Kids Club

Kids Club – June 27 – July 8

Why we still do outreach

A mom who grew up as a Kids Club kid called the other day. She told me her girls would be coming for the two weeks of Kids Club after all; she was canceling a trip to Sinaloa, Mexico to visit their sick grandmother. “They’ll kill me”, she said “if they miss Kids Club.”

So here we go. Another summer … I woke up this morning thinking about why we still do outreach. As you know, today we have programs that go deep into lives. Helping with skills development, whether staying in school, GED, Jobs preparation, parenting skills … you name it! And we know thousands of people, having traveled for years alongside many. Yet, here we go again, out to the neighborhoods, looking for the kids, out to the streets, to gather them all in one more summer.

Ezekiel 34:11, 12
GOD, the Master, says: “From now on, I myself am the shepherd. I'm going looking for them. As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered, I'm going after my sheep. I'll rescue them from all the places they've been scattered to in the storms.”


1. To reach the next ones

My memory photo file slings picture after picture of hundreds, multiple hundreds of kids who we met for the first time one summer. Junior, Steven, Marissa, Max, Iyanna, Cupa, Angel, Kayla … once they were unknown to us, an unreached child; lost in the worlds of their parent’s drugs and wanderings. We know them now, and love them, and hope to know their kids and their kid’s kids. The programs of this ministry are designed around them and their journeys.

But there is a new to us kid, a kid who has never heard about Jesus, His love, His hope and power. And that kid will come this summer, sort of sandwiched in between the 400+ known ones and their cousins. They will have come from a trailer park or back alley apartment, with issues and anger and a “you don’t know me!” attitude. And we will pray for that one in the small debrief groups every night, hoping they come back.

Read if you have time:
http://www.faithatwork.com/history/Shoemaker/Shoemaker_StandByThe Door.html


2. To remind ourselves that the church belongs on the streets

There is nothing quite like outreach to remind the church of both God’s heart and our mission. I hear the emergent church desiring to be “missional”, desperate to be where God has designed them to be and what he has designed the church for. I look at our summer team, filled with teens, twenty and even thirty somethings and marvel at their capacity to be poured out for kingdom purposes. They want to spend it all for what brings eternal dividends. We BELONG out there, out where it matters, out where the shepherd is searching for the lost, out with Him on His mission. We matter out there. Something in us wakes up when we are out there!

Christ wants not nibblers of the possible
But grabbers of the impossible
By faith in the omnipotence, fidelity
And wisdom of the Almighty Savior
Who gave the command
Is there a wall in our path?
By our God we will leap over it.
Are there lions and scorpions in our way
We will trample them under our feet!
Some wish to live within the sound
Of church or chapel bell
I want to run a rescue shop
Within a yard of hell.
C.T. Studd


3. To train the next generation

The battle ground is just that, a battle ground. Bloody, piled high with the wounded, scary, noisy and chaotic, desperate for leaders who won’t run away and hide. There is a battle for the precious lives who are being rescued from the grip of evil. The enemy doesn’t surrender after we have filled the van with gas and made our organizational plan. He has time tested methods to beat us at our human efforts, our slick schemes. And in a blink, he can take the most novice warrior down.

So, we teach these new recruits how to pray. How to pray and pray and pray. How to decide not to give up, instead how to fall on their knees and not expect defeat, but to believe in the victories promised by the God who can send the enemy flailing.

Ephesians 6:10 ff
God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.
Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own … Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out. And don't forget to pray for me.

And we teach them how to love unconditionally, how to keep going even when it feels as if their faith is so small, how to trust God with good theology, how to wait and watch and learn and study and investigate and persevere.

Almost all of this is learned in the furnace called “outreach”. Who will train the next generation to reach the cities for Christ? We want our hand in the air for this question.


4. To keep ME in the game

I had a really vivid adventure dream last night. In it, we were beginning a fairly dangerous kayaking trip, which would eventually become a long hike into the unknown. I don’t remember the destination. There is a precious 5 year old in our ministry who has been sorely abused. She is beautiful. She showed up in my dream. I took her hand and asked her if she wanted to come along. Usually she is very shy and frightened in real life. In my dream she stood strong and ready, and fearless. “I want to go”, she said. “I told her, “you are not too young”.

I need this adventure as much as anyone. I need to bang at the doors of hell and cry out to loose the ones in bondage. I need to tell stories of today, not just yesterday. I need the pressures, the sleepless nights, the worries, the demanding days … they still make me stronger, just like they did when I was younger. So, for the 19th year, I will be teaching in Kids Club. What a great privilege!


Praying for Kids Club

· For the 82 work crew who live together at Grand Canyon University
· For the 500 or so kids who will come
· For the teachers in classes teaching our “God’s Hero” curriculum
Isaiah 63:1 Who is this coming … Who is this hero marching in his glorious uniform? "It's me, the LORD! I have won the battle, and I can save you!"
· For the worship, activities, skit team, support staff
· For the 20 vehicles (buses and vans)
· safety
· For field trips (we still need 4 more – we had unexpected cancellations)
· For the final work crew meal that is still unplanned (another cancellation)


Answers to prayer for Junior High Kids Club, BEACH CAMP and Andrea Contreras

· Andrea Contreras (one of our summer staff) had a tumor on her pituitary gland behind her eye. She had it removed on June 23. She did very well with the surgery and is recuperating. More later on the side effects. Please keep praying.
· Junior High Kids Club was amazing. The most kids in the leadership class ever (40+); this group will be serving during regular Kids Club.
· Kids came to know the Lord, made decisions to follow Christ daily, and had a wonderful time.

“In this episode I also must tell you the things that happened during Junior High Kids Club! Let me start by saying that it was absolutely amazing! One of the things that I personally learned is that I don't have much faith but God does things to increase my faith in Him. At the beginning of the week I had some problems with a kid who did not want to listen to anyone. After some time in prayer with my debriefing group I saw a radical change in the relationship between this kid and I in the days that followed. Towards the end of the week we became homies and I got the privilege of praying for him and his mom. The other kids in my group amazed me too. The topic for the week was "You can be GOD's hero." During class they seemed that they were not paying attention but when they were asked about class by the teacher they would answer correctly. On Wednesday 2 of my kids decided to ditch and go home to play video games but one of their good friends decided to stay and when I asked him why he said: "Well, today in class we talked about standing up for what is right even when you are the only one standing up and I think that what they did was wrong." I was astonished at his answer and almost felt like crying knowing that he had learned something and when it was time to put it to practice he did what was right. The last day of the camp before going to Slide Rock in Sedona we talked about Jesus and that day the gospel was to be shared with every kid. When we started talking about Jesus and salvation, the kids started asking a lot of questions and all I could do was to answer them. Amazingly all the questions had to do with making Jesus our Hero, Savior, Lord and Father! When I asked the kids who wanted to receive Christ in their hearts I was surprised to see 4 of the 5 lifting their hands, I even asked them if they knew how serious the event was. So 3 kids ended up praying to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord and one said: "I asked Jesus to live in me before but I needed to pray today because I have done some things that Jesus doesn't like." Praise God for these 4 kids and for the others in whom the seed was planted. “

· The slide rock trip started off rocky, two blown tires in a bus on the freeway, another car overheated, the work crew boss lost his notebook with our credit car inside … within a few hours all was fixed and recovered. The rest of the day was beautiful and memorable. We will definitely go back next year.
· Beach camp also started off in trouble … with tough kids spinning other tough kids into fights and conflict. Midway, the leaders were ready to come home. Maybe you were praying … because things turned around, relationships were reconciled and the messages they were hearing of God’s love and forgiveness sunk in. Beach camp has made it into the “we must do this again next year”!

Hebrews 12:1,2
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

NM Summer 2005

Neighborhood Ministries summer prayer letters 2005

A note about the summer blog:
Thank you for praying with and for us. We depend on it. We know you do!
Thank you for praying for Katy. The blog that was set up for Katy has been a great resource and blessing to her, her family and many others.
We thought a blog might be a great vehicle to connect with you about the diverse and significant needs of the summer ministries here also. So we are setting up a blog for summer updates. When you pray for us please take a few minutes to check both Katy’s and the summer ministries’ blogs
http://katyreel.blogspot.com/
http://nmphx.blogspot.com/

June 12, 2005
Dear Friends,

What a challenging, difficult, beautiful, life giving and rich school year this has been … and we miraculously have spilled over into summer. Somehow, in God’s grace and mercy, we have made it this far …

Summer ministries have begun!

• May 26 our summer team of 26 arrived and started …

Felicia, Kali, Victor, Andrea, Ashlyn,
Abraham, Tony, Luis, Jose,
Tanya, Octavio, John, Lilian,
Sarah, Chris, Frank, Cinthia, Miguel, Marlene,
Andrea, Jenny, Mandy, Valerie,
Emily, Andy, Noel, Anna

Leadership development … it is our passion! This remarkable hand-picked of God team has stepped up for the whole summer. They are learning; they are bonding with each other and finding strength in their diversity. They are understanding that they can make a difference for Jesus, for the kingdom … and taking this seriously. They give me joy and so much hope. Praying for them, WOW … praying for them is the greatest gift you can give the barrios of Phoenix for this summer.
A special prayer request for one of our summer emerging leader interns: Andrea Contreras has a tumor on her pituitary gland behind her eye. She is having it removed on June 23. Pray for this very difficult procedure. The side effects are very dangerous. Pray for her full healing and restoration. Thank you for loving her this way.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-4
We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.
We continually remember before our God and Father your work
produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance
inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you

They are starting to send out their prayer letters to their support teams:

“We have had daily training … I am amazed at how I am constantly challenged to see Jesus’ life through ‘urban eyes’.” Here I am . . . feeling completely foreign in my own “backyard”. It is amazing what a little bit of driving around, knocking on doors, and prayer can do to your perspective. I knew it would be an interesting transition, but I didn’t expect to feel like I am living in a different place. If you know me, you know I have been hanging out in the downtown area—specifically in the arts district—for the past 5 years, have worked with the high school group at Neighborhood Ministries for the past 2 years, and recently moved downtown last March. Still, if you don’t have time to look, you don’t have the ability to see. My heart has become more and more broken as I go into the homes of kids I’ve known the names of for the past couple years and get a glimpse of their world. Their world. . . it is very different from mine, even now.”
- Noel

“The time I’ve spent here has been truly amazing and hard at times. I am sure that God hand-selected the people on this team. The devotion times and classes have been excellent! I’ve had the privilege of learning about God’s heart for the poor, racial reconciliation and other themes. I have also heard testimonies of how God has used Neighborhood to bring light and hope for this community. Last week I sat in the room witnessing how two ex-gang members from rival gangs talked about their lives and how they could have killed each other but how God had different plans, and they were standing side by side to glorify God.
Our team is very diverse. We have 1st and 2nd generation Hispanics who grew up in the barrio and people from the suburbs, a girl from Pennsylvania that grew up near the “Amish country”, ex-gang members. It is just so cool to see God in each and every one of them. They all bring different points of view and different ways of doing things. At first I thought I would feel weird celebrating my birthday with strangers but they are not strangers anymore!
So, registrations… what exactly is that? Well that is when we go to the kids’ houses to register them for either Junior High Kids Club (1 week day-camp for around 100 kids) or Kids Club (2 week day camp for about 300+ elementary school kids) or Kids Camp (1 week regular overnight camp in Payson for a few kids). We work in teams of 2 or sometimes more to go around the city looking for this kids and when I say looking for them I mean it. Many of the kids move and neither them or their parents call Neighborhood to inform is and then we have to track them down by asking the neighbors or relatives.
Registration routes times have been my favorite and least favorite thing at the same time. I get to spend time with the person I work with for the day and also meet some of the kids for the first time but I also get to see things that break my heart. I want God to break my heart with the things that break His heart and it is a weird feeling looking forward to seeing something like this and not looking forward to it at all at the same time. I have been to some houses where I can’t help but wonder “how can anyone live in situations like these?” I have seen mothers calling their kids with the ugliest things you could ever hear coming out of a mother’s mouth. But I am also reminded that God’s hands were in the mud when he created mankind and for His glory, the mud can turn into a marvelous new creation!
Another thing that I have seen is that the enemy is not happy with what is happening here. We have been under attack! But we know that God protects us. Last week my car was vandalized, not in the “hood” but in the suburbs, and the back window was broken. A day after I replaced it, somebody attempted to steal my car and broke another window and the very next day somebody threw a big rock through the windshield of one of our team members. Weird things happen and I know it’s all to try to get us to doubt and to be afraid, but we are still here, standing in God’s grace, love and power!”
- Abraham


Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart exults,
And with my song I shall thank Him.


• Praying for THIS NEXT WEEK – JUNE 13-18

JUNIOR HIGH KIDS CLUB And BEACH CAMP

JUNIOR HIGH KIDS CLUB

… begins tomorrow!
• 140 kids registered
• A new end of camp trip to Sedona’s slide rock
• A great leadership class preparing some of these Jr. Highers for leadership in BIG Kids Club in two weeks
• Curriculum written just for them: “You can be God’s hero!”
Isaiah 63:1 (summer curriculum theme verse)
Who is this coming … Who is this hero marching in his glorious uniform? "It's me, the LORD! I have won the battle, and I can save you!"
… please pray:
1. For those young Christians who have entered into leadership that they would learn to put their “armor” on and experience God’s protection
2. For the junior high kids … to hear the Word, to be challenged to decisions, to repent and believe, to know the love of God
3. For all the leadership – that teachers would be inspired, that small group leaders would love unconditionally, that we be strengthened
4. Pray for the Holy Spirit to surround the whole camp that we might know the Presence of the Lord
5. Pray for our vehicles, for safety and for protection


BEACH CAMP

There will be around 15 kids, 5 leaders who will go to the beach in California. These kids are fringe kids who are new to Neighborhood Ministries, freshmen, or just don’t get what church is about—so we are using this to build relationships with them!

(This is a new attempt to meet the needs of our high schoolers in different ways throughout the summer. Our H.S. kids are being ministered to in a variety of ways: some are in leadership as emerging leader interns, some will be work crew for Kids Club, some will go to the Mexico missions trip later this summer and some to Young Life camp in Northern AZ in addition to this beach camp.)

• Pray that each kid would make a connection with a leader
• Pray for Kevin Starrs who will be the speaker at this camp
• Pray for the hearts of these teens to understand their need for a Savior
Hebrews 12:1,2
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.