Music Night

We had a lot of fun singing and dancing and hanging out this week.

Snacks

Music and puppets

Sing-a-long

Some crazy music videos - a little Micheal Jackson tribute and a creative rendition of the Cupid Shuffle.

Granny's House

Last fall, I described to a friend of mine my vision for what I hoped to be a part of in moving back to Bryan and begining "The Peace Place". As she listened she commented that what I was describing sounded similar to a minstry that existed near she went to school in Missouri. I went home and explored that ministry's website and was greatly encouraged because it made what I hoped to do seem more possible and tangible. Anyways, although I am not aiming to be a copy of anything else, it is exciting to see a model already in place of the sort of ministry that I would like to do. Below are the website and blog for "Granny's House" if any of you are interested.

http://www.grannyshouse.org/index.html

http://grannyshousecolumbia.blogspot.com/

A little more Info

The Peace Place Outline:

Goals –
1) Live at Jordan Loop knowing and sharing life with its community members while being an integral, contributing, unifying, positive, trusted, and Godly member of the Jordan Loop community.
2) Run an “on location” Christ centered children’s mentoring program out of the community center at Jordan Loop.

* Long term – follow this model in other communities throughout Bryan

Vision-
1) Through building relationships and leading by example I hope to see members of the community follow Christ and step up as leaders who take responsibility for themselves, their families and their communities and work together to make them better.
2) Through the power of Christ and the method of mentoring relationships see at-risk children provided with a safe and encouraging place within their own community to grow up and take hold of true hope and life change in Christ. That these children will then pass along positive change to their future families and communities.

Practically speaking-
-The children’s program would begin as an after school, twice a week (Mon & Wed 430-7:30) program for grades K-5 and grow from there.
-Parents/Guardians would have to fill out an application for enrollment to have their child considered for the program. There would be a consistent group of children with a ratio at max of 2 children for every 1 mentor. Other eligible children would be placed on a waiting list until mentors were available.
-Tentative Schedule:
Arrival and free play w/mentors (cooking and setup) 4:30-5:00
Dinner or schoolwork/1on1 time (in families) 5:05-5:35
Dinner or schoolwork/1on1 time (groups trade) 5:40-6:10
"Classes" (Dance, music, baking, crafts, etc) 6:15-6:45
Family Worship (Bible lesson, music and prayer) 6:50-7:30
-Develop a relational “family” atmosphere that is peaceful, safe, and encouraging (Picture board of kids, Schoolwork display board/refrigerator, Consistent rules and structure, Family groups, Simple chores or ways to contribute)
-Involve interested teens and adults from the community in helping (cook, aid with classes, etc)
-Connect parents with community center
-Raise $ to purchase supplies and equip center
-Use church, ministry, and campus connections to recruit volunteers of all ages and denominations who love Jesus. Help spread an awareness of the needs and the mission field within our own community.
-Find any possible grants/assistance that would help fund food or other costs

Yay, Yay, Yay!

So, maybe I should have something deeper to say than "yay, yay, yay" and maybe I will after the excitment wears down a little - but for now I am just excited and thankful. The Lord has provided a place for me to live at Jordan Loop! As long as I've hoped/waited for something like this, I still feel in some ways very unprepared. However, God's grace is enough. Lord make me faithful to follow and depend on you as a leader in this place. I'm going to be living in a 2 bedroom unit. I am still praying that God will bring along a roomate who can not only live with me, but partner with me in His work over there. I had hoped to get a 3 bedroom unit right next to the community center so that I could use both units as The Peace Place for mentoring children. Because I did not, I will just be living in my uni and running the kids program out of the community center. This is probably God's wisdom and protection in many ways. And if things grow with The Peace Place to where we can't fit in the community center, I know He will provide exactly what we need. I thankful to now be able to really start moving forward with planning and preparing for the fall! Get ready for some frequent updates...

Rainbow Room Pictures

Here are a few pictures of our rainbow room at the Community Center. Thanks to all those who donated fun toys and art supplies (Weavers, Carpios, Feldmans, Stephens, LHBCB). Thanks Mary for all your help putting everything together. Thanks Mom for the awesome pillows and floor cushions. What a fun place for kids to play!

Monday Merriment

I'm excited to get to hang out with kids at Jordan Loop every Monday night this summer - we'll be playing, sharing the gospel with them, and loving them with Christ's love. You should join us some Monday, 6-8pm, at the Jordan Loop community center. One week we're playing games, another week we're making crafts, movie night, music night...it's gunna be just a fun time of developing relationships and hopefully a good starting point for "The Peace Place" which I would like to begin this fall.