Sarah Jordan on Aug 30th 2010 Impact...Education and Mentoring,Uncategorized
Great things are happening at Kids Club! On Tuesday, August 17th, a Back-To-School Cookout was held at the Ivanhoe Apartments in Vickery. This event was to launch the Kids Club and celebrate the new school year through a cookout, handing out school supplies and fellowship.
There were at least 100 kids and their families that were served. The night was fast and furious but all it went well. It was a huge launching point for the ministry and goes a long way in building trust in that community. We handed out 50 backpacks with supplies. Each pack had an encouraging note inside and a flyer telling families about Kids Club. We all walked away believing that it went well and that seeds of trust were built in new lives.
This last Tuesday, we had our first official Kids Club time and had between 30-40 kids. Each week we share the gospel and teach them about what God has to say to us through His Word….so it was fun to see some new ears hearing about their God this week. Pray the new and old kids continue to come ready to listen and engage with each other and the Lord. Only He knows what’s ahead. We can’t wait to see what God does in their hearts this year.
-Charla Dixon
Jeff Ward on Aug 23rd 2010 Impact...Education and Mentoring
Click here for Week 10 video!
Last week, Mercy Street Staff and 120 excited kids from our community, loaded up on three giant buses, and traveled the now familiar route to Pine Cove Outback in Columbus, Texas. The partnership that was started with the camp executives back in 2008 has naturally trickled down to the counselors and our kids who look forward to this week all summer. With pillows, sleeping bags and clothes that in a week will all smell like lake water, the kids prepared to be challenged physically, mentally, and spiritually and to see things they simply don’t get to see living day to day in the heart of the inner city.
This year, along with the 4th -8th graders, we took 11 high school kids who we’ve seen the Lord mature over the years as Counselors In Training. It was a sight to behold. They quickly rose to the call of leadership as the younger kids looked to them for help on both the zip line and relationships with their cabin-mates. They were amazing and we loved the privilege of seeing these 11 become what Mercy Street is all about; being used by the Lord to help kids become the agents of change in their own community.
The examples these teens were to the younger kids was astounding and they instilled hope in everyone for the next generation of leaders being raised up in West Dallas. They became rock-stars in the best sense of the term and were, possibly for the first time, held up among their peers for standing against the voices in our community that scream from all sides to live your life for you and you alone. We pray they, that all the kids, will take hold of the beautiful lessons from Matthew 5 that encourage us to stand up in our ‘sit down’ world – to be cities on a hill – and that persecution that comes because of Him is indeed a blessing.
Deep in the heart of the property at Pine Cove, when the sun has set, we looked up at the sky with our campers and showed them the stars that literally fill the night. We pray they will understand that, just because we can’t see all those stars easily in the skies of West Dallas, it doesn’t mean they’re not there . Much like the Lord, we must see Him with eyes of faith, believing He is an ever present help and hope and his mercies are without end. Thank you for all your help preparing these kids for camp. You are pouring your lives into children we pray are becoming a royal priesthood – the light of the world.
from Mercy Street staff
Jeff Ward on Aug 17th 2010 Impact...Education and Mentoring
This past weekend, the 2nd Saturday crew rolled out, got out their scrub brushes, and helped get De Zavala Elementary School squeaky clean for kids in West Dallas. Beyond just making the school nicer for teachers and staff, principals there tell us that just having the kids walk into a clean and organized learning environment raises academic scores substantially. Way to go!
This coming Saturday, there are even more opportunities to get these schools ready, as we clean our new partner school, CF Carr Elementary, this coming Saturday morning. For more information on how you can help, please email sschweinfurth@watermark.org. And, watch the Watermark News this Sunday and/or grab an “Impact…Education” card at the Welcome Center for details on all of the upcoming opportunities!
Jeff Ward on Aug 8th 2010 Events,Watermark
http://watermarkblogs.org/stories/08/deciding-to-adopt/
This is one of my favorite stories – I love how folks in our body are adopting, fostering, and/or fostering to adopt. All of this is born out of a deep understanding of God’s mercy to us, in not simply saving us, but adopting us as sons and daughters and giving us an eternal inheritance!
Be watching for some great events coming up soon in this area!
Jeff Ward on Aug 5th 2010 Thoughts
Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, T. Boone Pickens and 40 more billionaires pledge to donate the majority of their money to charity. Read their letters about why they’re doing it here. Then, read Matthew 13:44 and consider what that looks like for you!
http://givingpledge.org/
