July Update from Gary

Hey Everyone:

Wow………….God is so good!!! There are so many good things happening at Farm Drive. The activity is enough to keep anyone young!!! We are in the middle of summer and are having a great time with the kids. Lots of good stuff!! I want to give you a little glimpse into some “God sightings,” and some praises and prayer requests here.

· Most of you know that a few of our kids expressed an interest in going to Hume Lake. That few has blossomed into TEN kids-----five high schoolers and five junior highers. Four of the junior high kids are on the waiting list, so pray that it will be possible to get them in. I sent out an email asking for prayer for our kids and Hume Lake, and I must say, I was elated that so many of you have committed financially to making it possible for them to go. Many of you have come up to me and said, “This could be life-changing for these kids.” Thank you so much for your generosity!!! We had the kids working at the Center today to earn their deposit money. They did an awesome job!!!

· We have kids regularly going to our Hillside youth groups on Wednesday nights. This is an answer to prayer and it is so awesome to see them so eager to go!!! Tonight, as we were dropping them off, one of the kids (Jose) took a phone call from someone, and I overheard part of it. He said, “…..I’m at my church……” Wow!!! My heart soared!!!

· And speaking of Jose…………….. he and Sergio just got back from a Sports Camp put on by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. When I picked them up, Jose asked if he could talk to me about “something personal.” Of course, I said yes, and after some prompting, he said he needed to talk to me about Jesus. On Monday morning, I met with Jose. He told me about the camp, and about the times of testimony and worship that they had. It was obvious that he was touched by what he had heard, but he said he was “confused.” He did, however, have a really good grasp on what they were talking about, and about sin, and about who Jesus Christ is, and about his need for a relationship with Jesus. I told Jose that a lot of people have been praying for him for a long, long time. After we talked, he was not ready to make a commitment just then, but we prayed that God would make Himself real to him. Please pray for Jose and for the different leaders here who minister with him.

· Two of our kids, Elian Rivera (3^rd grade) and Eric Torres (5^th grade) both prayed to receive Christ during Bible Club!! Sweet!! There are so many people who had a part in these boys’ lives, and each one has been able to let them see a piece of Jesus through them!!! I guess Paul was right when he said that some planted, some watered and some harvested. A perfect example!!

· CRAM is going strong. This is our mentoring program for high school kids. We are probably adding five new 9^th graders to the program this fall. We were able to award our second laptop in June, when Dariela Salazar graduated from Gunderson High School. Very cool!!! There is one of our fringe kids, Elizabeth, who has all but dropped out of high school. School attendance isn’t important to mom, and so it isn’t important to Elizabeth. Enter her CRAM mentor, Paty Sayre. I saw Elizabeth a few weeks ago and she said that she was going out with Paty in the new few days. I asked how that was going. Elizabeth said, “She gives me homework.” “Homework??” I asked. “Yeah. She gave me math to do and last week she had me write an essay.” “Did you do it??” “Oh, yeah. I want to do it!!” And this is from a kid who doesn’t like school!!!! All it takes is someone who is committed to helping these kids a bit. Our end of the year reward for making grades was a trip to Six Flags up in Vallejo. The high school kids and the big kids who got to drive them had an awesome time.

· We attended four graduations in two days, handing out 20 balloons to our proud kids!!! It is so neat to be a part of these special events in the kids’ lives.

· Our Bike Ministry is still going strong. We have several committed guys----Brian Zylka, Jeff Moore, Dieter Haas and Dave Belgum, who try to get here every week to keep these kids rolling through the neighborhood. One of our ABF’s, Salt and Light, came down on a Saturday, worked on bikes, hung out with the kids and cooked them a hot dog lunch!! Very cool…………..

· We were able to get free tickets to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the De Anza Planetarium this summer. Both of these trips were very educational. We had 22 kids and five leaders go to the Aquarium, and ten kids and two leaders go to the Planetarium. I still can’t see those constellations that they show………the Hunter, Orion, etc. Whatever…………I just have to believe!!! We went to see fireworks the other night and one of the kids lay down on the ground and looked up and said, “I see Orion.” Whatever………….. But I do believe!!!

· We had seven kids go to our “Reward Breakfast.” These are the kids who went to every Homework Day, from January to the end of May. This is the first year we have done this, and I already know that we will have a bunch more than seven next time. Hometown Buffet can be tempting, huh???

· Most of you know that my sister-in-law, Dona, passed away in June. She had been on our Farm Drive Prayer List for many months, and the kids would regularly ask how she was doing. The kids here showed real compassion when Dona passed away. I got hugs and many sincere “I’m sorrys” from our kids. They are sooooo cool. Dona’s death really opened the door for us to talk to the kids. Most kids don’t understand deep subjects like this. Some of them have already experienced this type of loss first-hand. We were able to talk to kids like Marcus Barajas, who lost his mom to cancer just two years ago, about such things as why some people die from cancer, and some don’t. God does open doors……..

· This weekend, we are taking two groups up to Camp MayMac to support Iglesia during their Family Camp. Our kids will be working with the younger kids from Iglesia so that the parents can be involved in the camp program. It is so neat to see them serving. This is why kids like Jose say, “I’m at MY church.” Isn’t that awesome????

Thank you for your continued support of Farm Drive. Your prayer for the kids and their families is vital to the ministry here. God is so good, and we keep seeing it over and over!!! May God bless you much!!!

Gary