School is definitely upon us!!! Today was the first of three days of registrations for fall classes and Homework Club at the Neighborhood Center. We will be having groups for PreKinders, Kinders and kids from 1st thru 10th grades. We had a total of 39 sign up just today! We have over 20 new kids that have never registered to attend before. We can already tell that there will be kids on waiting lists, since some of our “regulars” haven’t even signed up yet. This is a good problem to have. Please pray that we get many new leaders so that every group will be staffed with at least two leaders. Groups will have no more than six kids and we like to have at least two leaders in every group. (Know anyone??? Send them our way!)
We have finished off our summer activities. This past week, we took two groups to the Boardwalk for some real old-fashioned fun. This was all courtesy of Ron and Serena Whiting, members of Santa Cruz Bible Church!! Thanks Ron and Serena!!! A couple of the older guys coerced me into a ride on the Double Shot, a ride that shoots you almost to the moon at breakneck speeds. When you get to the top, you free fall, and then, it’s up again!! Somewhere near the top, I think my tummy caught up with my body. What was I thinking??? Tamer rides like the Giant Dipper and the Hurricane are favorites of many of the kids. Have you ever had a deep fried Twinkie or funnel cake?? Wow!!!
August 3rd was National Night Out. Early in the evening, I counted about 112 people moving around the Center. Our friends from Iglesia Libre showed up and I would guess that, in total, we had between 150-175 people. It was a good time, with good food provided by our neighbors. One of the kids now calls me abuelo, which is Spanish for grandfather, but that’s another story!! On August 26th, Iglesia Libre will be starting a Family Wellness and Parenting class (in Spanish!!!) for the neighbors. About 17 of our neighbors signed up to attend!!! Praise God!!
We got to spend some quality time with the kids this summer. Well worth it!!! Our prayer is that they got to see Jesus in the times that we had together. They are a neat bunch of kids and relationships are truly being developed.
Please continue to pray for the ministry here. Pray for Pete and Patty, who live in the neighborhood. Pray for encouragement and stamina for them as the minister here 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Incarnational ministry isn’t always easy!! Pray for our kids, as they start school on Monday. Pray that they go back with good attitudes, and eager to learn. Pray for our CRAM program---this is our mentoring program. Last year, we had nine high schoolers sign up, and we identified seven more who will enter high school on Monday. And, we just thought of TWO MORE today!! We will be needing more mentors!!
May God Bless you for your continued support of the Farm Drive ministry. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers!!
Gary
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