Update From the Director

Hey Everyone:



I want to start by saying thank you for your continued support for Farm Drive. Things are happening down here. It is so neat to be part of such a vital and vibrant ministry. It is evident that God is on the move in the neighborhood. I hope that you are all doing well. I am currently in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for a gymnastics tournament. No, no………….I am not competing!! I am a total spectator. Even trying to get up on that balance beam would be treacherous!!! We just wanted to update you on a few things happening in the neighborhood.



· In January, we took 10 of our older kids to the snow. Thanks to Mike and Terry Sodergren, we had a great place to stay. I don’t particularly like snow, but for some reason the kids love it!! We decided to “tell our stories” to the kids, and Patty, Pete and I each shared our journeys in life---all very different, but all with a consistent theme----God is in control and we can trust Him. Afterward, we gave each of the kids a time to share, and there were some very intimate moments, including broken families, families with substance abuse, split families due to deportation of a parent, etc. One of their consistent themes was that they find love and respect at the Farm Drive Neighborhood Center. No matter what our situation, God loves us and has something better in store for us. This was a highlight of my time at Farm Drive!!



· Earlier this year, we decided to open up the Center for homework extra homework assistance on Wednesday evenings. We started slow………..one or two kids and four or five leaders. For the last several weeks, we have been having 8-10 kids show up for help. Not bad when we are dealing with 3rd and 4th grade homework. Know what these kids are learning now?? Try graphing equations, figuring out which elements have negative ions, solving quadratic equations by completing the square, etc. Remember that stuff??? I remember hearing about them!!! Math was a really easy subject for me in school, but I tell you what---a lot of that is gone from my memory now!! If you have math and science skills, we could sure use you!!! Talk to Patty or me for more details. One of our most recent attendees is Ruben T, who has kind of written school off…..it’s just not important. For the last few weeks, he has been attending and I admire him for the strides he is making!!



· Several of our kids are helping out at Hillside on Sunday mornings. For several months, Sergio and Jose have been ushering for the first service. Now Alan has joined in the usher ranks!! These three guys are also helping in the nursery when needed, and are joined by Crystal, Jessica and Inez. It’s good to see the kids in “serving roles.” Oh, talking about serving-----we have about 12 kids who are going to be serving at the Faith and Love Beyond Ourselves Celebration banquet on April 1st. Normally, our resident caterer, Ruben Escobedo HIRES the kids to work events and pays them for their service. We asked them to consider helping to serve at this event with no pay, to give back to Hillside for all of the things our Church has done for them. EVERYONE OF THE KIDS WE ASKED IS EAGER TO SERVE!!! Isn’t that neat??? Please mark your calendar----this is an event that you won’t want to miss. One of our kids will be sharing his experience with the Farm Drive Neighborhood Center. I’m eager to hear what he has to say!!!



· Our CRAM Program is moving along. We have seven kids who “made the grade” for this past grading period. This is AWESOME. Some of them are just below the mark, and are trying hard to get their grades up. Each of these kids was given a gift card to Panda Express as a reward for achieving their goal. We have a Hillside member who is contributing $5 for every “A” during a grading period, and as soon as our wandering CRAM Director (Becky Kompelien) comes back from Africa, we will be giving out $100 for “A”s. Very cool. I do have to tell you about Omar. Omar had pretty much straight “F”s at the end of the first semester in December. I had a long talk with him about the importance of education and all that. He did tell me he would try harder this semester. About a week before the end of the grading period, Omar texted me and asked if I had checked his grades. I told him that I had not had a chance and asked what his grades were. He told me he had four “A”s and two “B”s. I remember looking at Patty and saying, “I don’t know if he’s messing with me, or what.” Well, he wasn’t!!! When I asked him what changed, he said, “I gave you my word that I would try.” Talk about commitment!! Isn’t that awesome???



· We recently had a momentary slip in judgment and scheduled what we called “19 Hours of Fun”, an overnight experience lasting, duh, 19 hours!!! What were we thinking??? We had 23 kids and nine leaders (five stayed all night!!). We played in the park, we BBQed, we played Wii, Farkle and Wii, we made cookies-----and several of the braver kids even swam!! What fun these kids are. We made it through all 19 hours, and had all 23 kids at the end………….and they were even the same kids we started with!!! This is the stuff memories are made of!



· A few of our older kids have expressed an interest in participating on a short-term missions trip to Kosovo this summer. They have heard me talk about my experiences and the work we do that, and are interested in checking it out. I know it would be an eye-opener for them. It is a bit more costly than other trips we take with the kids and we will need some divine intervention to work out finances. Please pray with us about direction for this trip. If it is something that God wants us to do, He will work it out.



Thank you so much for all you do to support the ministry at Farm Drive. Kids and families are being touched on a regular basis. We could not do it without your prayers and financial support. May God Bless you as you have blessed the families in the neighborhood!!!



Gary

19 hours of fun - praying for dinner

Another video shot that night. Turn up your volume...pretty cute.

19 Hours of Fun - Wii playing at Gary's

During the week of February 21st, the kids were out of school for the holidays. Numerous events were planned but the first one was called 19 Hours of Fun. From 3 pm on Monday afternoon until 11 am the next day, 20 kids plus a few adults spent the time at Gary's house. From playing at the local park, to swimming, to playing different games, playing cops and robbers at the park in the dark, the time was packed with fun. Here are a few videos I took. More pictures later.

When 1000 Grandmothers Pray

Gary, Patty and I went to a CCDA Regional Conference (Christian Community Development Conference) this past weekend. At lunch Gary and I met Loretta. She goes into various girls homes and foster homes and just hangs out with the girls. She has also met a lot of women like her that are older and society tells them they don't have much to offer. But she says we can pray for these girls. She started a blog and sends out emails to grandmothers who sign up for her blog to pray for different girls every week.


The blog is called When 1000 Grandmothers Pray.

She sure was inspiring to talk to. I hope and pray that I can be that focused and determined at that age!

Check it out.

Extra Homework Assistance

A few of us guys who work during the afternoons but who would like to help out with homework assistance are coming to the Center on Wednesday evenings to help anyone who needs extra help. We are there from 5 to 7 pm and we are open for all neighborhood kids, which is different than Homework Club where kids are in a small group and have to sign up.

We still have about 10 kids who are on the waiting list to join Homework Club so this is a perfect time for them to get homework help. Also the older kids have a lot more homework every day so this gives them extra help since they only come 2 days a week to Homework Club. This allows them to get more time on a computer to do the reports that they need to get done.

A big thanks to Dieter Haas, Art Hori, Danny Read, Becky Kompelien, plus Gary, Patty and myself for volunteering their time to help out. Every week the kids keep us all pretty busy. We started out 2months ago with maybe 2 to 4 kids showing up but the past 3 weeks we have had 8 to 10 kids show up! If you have 2 hours on Wednesday's from 5 to 7, see Gary, Patty or I or just show up! We especially need help with Junior High and High School math, algebra, geometry
and science. Also kids are always needing the computer to write things, research and do reports. It's nice to have someone sit by them and help them out.

It's the little things that help and add up. I helped a neighborhood college gal last week by helping her with her taxes. She got her first job last year and needed help filling out the tax forms. She is going to be getting money back! Actually because of Obama's work credit program she is getting more back than she paid into the system!

Older Kids Snow Trip

The last couple of years we have taken kids to the snow to play and yes, to get cold. This year we decided to divide the older kids from the younger ones so we will be going twice. Using a cabin so graciously donated by some friends, we took 10 junior high/high school kids up near Pinecrest Lake. Below is one of the car loads on the way up.

We got up early Saturday morning and headed to a spot along the river near Strawberry. We were the first ones there but the snow was like ice and it was cold. Great tube run...a bit dangerous but super fast!

Angie, Inez, Briseida, and Crystal all looking pretty... even in the cold.


Jose catching some air! Of course it hurt!

As you go through these photos notice the smiles.

Who needs a sled or tube? It was fast enough without saucers or tubes.

Here's the whole crew minus Patty who took the picture. A large crowd started to show up so we moved on over to Pinecrest Lake for lunch. They had picnic tables on the beach. Snowy, not sandy.

The lake was mostly frozen. Everybody likes to try and break the ice. Notice the rocks on the ice. A few of the kids even tried to step out onto the ice despite our protests.

We came back to the cabin for dinner and a chance to kick back.

We had some times together where we shared our "stories". Patty, Gary, and myself (Pete) each shared why we were at Farm Drive but also where God has led us over the years of our lives. We encouraged the kids to share their stories too. It was really a neat time of bonding and building of relationships.

The team

Chinese New Year Fireworks Farm Drive Neighborhood

This is what it is like to live here in Farm Drive year round. We get to experience the fullness and richness of our neighbors culture! They started shooting off the fireworks around 9 pm in the evening but it really got going at midnight for almost non-stop for 30 minutes. This video is taken right out our back window looking down to the parking lot of our neighbors. They were running around with a band of fireworks, wrapped around their shoulders or their waist! It would finish and they would yell Happy New Year in English. Then start another pack. Next morning it was a wasteland of red paper/graffiti from the fireworks. Seemed to be more than in year's past. A sign that the economy is picking up?