that I am here for them. I feel so attached to them! I'm going to just share a few stories as I think of them:
- We are supposed to stop letting kids over 12 years old come to club. Jason, my boss, decided that it can be our call, but that we have to trust them completely! The older kids can cause more problems at site. So, we decided to cut two brothers, Ralph and Alfonso (13 and 15), who had been coming all week. On Friday, they actually walked to club before we picked them up! So Kacie told them about the decision, and I ran into them coming home while I was picking up kids. They were bummed out, but they understood. I'm still really upset that we cut them, because they're great boys. But God is still doing really cool things in their lives! For instance, we kept encouraging them to go to MAM. I even told their mom about it! The other day I went over to open gym and the boys were there! They were having a really good time. After club on Friday, one of the men on our teams and I went back to their house because he had promised Ralph a Bible. At first I thought it was just really sweet of this man, Joe, to make sure it happened. But what was AWESOME was Ralph's reaction! He was genuinely excited to get his Bible.
- I've been asking kids if they're reading their Bibles and praying, and they really are! Even some of the youngest ones. Even when I think Bible Club isn't doing enough, I realize that those kids are truly affected by it, and they take it home with them. We have a family of five kids whose mom was saved through Bible Club.
- Finally, speaking of that family, it was pretty sad when we took them home on Friday. It's not hard for me, but the teams get really attached. They loved these particular kids, and it's no surprise why! They're a Hispanic family, and these kids are probably the sweetest I have literally EVER met. They never cause trouble and they're always kind, even the oldest two. We took a long time to drop them off because we were giving them hugs and whatnot. The kids had finally gone inside and we were walking away when Jessie, a five year old boy, opened up the door again and yelled, "I love you!". I choked on my tears, and I wasn't even leaving!
Sorry if some of this is worded in a way that makes no sense, I'm pretty tired right now. I think I'm going to take a nap! We're just having some down time until teams arrive.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Discipline
This is Jermaine, we call him "J" or "J.J.". He's six years old and comes from a house where we get about seven or so kids every day. He came on Monday, and although he was fun and sweet, he would NOT listen or follow the rules. He just wanted to play. Kacie and I got really close to taking him home or suspending him for the next day. We told him that he better change his behavior for tomorrow (Tuesday) or he WOULD be suspended. But come Tuesday, he was still acting up. So Kacie took him home before we even circled up. He cried and cried. Kacie explained to him and his mom that she loved him and wanted him to come back, but he needed to behave better. On Wednesday, I went to pick up kids on his street, including his house. He stood at the door the whole time his siblings/cousins were coming out. He was quiet and respectful, and he let me know how many more were coming. I told him I couldn't wait to see him tomorrow! Today, Thursday, he was allowed to come back. Let me tell you, that boy was sweet as can be! He helped me lead songs and played with me like he did on Monday, but he stayed attentive in his group and caused literally NO problems. This is the perfect example of discipline. Teams often don't like it when we send them home or suspend them. But they don't understand; they only have to be here five days and WE have to be here all summer. They think it's mean, but the things is, these kids WANT to be at Bible Club. It's where there friends are, but more importantly, it's where they're getting appropriate love and attention. I don't think J will cause us another problem all summer.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Beautiful Feet
Disclaimer: If you have not read my first post, please go down. I'm posting this right after posting my initial blog post, and that has more information.
Another Disclaimer: Don't listen to this if you don't like rap (even though it's CHRISTIAN rap!)
This song, along with Romans 10: 14-15 (where a lot of the inspiration for this song came from), was the inspiration for the theme of my blog, and my mission for this summer. It's a rap by a Christian artist who grew up as an inner city kid. It consists of true stories about inner city kids he knows, and then goes on to quote scripture and explain that these communities need Christ, and they need people to preach it to them. He says that the feet ARE beautiful, if only they will go.
If you don't like rap and just want to read the lyrics, they're below the video.
Carlos was born in killa Cali,
Was walking down an alley and caught a bullet in his head that left him bleeding badly.
He lost everything at that moment except his life
He lost his hearing lost his movement and he lost his sight
He laid there in a coma
But man, nobody cared
The Gospel preached in his neighborhood? Nobody dared
But 'los got up out the coma got and was able to hear
A missionary shared the gospel to his open ears
He got saved, got trained, got discipled
Back to hood
You could find him preaching the bible
He led a homie to Christ from his same hood
Part of Church plant
Come on now ain't his name good
This is blessing but I'm stressing that this is not the norm'
We need leaders and believers to help carry it on
But who would minister in a sinister part of town
I pray if Jesus is calling you that you would be found
Eric used to go to Bible study as a kid
He got older and started doing what the hood did
A rival gang caught him slippin' tried to take his life
But the gun jammed up so them beat him nice
He woke up in the hospital singing Bible songs
Praise God he had a place to learn the Bible from
But then he gets saved and wanna preach Christ they make him change his whole culture and way of life
He gotta get him a bachelors wear a suit and tie
Go to seminary
By then all of his boys will die
Jesus came to invade culture outta Nazareth and used a couple fisherman who people saw as hazardous
The feet are beautiful if only they'd go
If ain't nobody in hood preaching how will they know?
Eric is better used taught trues in his context
Somebody please plant a church in his projects.
In Luke 4:16 on down to 21 Jesus says he's messiah says he's the chosen one
But more than that he quotes Isaiah
That shows our savior targets oppressed, captive, blind, and the broke I'm saying
Had a heart for the poor, had a heart for the low
And 1st John 2:6 is the way we should go
In Deuteronomy even though they under the law
The tithes every third year, the poor got 'em all
I ain't sayin' you wrong if you live in 'burbs
I'm sayin' turn your attention to the hood 'cause we hurting
Man' if you ain't burdened please pick up your word and
Though this world is going down while we here we can serve Him
We bring this to the streets because we knew the streets
I pray that more would be burdened to have beautiful feet
You never knew the streets but truth is what you preach
I pray to God you'd be burdened for beautiful feet.
Go, go, go (run with those beautiful feet)
Go, go, go
You hold the truth that saves so run and shout it to the world
They can't believe in something they ain't never heard
Go, go, go and run with those beautiful feet
Another Disclaimer: Don't listen to this if you don't like rap (even though it's CHRISTIAN rap!)
This song, along with Romans 10: 14-15 (where a lot of the inspiration for this song came from), was the inspiration for the theme of my blog, and my mission for this summer. It's a rap by a Christian artist who grew up as an inner city kid. It consists of true stories about inner city kids he knows, and then goes on to quote scripture and explain that these communities need Christ, and they need people to preach it to them. He says that the feet ARE beautiful, if only they will go.
If you don't like rap and just want to read the lyrics, they're below the video.
Carlos was born in killa Cali,
Was walking down an alley and caught a bullet in his head that left him bleeding badly.
He lost everything at that moment except his life
He lost his hearing lost his movement and he lost his sight
He laid there in a coma
But man, nobody cared
The Gospel preached in his neighborhood? Nobody dared
But 'los got up out the coma got and was able to hear
A missionary shared the gospel to his open ears
He got saved, got trained, got discipled
Back to hood
You could find him preaching the bible
He led a homie to Christ from his same hood
Part of Church plant
Come on now ain't his name good
This is blessing but I'm stressing that this is not the norm'
We need leaders and believers to help carry it on
But who would minister in a sinister part of town
I pray if Jesus is calling you that you would be found
Eric used to go to Bible study as a kid
He got older and started doing what the hood did
A rival gang caught him slippin' tried to take his life
But the gun jammed up so them beat him nice
He woke up in the hospital singing Bible songs
Praise God he had a place to learn the Bible from
But then he gets saved and wanna preach Christ they make him change his whole culture and way of life
He gotta get him a bachelors wear a suit and tie
Go to seminary
By then all of his boys will die
Jesus came to invade culture outta Nazareth and used a couple fisherman who people saw as hazardous
The feet are beautiful if only they'd go
If ain't nobody in hood preaching how will they know?
Eric is better used taught trues in his context
Somebody please plant a church in his projects.
In Luke 4:16 on down to 21 Jesus says he's messiah says he's the chosen one
But more than that he quotes Isaiah
That shows our savior targets oppressed, captive, blind, and the broke I'm saying
Had a heart for the poor, had a heart for the low
And 1st John 2:6 is the way we should go
In Deuteronomy even though they under the law
The tithes every third year, the poor got 'em all
I ain't sayin' you wrong if you live in 'burbs
I'm sayin' turn your attention to the hood 'cause we hurting
Man' if you ain't burdened please pick up your word and
Though this world is going down while we here we can serve Him
We bring this to the streets because we knew the streets
I pray that more would be burdened to have beautiful feet
You never knew the streets but truth is what you preach
I pray to God you'd be burdened for beautiful feet.
Go, go, go (run with those beautiful feet)
Go, go, go
You hold the truth that saves so run and shout it to the world
They can't believe in something they ain't never heard
Go, go, go and run with those beautiful feet
Walking in Memphis
Hello all! I'm sorry I didn't immediately start blogging once I got to Memphis. But we were doing training. I had free time, but I didn't necessarily have things to talk about. I do now!
So, if any of you don't know exactly what I'm doing, let me give you the 411 as simply as possible; I'm working as a missionary for Street Reach Ministries this summer. Staff is broken up into Junior Staff (high school students AKA me) and Senior Staff (college students). There are 8 girls and 7 guys. On Monday through Friday mornings we run Bible Club, a variety of fun activities and a free lunch for children up to the age of 12. There are 8 different sites around North Memphis, with two staff members at each site (some have only one senior staff member). Teams on summer mission trips from churches around the country rotate in on Sundays to assist us with Bible Club for the week and to do other projects. In the afternoons, different staff members head up different projects. We also work to serve breakfast and some dinners to the teams, and we represent the cleaning crew. This is all housed in Brinkley Heights Urban Academy. Street Reach was born through Brinkley Heights Baptist Church, and the Urban Academy is a result of Street Reach. Church is held in the gym right next to the school, which is also used by MAM (Memphis Athletic Ministries).
Did you get all that? Good! Now let me tell you about my leadership assignments. I'm at a site called Kendrick (all the sites' names are based off of a street they're on, except one that is a trailer park). The reason I requested to work at Kendrick, besides the fact that I worked it when I was here last year on a mission trip, is that it's one of the smaller sites. It is the second newest sites and it used to be on the chopping block. But the two staff assigned there last year did an awesome job with canvasing for kids and making relationships with them and their guardians. So Kendrick has a LOT of potential! That's why God put it on my heart. I want to continue the good work that happened last year and extend Bible Club out even more!
I work with Kacie. She is one of my roommates and I LOVE her! She is extremely sweet, funny, and passionate. This is her first year on staff, but she has been coming with a mission team for a few years now! She is 27 years old and in seminary right now.
My afternoon project is volunteering at a community center. Although Bible Club is going on THIS week, the kids' program will start at the community center NEXT week. But basically, I take teams there and we play games and hang out with the kids. There is a staff there, but apparently they just kind of give it up to Street Reach when they come over. So we will probably split them up into age groups and play games and do relay races with them. Since it's a community center, we can't do devotionals with them or stop talking about Jesus. If they ask questions though, we can answer them. Some people have a problem with that aspect of the ministry, but I think it's awesome. This community center is in a really bad area, so getting the kids off the streets and to a safe place to hang out with good role models is essential.
As a junior staff member, I also have kitchen duties. On Monday mornings I have the second breakfast shift (8:00-9:00), which involves serving, and on Friday mornings I have the early breakfast shift (7:30-8:30). Jason (the program director and my boss) didn't want girls having the early shift, because that involves loading all the food into the oven and whatnot. So I got the early shift on Friday, which is when Jason makes pancakes! I'm also helping to cook, set up the kitchen, and serve food for dinner on Monday nights, along with two other junior staffers.
And that's about it! Except it's ten times more amazing. So this is what I'm planning on for this blog. Every week, either on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays, I will do a post about the week in general, highlighting the special moments. But I'll also be posting scripture, stories, songs, etc. that I think about during the week. I'm learning a LOT right now, and I want to share it with as many as possible.
So, if any of you don't know exactly what I'm doing, let me give you the 411 as simply as possible; I'm working as a missionary for Street Reach Ministries this summer. Staff is broken up into Junior Staff (high school students AKA me) and Senior Staff (college students). There are 8 girls and 7 guys. On Monday through Friday mornings we run Bible Club, a variety of fun activities and a free lunch for children up to the age of 12. There are 8 different sites around North Memphis, with two staff members at each site (some have only one senior staff member). Teams on summer mission trips from churches around the country rotate in on Sundays to assist us with Bible Club for the week and to do other projects. In the afternoons, different staff members head up different projects. We also work to serve breakfast and some dinners to the teams, and we represent the cleaning crew. This is all housed in Brinkley Heights Urban Academy. Street Reach was born through Brinkley Heights Baptist Church, and the Urban Academy is a result of Street Reach. Church is held in the gym right next to the school, which is also used by MAM (Memphis Athletic Ministries).
Did you get all that? Good! Now let me tell you about my leadership assignments. I'm at a site called Kendrick (all the sites' names are based off of a street they're on, except one that is a trailer park). The reason I requested to work at Kendrick, besides the fact that I worked it when I was here last year on a mission trip, is that it's one of the smaller sites. It is the second newest sites and it used to be on the chopping block. But the two staff assigned there last year did an awesome job with canvasing for kids and making relationships with them and their guardians. So Kendrick has a LOT of potential! That's why God put it on my heart. I want to continue the good work that happened last year and extend Bible Club out even more!
I work with Kacie. She is one of my roommates and I LOVE her! She is extremely sweet, funny, and passionate. This is her first year on staff, but she has been coming with a mission team for a few years now! She is 27 years old and in seminary right now.
My afternoon project is volunteering at a community center. Although Bible Club is going on THIS week, the kids' program will start at the community center NEXT week. But basically, I take teams there and we play games and hang out with the kids. There is a staff there, but apparently they just kind of give it up to Street Reach when they come over. So we will probably split them up into age groups and play games and do relay races with them. Since it's a community center, we can't do devotionals with them or stop talking about Jesus. If they ask questions though, we can answer them. Some people have a problem with that aspect of the ministry, but I think it's awesome. This community center is in a really bad area, so getting the kids off the streets and to a safe place to hang out with good role models is essential.
As a junior staff member, I also have kitchen duties. On Monday mornings I have the second breakfast shift (8:00-9:00), which involves serving, and on Friday mornings I have the early breakfast shift (7:30-8:30). Jason (the program director and my boss) didn't want girls having the early shift, because that involves loading all the food into the oven and whatnot. So I got the early shift on Friday, which is when Jason makes pancakes! I'm also helping to cook, set up the kitchen, and serve food for dinner on Monday nights, along with two other junior staffers.
And that's about it! Except it's ten times more amazing. So this is what I'm planning on for this blog. Every week, either on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays, I will do a post about the week in general, highlighting the special moments. But I'll also be posting scripture, stories, songs, etc. that I think about during the week. I'm learning a LOT right now, and I want to share it with as many as possible.
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