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
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