We are excited to be sending three of our Vision Onward kids to Kids Across America Camp this upcoming week. We originally had five kids scheduled to go, but one of the moms took off with her children this summer and we weren't able to convince her to let them come back to go to camp. This was disappointing because these particular two boys would really benefit from being there. They have come a long way since we have met them, but they still have a REALLY tough home life and it would have been neat for them to have gone. The three that are going are counting down the days until they go. They are so excited!
We have switched our weekly meeting with the kids from Wednesday to Thursday for the summer. We have been meeting at Douglas Park- - -we let them play, feed them and end with a devotional time. It is good to be in that neighborhood because it is a tough area. We know that many of the houses surrounding that park are involved in illegal activities so we really think our presence there during the summer is important.
Updates regarding Walk This Way 2008 are soon to come!!!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Misc Update
Over the past couple weeks we have spent time with the kids explaining to them how to use their voices to affect change in positive ways for them. A week ago Wednesday, we explained to them the Frontier Pool situation and they all got together and wrote down reasons and responses as to why they think the city should put money into keeping Frontier Pool open. It was neat to see them express themselves to "the city" in the only way they have possible- - -by writing a letter. You see, these kids don't get to vote- - -they HAVE NO VOICE! They have very few people advocating for them- - - -and sadly enough, it is definitely NOT their parents.
We are so thankful to many people for working diligently to push and fight for these kids, but the ones who stand out the most to us are David and Sonja Settle!! Thank you so much for all of the city meetings you have attended, the letters you have written, the emails you have sent and the YES signs you distributed! You guys are amazing and we so appreciate what you are doing for these families on the west side of town!!
Now, for a quick update: Jeff and I are going to be OUT of town for a month beginning May 21st. There is going to be a planning meeting held at Grace Community Church for the Walk This Way event on Tuesday, May 20th at 11:45 if anyone is interested in being a part of this event. Walk This Way is scheduled for September 13 at Douglas Park and it will be an all day event including music artists, workshops and free food. We will be needing lots of volunteers for this so please pray about whether there is an area where you could serve. We will be posting more specific roles and responsibilities in the near future.
This summer we are prayerfully considering many more structured programs like single parenting classes, job skill training, after school programs and tutoring. If any of these areas fit your gifts, please contact us. We cannot do this alone and we desire to bring in as many helpers as possible. We are the body of Christ, with many different gifts and abilities; if you have a gift or ability to share, we would love to hear from you!!
We still have MANY needs on our DEEDS 4 NEEDS list waiting to be filled. Please check to see if there is a need you could meet.
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As much as we HATE to see taxpayers having to pay a little more sales taxes, we realize that without it, these kids will be left with nothing. We highly doubt that anything or anyone would come along and renovate this pool for the kids on the westside- - -without it being city funded. We are thankful for the YES vote and we are thankful for all the people who supported it. It definitely means A LOT to our Vision Onward kids. Here is a picture of their excitement:
(Please click on the picture for a close up)
We are so thankful to many people for working diligently to push and fight for these kids, but the ones who stand out the most to us are David and Sonja Settle!! Thank you so much for all of the city meetings you have attended, the letters you have written, the emails you have sent and the YES signs you distributed! You guys are amazing and we so appreciate what you are doing for these families on the west side of town!!
Now, for a quick update: Jeff and I are going to be OUT of town for a month beginning May 21st. There is going to be a planning meeting held at Grace Community Church for the Walk This Way event on Tuesday, May 20th at 11:45 if anyone is interested in being a part of this event. Walk This Way is scheduled for September 13 at Douglas Park and it will be an all day event including music artists, workshops and free food. We will be needing lots of volunteers for this so please pray about whether there is an area where you could serve. We will be posting more specific roles and responsibilities in the near future.
This summer we are prayerfully considering many more structured programs like single parenting classes, job skill training, after school programs and tutoring. If any of these areas fit your gifts, please contact us. We cannot do this alone and we desire to bring in as many helpers as possible. We are the body of Christ, with many different gifts and abilities; if you have a gift or ability to share, we would love to hear from you!!
We still have MANY needs on our DEEDS 4 NEEDS list waiting to be filled. Please check to see if there is a need you could meet.
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.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Taking Ownership & Upcoming Summer Plans
I love it when we see some of the kids at VO taking a bit of ownership in what we are doing. We have occasionally had people come in and lead some worship on Wednesday nights, but not on a regular basis. Tonight, three of our older girls had gotten together and put a couple songs together and wanted to LEAD in worship. It was really cool!! I was so proud of them. We also were blessed tonight with a delicious dinner from the Gore small group and we are so thankful for them coming and helping out!!
Jeff will soon be moving into the position of getting out of the business world so we are hoping to get a little more organized and focused with VO! We have been praying for this for a year now. He felt called to be out of "working" a little over a year ago, but the timing has not quite been right. We have LOTS of ideas and things we are wanting to implement with VO, but with working full time, we just haven't had the time to get much done. We had planned for VO to just be small for a while- - -just a handful of families we could pour into until we had more time to actually START a ministry. Well, God had different plans! Things took off quickly- - much more quickly than we anticipated or even desired, but who can argue with God. So we have just been trying to manage for the past few months. The building is still not completed, there has been NO decorating the inside, we still need a bigger bus or another smaller bus, and the list goes on and on of things we need to do- - -so hopefully soon we will be able to get to all those things. The neat thing is. . .even though we don't have the fanciest facilities, great entertainment for the kids, or the most organized curriculum, the amount of kids we have coming keeps increasing and we haven't been losing any kids. They just keep coming back. We laugh about how "amateur" we are at doing this "ministry thing" and how we really have nothing "great" at VO or offer anything extremely "fun" for these kids, yet they keep coming back. Sometimes it makes me think we should just keep it like it is- - - -simple and to the point!! We may try to complicate it too much and start losing kids. Who knows! Right now, we really just try to focus on the kids while they are there- - -mingling, talking, caring. . . .instead of worrying too much about getting through our "curriculum" or providing the "best" entertainment.
All that being said, we do have a few things tentatively planned out for this summer. Below is a list of things we are looking forward to:
Jeff will soon be moving into the position of getting out of the business world so we are hoping to get a little more organized and focused with VO! We have been praying for this for a year now. He felt called to be out of "working" a little over a year ago, but the timing has not quite been right. We have LOTS of ideas and things we are wanting to implement with VO, but with working full time, we just haven't had the time to get much done. We had planned for VO to just be small for a while- - -just a handful of families we could pour into until we had more time to actually START a ministry. Well, God had different plans! Things took off quickly- - much more quickly than we anticipated or even desired, but who can argue with God. So we have just been trying to manage for the past few months. The building is still not completed, there has been NO decorating the inside, we still need a bigger bus or another smaller bus, and the list goes on and on of things we need to do- - -so hopefully soon we will be able to get to all those things. The neat thing is. . .even though we don't have the fanciest facilities, great entertainment for the kids, or the most organized curriculum, the amount of kids we have coming keeps increasing and we haven't been losing any kids. They just keep coming back. We laugh about how "amateur" we are at doing this "ministry thing" and how we really have nothing "great" at VO or offer anything extremely "fun" for these kids, yet they keep coming back. Sometimes it makes me think we should just keep it like it is- - - -simple and to the point!! We may try to complicate it too much and start losing kids. Who knows! Right now, we really just try to focus on the kids while they are there- - -mingling, talking, caring. . . .instead of worrying too much about getting through our "curriculum" or providing the "best" entertainment.
All that being said, we do have a few things tentatively planned out for this summer. Below is a list of things we are looking forward to:
- Jeff spoke with the head of House of Faith this past weekend and we are going to go down to Texas and meet with them sometime this summer and see how they operate. Their ministry is very similiar to ours and they have about 10 years of experience on us so we want to "pick their brains" and use any help or advice they can give us.
- We would like to send about 6-8 kids to Kids Across America camp so we are trying to come up with the funds to do that.
- Sept 13 will be the 2nd annual Walk This Way concert. We are planning to have God's Army, Lecrae, and a few other bands performing at Douglas Park along with workshops for kids and a free dinner.
- Service projects that we can do as a group with some of the older kids at VO so we can teach the children how to serve
- Possibly a trip to Branson and Silver Dollar City
- Neighborhood block parties with our blow ups and grilling food - -Jeff had a pastor from Texas wanting to bring a group up this summer to do their service project with us- - we are considering doing a neighborhood VBS using their volunteers.
Friday, April 11, 2008
PURE EXCITEMENT
I posted last Sunday night on my personal blog about an amazing day I had with one of the girls who I have been trying to reach out to through Vision Onward. I decided that I should share my story on this blog as well because without Vision Onward and what we are doing through this ministry, this opportunity would not have taken place. To read about it, please click HERE.
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