The Holstein family spent the week at a place with several children who did not own a pair of shoes. A couple of nights ago, they shared that with the rest of the groups during our La Croix time at the end of the evening. They shared some of their experiences and there was a definite hush over the room as our kids thought about what it would be like to not have a pair of shoes when they are going across the street to Kroger a couple of times per day to get sodas and candy.
At the end of the evening, kids from every family group - not just the ones who were serving at that site - went to Shelly and gave her some money. The next morning, she had over $80!
They went and bought shoes and gave them to the kids the next day. They took pictures and videoed their reactions and we got to watch it together last night during our La Croix time. It was amazing! This one little girl didn't want to go home because she was afraid she would have to leave the shoes there. She carried the shoe box with her everywhere she went for the whole day.
A beautiful example of the true meaning of the body of Christ...
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Random Act of Kindness
My recap of a highlight told to me by Emily Johnson...
Her family group was on the way to their job site and pulled up to a stop light underneath an overpass. In a pile under there, you could see some belongings that clearly belonged to a homeless person. Sumner Sparkman asked Blake to pull the van over. When asked why, he said that he wanted to leave part of his lunch on the persons stuff so that when they got back they could eat.
Blake pulled over and the entire van gave parts of their lunch for the homeless individual and wrote a note to go along with it telling them that God loves them deeply!
You all raised them...we just get the pleasure of hanging out with them all week:-)
Her family group was on the way to their job site and pulled up to a stop light underneath an overpass. In a pile under there, you could see some belongings that clearly belonged to a homeless person. Sumner Sparkman asked Blake to pull the van over. When asked why, he said that he wanted to leave part of his lunch on the persons stuff so that when they got back they could eat.
Blake pulled over and the entire van gave parts of their lunch for the homeless individual and wrote a note to go along with it telling them that God loves them deeply!
You all raised them...we just get the pleasure of hanging out with them all week:-)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The Holstein Family
The Holstein family is led by Shelly Stone and includes: Megan Smith, Paige Messerli, Alexis Runnels, Catie Dovin, Caroline Kasten, Creigh Miles, Caleb Ambler and Lauren Sides.
This group is spending their entire week at the Avesta Drive Community Center...for pretty much the same reasons my group is at the Charleston Boys and Girls Club for the entire week. The kids at this center need consistency and want to be able to develop relationships.
Avesta is a summer day camp, where kids from the area come and play and get away from the stresses of their home lives. Many of the chilren come from broken homes, as the center is located in a rough area of town. They are getting to do lots of activities with these kids, including sports, crafts and water games.
The family groups LOVES these kids and says although they have nothing, they are amazingly well-behaved and well-mannered. This is not so much the case with the kids at CBGC:-)
This group is spending their entire week at the Avesta Drive Community Center...for pretty much the same reasons my group is at the Charleston Boys and Girls Club for the entire week. The kids at this center need consistency and want to be able to develop relationships.
Avesta is a summer day camp, where kids from the area come and play and get away from the stresses of their home lives. Many of the chilren come from broken homes, as the center is located in a rough area of town. They are getting to do lots of activities with these kids, including sports, crafts and water games.
The family groups LOVES these kids and says although they have nothing, they are amazingly well-behaved and well-mannered. This is not so much the case with the kids at CBGC:-)
The Hensley Family
The Hensley family is led by Blake Driskell and Carly Rees. Their students are Sammy Rees, Sumner Sparkman, Garret Jackson, Emily Johnson, Maddie McDonald, Drew Wilson, Lauren Uhls, Linzee Rosen and Josh Thomas.
They actually get to visit three different mission sites throughout the week. Monday and Tuesday mornings they went to Covvenant House. Then in the afternoons they went to Good Living. Today and tomorrow, they serve at Union Mission.
Covenant House is a nonprofit organization dedicated to working for justice by offering direct services for those in need and creating social change through advocacy and education. Covenant House, Inc is essentially an emergency day shelter and drop in center. They provide showers, laundry and financial assistance. At this site, our students helped with basic maintenance, landscaping and cleaning.
Good Living is a very small nursing home and has a very welcoming and home-style feel to it. It currently houses 8 residents. They needed our help with some landscaping, maintenance and painting jobs to help improve their neighborhood.
Union Mission Ministries seeks to meet the needs of WV through the provision of shelter, clothing, food, counseling, and structured programs for the poor, the needy, and those bound and bruised by addictive lifestyles. They house several ministries including food distribution, family counseling, a homeless shelter and a thrift store. Today the students helped in the thrift store - which was apparently an amazing experience...they loved it! Drew says he actually wants to work there when he grows up - because they are doing so many cool things to help people.
Union Mission is the reason we will be adding a typewriter to our cargo van (see previous blog entry), a keyboard that Sumner picked up - it was a "steal", a dress that is adorable that Maddie got for 50 cents, and also a ... oops, Emily Johnson swore me to secrecy on her "find".
They actually get to visit three different mission sites throughout the week. Monday and Tuesday mornings they went to Covvenant House. Then in the afternoons they went to Good Living. Today and tomorrow, they serve at Union Mission.
Covenant House is a nonprofit organization dedicated to working for justice by offering direct services for those in need and creating social change through advocacy and education. Covenant House, Inc is essentially an emergency day shelter and drop in center. They provide showers, laundry and financial assistance. At this site, our students helped with basic maintenance, landscaping and cleaning.
Good Living is a very small nursing home and has a very welcoming and home-style feel to it. It currently houses 8 residents. They needed our help with some landscaping, maintenance and painting jobs to help improve their neighborhood.
Union Mission Ministries seeks to meet the needs of WV through the provision of shelter, clothing, food, counseling, and structured programs for the poor, the needy, and those bound and bruised by addictive lifestyles. They house several ministries including food distribution, family counseling, a homeless shelter and a thrift store. Today the students helped in the thrift store - which was apparently an amazing experience...they loved it! Drew says he actually wants to work there when he grows up - because they are doing so many cool things to help people.
Union Mission is the reason we will be adding a typewriter to our cargo van (see previous blog entry), a keyboard that Sumner picked up - it was a "steal", a dress that is adorable that Maddie got for 50 cents, and also a ... oops, Emily Johnson swore me to secrecy on her "find".
The Adkins Family
First of all, since I just posted the Fisher family as well...now would be a great time for me to point out that these two families - unfortunately - are in places that do not allow photographs. So, I apologize - but the only pics you will see if your kids are on one of these teams, are pics once we are back here at the church where we are sleeping:-( I've asked both families to try to 'sneak' a few on their phone...but you know...some people are rule followers...lol.
So, on with the Adkins family. It is led by Karen Bangert and includes the following students: Parker Outman, Sam Unger, Gray Hallman, Ryan Begley, Morgan Asendorf, Emily Holman, Rachel Juhlin, and Addie Stucker.
This group is hanging out at Valley Center in the mornings and Coal Branch in the afternoons.
Valley Center is a care facility, which provides nursing and rehab care for its residents. Our students are serving them by spending time with their residents and giving them individual attention they wouldn't normally get. The nurses and nursing assistants try their hardest to make personal connections with each resident, but often their job keeps them from actually sitting down with the residents and having long talks with them. The goal for this family is to serve relationally. Listening to stories, playing board games and giving them the attention and time they need and crave.
The Coal Branch Community Center is a safe haven for kids in the area to come during the day. The kids that go to Coal Branch are often at risk kids who come from broken homes. On average, up to 25 kids come to Coal Branch everyday with ages ranging from elementary school through middle school ages. Coal Branch creates a Christian atmosphere for the kids, which includes activities, such as Bible study. The kids there love when the older kids come spend time with them, as their lives have a lot of low points since they aren't growing up in the most peaceful of neighborhoods.
So, on with the Adkins family. It is led by Karen Bangert and includes the following students: Parker Outman, Sam Unger, Gray Hallman, Ryan Begley, Morgan Asendorf, Emily Holman, Rachel Juhlin, and Addie Stucker.
This group is hanging out at Valley Center in the mornings and Coal Branch in the afternoons.
Valley Center is a care facility, which provides nursing and rehab care for its residents. Our students are serving them by spending time with their residents and giving them individual attention they wouldn't normally get. The nurses and nursing assistants try their hardest to make personal connections with each resident, but often their job keeps them from actually sitting down with the residents and having long talks with them. The goal for this family is to serve relationally. Listening to stories, playing board games and giving them the attention and time they need and crave.
The Coal Branch Community Center is a safe haven for kids in the area to come during the day. The kids that go to Coal Branch are often at risk kids who come from broken homes. On average, up to 25 kids come to Coal Branch everyday with ages ranging from elementary school through middle school ages. Coal Branch creates a Christian atmosphere for the kids, which includes activities, such as Bible study. The kids there love when the older kids come spend time with them, as their lives have a lot of low points since they aren't growing up in the most peaceful of neighborhoods.
The Fisher Family
The Fisher family is led by JT and an adult leader from one of the other churches, Brian. They have 10 kids in the group, but only 3 of them are La Croix kids...they are Josh Stone, Alex Stone and Mason Turner.
This group is spending the whole week between two places...one in the mornings and another in the afternoons.
They are going to O.S.C. and Oak Ridge.
O.S.C. stands for Outrageous Sports Camp and is a Youth Works run camp that runs 6 weeks throughout the summer. It is primarily aimed at ages 10-14, but some weeks they work with kids as young as 6 years old. The camps serve as an outreach tool for the community and focuses on a different sport each week. Through teaching and interaction, the goal is to show Christ to these young people. The sport for this week...football! The boys are in heaven...JT, on the other hand, has a really sore shoulder:-)
Oak Ridge Center is a nursing home, which also provides short-term rehab services. This family group is serving with the center - where there are great relational ministry opportunities. Whether it's a simple "hi" or sitting down one-on-one and hearing about their lives, the residents just appreciate someone taking the time out of their day to spend it with them.
This group is spending the whole week between two places...one in the mornings and another in the afternoons.
They are going to O.S.C. and Oak Ridge.
O.S.C. stands for Outrageous Sports Camp and is a Youth Works run camp that runs 6 weeks throughout the summer. It is primarily aimed at ages 10-14, but some weeks they work with kids as young as 6 years old. The camps serve as an outreach tool for the community and focuses on a different sport each week. Through teaching and interaction, the goal is to show Christ to these young people. The sport for this week...football! The boys are in heaven...JT, on the other hand, has a really sore shoulder:-)
Oak Ridge Center is a nursing home, which also provides short-term rehab services. This family group is serving with the center - where there are great relational ministry opportunities. Whether it's a simple "hi" or sitting down one-on-one and hearing about their lives, the residents just appreciate someone taking the time out of their day to spend it with them.
More thoughts from your kids...
Here's a few more things I've heard from your kids...
I was really impacted by a girl I met that told me that last summer she came to this camp and she met a girl named Deborah who was with Youth Works. She told me she gave Deborah her address at the end of the week so she could write her. But then she told me that Deborah never wrote her. She said...'she must have been too busy to think about me.' I knew then that I could be different and could make an impact in some of these kid's lives even after we go home. Emily DiamondI can't believe how appreciative these little kids are for the smallest things. They have nothing. Catie Dovin
As we were leaving the nursing home, I heard this lady screaming for help. She was in a lot of pain. We went to her and called for help...but waited there for more than 10 minutes before anyone came to help her. It made me really sad that there are not enough people to give these people the care that they need. Morgan Asendorf
I loved getting to eat the same lunches as the kids at the Boys and Girls Club. Cody Likens (for those of you who do not know Cody...this "highlight" he shared with the group was DRIPPING with sarcasm:-)
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