Hey Everyone:
I just wanted to give you a glimpse into what has been happening at Farm Drive at Farm Drive lately. There are so many good things that it is hard to know where to start.
v Igelsia Libre started a Parents Discovery Group a little over a month ago. They have a core group of about 6-8 parents from the neighborhood who are committed to coming and sharing with others in a small group setting. There have been some great discussions coming out of the group. Very cool..…
v Earlier this week, we showed The Sandlot on the back driveway area. We had at least 60 kids here. They ranged in age from Preschool to high school. A fun night!!
v On Monday, Diana and Megan Fairchild started a “Creative Writing” class for the kids. We had 12 kids sign up, and it is neat to see how their writing is changing after only a few one classes. Take a look at the picture below.
v We have about 50 kids who attend Bible Club on a regular basis. They are hearing the Word of God taught each week, and it is cool to see the younger kids faithful in memorizing Bible verses!!!
v We continue to see God working in the ministry here. Javier Navarro, Jose Ortiz and Robert Aguilera were invited to a sports camp put on by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) at UCLA. It is billed as a sports camp, but they have worship services and other Bible study activities. The main speaker was some “old guy” named Tom. They said he was probably in his 50’s. They won’t be going back next year if FCA fills their young, impressionable minds with this kind of thing!!! It is cool to hear them come back singing praise songs!! Even though they are teenagers, I guess they do listen…..
v Right now, we have three high schoolers signed up to go to Hume Lake with the Hillside Youth Group. It is awesome to see them want to participate, and they would not be able to do it without your support. Pray for them----that God will make himself known to them, and that they may find a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and that they come back with a new-found joy in Christ.
v Our kids enjoyed VBS this year. We had 15 young ones attending and 8 older kids serving as leaders. Sweet!!! Oh, one of the neighborhood moms came and led a group. She has already volunteered for next year!!!
v We had eight students in our CRAM program make grades. They are required to maintain a 2.0 GPA, do community service and attend school on a regular basis. As time goes along, we are finding that the kids are more committed to keeping their grades up. Anahi Valadez graduated from Pioneer, and we were able to award a laptop to her as our THIRD high school graduate!!!
v One of our “fringe kids”, Omar Verduzco was the recipient of a $1000 Turn-Around Scholarship from the Kiwanis Club of West Metro San Jose. This scholarship program is for kids who have a rough start in high school and finish by bringing up their grades and graduating!!! Omar was a participant in our Homework Club and our Sailing Program about several years ago. How time flies!!
v We had 15 kids get awards for perfect attendance at Homework Club. They were treated to an “outstanding” meal at Hometown Buffet. Those kids can eat!!! We had seven kids in Homework Club get all A’s, B’s and C’s------and two of our girls, Anasuzy Lopez and Ivon Aguilera got STRAIGHT A’s. Not bad!!! All kids with A’s, B’s and C’s were treated to a special meal at the Spaghetti Factory.
v Ruben Torres is home from the Grizzly Academy. We are working with him to explore the next steps in his life. You may see him around Hillside some mornings. He is volunteering, helping Matt Olson retrofit the ballasts in our fluorescent lights to make them more energy-efficient. Rumor is that he is becoming quite adept at it. Pray for him as he attempts to make life adjustments upon his return.
v We had an AWESOME Open House for our 20th Anniversary celebration. We are guessing that we had about 200-300 supporters through here that afternoon. Thank you for sharing in the celebration with us.
v If you have been to one of the recent weddings or the Choir Dinner, you may have seen our kids all decked out and serving with our resident caterer, Ruben Escobedo. Ruben hires the kids and trains them to be professional servers. If you have an event coming up and you need some kids to look nice and serve the crowd, I know many kids who would love to help you out!!!
v Some of our Farm Drive leaders have invited our older boys to go to Family Camp in July. This is not a Farm Drive activity per se (I couldn’t do a week of camping!!), but is Hillside people spending time with the Farm Drive kids, building relationships and showing them how to have a good time in a family setting.
v National Night Out is scheduled for Tuesday, August 7th. This is a nationwide crime prevention program, where the emphasis is on getting neighbors out of their homes and interacting with each other. We often have uniformed police officers stop by and two years ago, the Police Chief and City Manager showed up!!! If you aren’t doing anything on August 7th, between 5:30-9:00 PM, stop by and say hello to our neighbors.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support for the Farm Drive ministry and for Pete, Patty and me, as well as all of our volunteer leaders here. God is truly making a difference in the lives of the kids and their families with your support and prayers. God Bless!!!
Gary
