Week 4-Broad River Association, FBC Collierville, Loudon County Association, Arcadia Baptist, Harmony Grove Baptist, Old Rice Road, & Highland Church of Christ

Rosamond 

Week 4 at Rosamond was nothing short of fantastic with Broad River Baptist Association in town. The group had some team members who had been coming for at least 12 years so to say the team was prepared would be an understatement. Rosamond hit a summer high when 65 kids showed up for club on Wednesday. Even with high numbers, club ran exceptionally smooth and the kids had a blast. The kids especially loved water day on Friday as they did water relays and the youngest group, being the best behaved on Thursday, got a special treat with a sprinkler to run through. God really showed out this week as the kids continued to come out to club despite a heat index over 100. Broad River did an amazing job being the hands and feet of Jesus this week as they chased bubbles with the kids, ate lunch with them, and displayed God’s love through their actions. This week was such an encouragement to Justine and I and we want to thank Broad River again for such a great week! 

-Ashley

Whittier 
This was an incredible week for Whittier. Midway Baptist Church partnered with Crestview Baptist Church to form an experienced team who was able to bring the kids an exciting, fun-filled week that led to the Gospel being lived out before them. The energy was unbelievable, especially in the face of 100 degree weather and a stormy Friday. So many times, I saw completely worn out members pushing themselves to play with the kids. Once the younger kids realized this team was up for anything, the kids began pushing their limits by randomly sprinting all over the place and expecting team members to chase them. Which they did. All day. It was beautiful to see the joy on the kids faces as the team chased them down and held them, leading to the tender moments the kids craved. I've never seen the Bible club kids so eager to serve, but many times, I would find kids working along side the team, helping things get set up and making sure everyone was participating. I saw the older boys treat the male members with respect, since they'd grown so comfortable with the love they were being shown by them. By the end of the week, testimonies from the team had been shared, leading to kids opening up to me about their personal struggles I never would have imagined. Without these kids opening up, I never would have known to pray over these situations in their lives. All in all, amongst the attention-grabbing and energetic songs, the several members who constantly had three or more kids on top of them, and the more serious issues that were confronted, Jesus was evident. I can only pray that we'll have another week as fun and powerful as this one here at Whittier. 

-Hannah

Bayliss

This week I had the opportunity to open a brand new site with Highland Church of Christ. We had a sweet week with 23 little ones! It was so awesome to meet and build relationships with kids who had never been to Street Reach Bible clubs! I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when these kids are taken in at the Whittier site next week! Pray that the truth of the Gospel would bear fruit in their lives.

-Lauren

Kendrick

Kendrick had another great week with first time team from Highland Church of Christ. They brought with them tons of energy and love for the kids. Each day this week got better and better, as more and more kids showed up to see what was going on at the Kendrick site! Thursday was our highest day of the week with 37 kids! We even had 25 kids show up on a very wet and rainy Friday where they got to hear the Bible story of how Jesus calmed the storm! It was a great week and I really enjoyed getting to see this team grow and pour out Christ’s love to these kids. Thank you so much Highland for pouring into these Kendrick kids!
-Logan

 Jackson 

Jackson was blessed with another amazing Bible club week! With over 200 missionaries in town, Jackson had the opportunity to minister with 12 individuals from Highland Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. Highland was able to bring forth the passion and energy to this fairly new site. The Lord brought on the heat this week, but Highland persevered and ended up topping off with 65 kids. The Lord brought relief on Friday as the morning rain left a cooler Bible club for the team and kids. This week, Highland was not only able to minister to the children in the community, but also to the homeless that take refuge in the park. Their passion to serve was evident by the relationships they formed with the community throughout the week.  Please pray that the Lord continues to pour out his blessings on Jackson as it is able to run for yet another week next week as a staff ran site. 

-Jessica 

National

First Baptist Chesnee came all the way from South Carolina with a lot of love to give to these beautiful kids. With 23 missionaries that meant we had 23 feet to walk routes at National, therefore; we were able to canvas our routes more and figure out what houses have kids and what houses do not in the neighborhood. We had 54 kids come to National which is one absolutely wonderful number! Seeds were planted and seeds were harvested this week which is always a beautiful picture to me. A 12 year old boy, Rico, gave his life to Christ. A missionary paid special attention to him this week and during Bible story they would have their own Bible story time, praying together and he was always asking many questions at the beginning of the week. On Wednesday, he was ready to give his life to Christ because he understood fully Jesus dying on the cross to save him. How sweet it is to see these kids understand the Gospel and want to live it out in their lives. Pray for discipleship in Rico’s life, pray for discipleship in all the children’s lives that come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior this summer. In many homes once a child accepts Christ it is difficult to continually live it out for them because they have no model of Christ to show them what it looks like to bear “good” fruit. Be praying for Rico to grow in the knowledge of Christ each and every day. On Thursday night we sang “fill us up and send us out” during the worship and share time and on Friday, the team poured out everything Jesus that they had left in them. They gave each of the kids little backpacks overflowing with goodies and a Bible on the way home. The kids could not quit smiling as they walked down the street to go home on Friday with their backpacks on their back and holding hands with the missionaries. The love that was poured out on Friday and on each day was sweet. To know these kids were loved with the love of Christ this week is the best to know. All praise, glory, and honor to our God for another week of being able to witness to these kids at National.  

-Gaby

Treadwell

The Treadwell kids were so excited this week to have another mission team back in town for Bible Club.  Harmony Grove Baptist Church in Alabama sent a group to Street Reach a couple of years ago and they decided to return to minister to our kids again this summer.  The missionaries immediately fell in love with our kids and they quickly became their kids too.  We saw a lot of new faces this week and were also able to continue cultivating relationships with some of our regular Bible Clubers.  The songs station was hopping this week.  We blasted some Lecrae from my car and the kids taught us some breakdance moves (we had a flattened cardboard box and all!)  This week the kids learned about Paul, his conversion, ministry, and mission work. We had a few really awesome conversations that lead to two of our kids making professions of faith and a few others asking a lot of questions.  One of our little girls came to a team member and me after club and said, “I want to trust in God, and I want to believe!  You will show me how!”  We asked a few questions and she said, “I need to obey God! I don’t want to disobey Him anymore.  He can help me.”  What an incredible testimony that God is working in the lives of these children. We also had a couple of other children that asked a lot of questions, and we want to follow up with. Our discipleship club is about to get started in the afternoons and our kiddos have been added to that. Please pray for Jeremiah and Cemetria as our staff continues to disciple them. This week at Street Reach was incredible with the biggest group of volunteers in the history of this ministry! Thanks to everybody who came to hang out with our kids, but a special shout out to Harmony Grove who showed God’s love this week over at Treadwell! You guys were great!

-Kacie

Guernsey

Guernsey finished the halfway point of the summer strong with Collierville First Baptist Church! This returning local team arrived at Street Reach with more passion than ever. The team was on fire for God and to make His Gospel known in the streets of Memphis! Being in our fourth week, the novelty of Bible Club has started to wear off and our numbers briefly dropped. But once Collierville showed the kids how much fun they had planned for them, G-street blew up! We broke a record with 80 kids on Thursday, and over 50 kids came out on Friday even in the rain. The record was no surprise when looking at how cool the Bible Club stations were! The kids were amazed at the stage set up for Bible story and had so much fun being able to participate in acting them out, and they were able to understand the story on a deeper level and apply it to their lives at the Bible Story Reinforcement station. Crafts were a hit every single day; kids who came late immediately asked me with a worried expression on their face if they had missed it. Games kept the kids running around like crazy and wanting to keep playing, and by the end of the week, all the kids at Bible Club were singing and dancing to the songs! We couldn't be more proud of how hard Collierville worked, no matter what problems arose. They obviously love the kids and are all wanting to come back by and visit throughout the summer! Christ worked through these youth and adults to save 5 of our kids who were then able to have 1-on-1 counseling and prayer with the team. Praise God for four weeks of passionate teams at Guernsey with almost 20 salvations! Please be praying for this Bible Club site, the kids who have accepted Christ, all of the seeds being planted all over the neighborhood, and the missionaries who are coming to serve in the coming weeks.

-Holly

Pope

The Pope Bible club site was awesome this week! Arcadia church came and ran it, and they knew nearly every song that the kids would enjoy! Many new kids came including a nine year old boy that we believe is very close to accepting God as his personal savior! We had twenty-nine kids one day and we cannot wait for the next week of Bible club!

-Rachael

Tutwiler

FBC Collierville kicked butt this week opening up a brand new site, Tutwiler! Tutwiler is an amazing club site with an incredible community supporting it. In just a week, I had a handful of people come up to club and encourage us at what we are doing and to continue ministering to this community. There is no doubt Tutwiler made a splash this week when it opened. We were able to reach kids that have never been able to come to Bible Club before and those kids had such a wonderful time! The weather may have been a little toastier that desired but that never stopped the children from hearing the Word of the Lord and the team from loving on them. We met so many wonderful kids with such beautiful hearts and a few of those hearts even started to ask questions about the Gospel by the end of the week. It’s so amazing what God can do! I was truly blessed by Collierville and their passion to reach new families that have not had an opportunity to attend Bible Club and their willingness to go out and find those kids that really need the hope of the Lord in their lives. Tutwiler was only opened for a week because we had a team willing to take a leap and open this great site. Please pray for those kids that were able to attend Tutwiler and that they may be able to go to another club for the rest of the summer. What an incredible week it was at Tutwiler!
-Aimee

Johnson

What a wonderful time we had this week with Broad River Baptist Association at Bible club! At Johnson, we had New Pleasant Baptist and West Spartanburg Baptist church that came to serve the children and families in the community. Few teams have the passion they had, and they were hungry to see God do amazing things through them this week. Their hearts were broken over the lives of the kids at Bible club and the destruction caused by the enemy. They devoted themselves to praying for the children and their families, and took opportunities to pray over them as they walked through the streets. I was encouraged to see each of them gather together to pray in small groups before they started walking to pick up the kids for Bible club. We saw the greatest amount of kids at club this week so far with 68 kids on our highest day! There is much to say about what God did through this team, and He is worthy of all praise. During the Bible story this week the kids learned about missionaries from the Bible, and the things God did through them. They kids listened intently to the words that were spoken, and had great questions they wanted to ask. One child at Bible story wanted to learn more, and he made a profession of faith there at Bible club. There was much rejoicing among the team for what God had done in that little boy’s life. It will be great to see what God continues to do in him throughout the rest of the summer. The team this week had such a willing heart to serve, and I felt extremely blessed to have them come and love on these kids. Pray that God would continue to move in the hearts of the children and their families through the rest of the summer now that we have seen half of it go by. I am excited to see how next week’s team is used to show God’s love to these kids. 

-Jonathan

Leahy's

This week at Leahy's Bible club was successful. The team that helped run the Bible club was Old Rice Road. They were a team of eight people. Our highest number of kids we had this week was a total of 44. On that day, we had 4 new kids come to club. Not only did they come on that day, they continued coming to club throughout the week which is great to see. Hopefully God is stirring in their hearts. As always, please be praying for the incoming teams and the kids they will encounter.

-Ben 

Vernon

This week was an exciting one for Vernon, with Highland Church Of Christ in own from Texas. We started the week off strong with our second highest day of 26. The kids loved to hear new songs that the team brought and continually asked to sing them. Even with high temps. New kids kept coming out each day, and had a blast. The team finished strong even though it was a rainy Friday, getting 23 kids to come out for Bible club.    
-Marcus  
                                   

Kippley

Week four of the summer at Kippley was incredible. After just two weeks of running, Kippley hit a peak at 44, a digit not seen since Kippley’s very first summer. It is a true testimony of God’s power and Sovereignty to see such a high number so easily hit on a Tuesday. The crazy part is, they are almost all under the age of five. Every time I turn around, there is one more child at bible club… and he is four years old. But they have enjoyed every minute of it, just as I have. From the song station where all of the Children’s Bonnie’s lie over the Ocean, to crafts where “scary” animal masks were made and worn by the kids, it was a hilarious and joyous week to be at bible club Kippley. My personal favorite moment of bible club was an 8 year old boy named Dmrion (goes by D.J. also) who had to be taken home. I personally carried him home kicking and screaming and crying that he wanted to stay at bible club. It broke my heart to do so. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to let him stay, but I had to follow through. So we walked through this experience together as the image of God’s Justice and sin’s NECESSARY and REQUIRED punishment, and that if Jesus had been there at bible club, he would have said, “No. Let Dmrion stay. I’ll go home instead.”  My prayer is that he will look back on this moment for years to come and imagine Justice, as well as his own sin, so that in the future mercy can be shown instead, in order to show the image of Grace found by faith in Christ Jesus. Be praying for the Kippley kids, especially since it won’t run for 2 weeks. May God’s name be made much of in this place!   
-Kaden

Week 3-Calvary Church, FBC Fisherville, FBC Plainview, FBC Brunswick, & Yadkin Baptist

Pope  

Pope this week was fantastic with a Calvary team taking on a new club they've never ran before. The team had so much passion and loved getting to spend the time with the kids. Many of the team members really enjoyed hanging out with a few of the kids especially during the time before and after club waiting on parents to pick up their children. The team loved the kids so much that one of our new kids accepted Christ as his Savior this week! We may have only had 30 kids this week at Pope, since so many other sites opened up, but those 30 kids really got to feel the love of Jesus Christ this week! I had the best time with Calvary this week and know they will go back to St. Louis with so many wonderful stories of how they changed some kids hearts and how some of those kids changed their hearts! One of the greatest delights that comes with being a missionary at Pope is watching all the kids build such close relationships with the team members and it really touched my heart this week to hear that the kids didn't want this team to leave! That just shows the impact Calvary had. Thank you guys so much for a fun and passion-filled week! Keep praying as next week Pope gets to be loved on by a whole new team and pray that more and more kids come to know the Lord as their Savior! 

-Aimee

Guernsey 

 Well, we've had another record-breaking week at G-street! Despite moving to a new location and dealing with the sweltering heat, returning team FBC Brunswick gave a fantastic Bible Club and picked up a whopping 73 kids on Tuesday. It was so amazing to see Brunswick's fluidity and hard work ethic throughout the week. They were completely open to letting God use them in so many ways. The returning members were so excited to see their old kids and meet all of the new ones, and the new members immediately fell in love with the community and poured everything they had into the kids. Each one of them brought something special to site, and the kids were NEVER bored! Whether they were playing a fun game of dodge ball, getting covered in glitter at crafts, breaking in down to be in the Lord's army, or praying for their loved ones at Bible story, kids were constantly engaged and feeling the love of Christ radiating from each and every team member. We were SO happy to see how many kids got loved on; Brunswick was able to bring tons of kids who had never been to Bible Club before! And because of the awesome connections and relationships that were made from day 1, we had about 5 kids pray to ask Jesus into their hearts. Please keep praying for the 100+ kids being ministered to in the Guernsey neighborhood! So many of them are hearing the gospel and it's not hard to see how these seeds are beginning to really take root and grow in their lives. Thank you SO much, Brunswick, for an amazing third week at Guernsey! Your passion for the Lord and hard work was so encouraging and effective. G-STREET!!!

-Holly

Kippley 

It may have been week 3 at Street Reach, but Bible club Kippley had its opening day on Monday. Kippley is still relatively new, having only been open part of the previous two summers, so I am very grateful to the team from Plainview Texas who laid some amazing foundational work for the rest of the summer. It was incredible to see the children loved on so abundantly. We started off with 14 on Monday and 2 less on Tuesday. So the kids must have really sensed the love the team had for them in order for 36 of them to show up on Friday. I praise God for every child that heard about his name this week. But a number, however great or small, fails to compare to the joy of a 10 year old Marquisha accepting Christ Jesus to be the Savior of her soul. I look forward to seeing her grow throughout the summer. Please, pray that God would unyieldingly pour his mercy over Memphis… and be convinced in your faith that God is able to do ALL that he promises. Psalm 80:3 “Restore us, o God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.”

-Kaden 

Jackson 

God definitely blessed Jackson this week. First Baptist Church Plainview from Texas was able to share their love, compassion, and faith with a new running site. Since Jackson only ran one week last summer, we were striving for at least 30 kids. God really astounded us. On Monday, God brought forth 49 kids to bible club. Plainview was able to make connections with the kids that I have never seen from a new team. Plainview continued to amaze me through their trials and tribulations of a broken down bus and no site equipment on Wednesday. God provided and we were still able to minister to 60 kids on Wednesday. The floodgates were open and by the end of the week we were able to reach 74 kids. I could have not asked for a more compassionate and flexible team to lay the foundation for the beginning of a beautiful site. There were two salvations this week at Jackson through our morning Bible club and afternoon soccer camp, Ruby and Antonio. Please continue to pray for these children as they continue to grow in their understanding of faith and a relationship with God.

-Jessica

                                                                                                                                                      Leahy’s  
The third week of Bible Club at Leahy’s was another incredible success. The team that helped run the site this week was from Calvary Church from St. Louis, Missouri. They brought their Senior High School part of their youth group. They were incredibly prepared. The kids at club thoroughly enjoyed everything that the group had planned out. They loved each craft that they made and loved playing the games that the team had planned for. The songs station was magnificent. The kids always wanted to begin and end the day with a song or few each day. Bible Stories was an extreme success. Juan Diego, who is nine years old, memorized three of the bible verses this week. He would come running up to me each day and say the verse. It was incredible. Please be praying for this upcoming week, the teams coming into work with us, and the children that we minister to each day. 
-Ben

                                                                                                                                                          Johnson 

The Calvary high school group from St. Louis Missouri showed the love of Christ to the kids at Johnson this week! Their willingness to serve and their preparation for Bible club was clearly evident. This was a fun group to be around, the kids at Bible club loved to be there with them. The kids continued to learn about prayer, and why the Lord’s Prayer is so significant. The kids were also learning to memorize verses, and the team had many fun ways to help them out with learning them. The songs station never looked as fun as it did this week with songs that included games. The kids also enjoyed the variety of games that Calvary played with them. They were able to play sharks and minnows, kick ball, and tug of war to name a few. The crafts were also really cool this week with bracelets they made, and wore throughout the week. It was great to be reminded by Pastor Tim this week that many of the crafts they make will be hanging in their houses, and the kids remember the teams that come in week after week. This was a great reminder to what an impact we can have on these kids in showing them a love they may have never known. This only comes from God, and the kids know there is something different about the missionaries that come pour themselves out into them. As a result of this love and the grace of God, we saw the most kids come out to club that we have seen this summer with 54 kids on our highest day. Praise God for such a great week! I am looking forward to next week and what God will do through the next team. 

-Jonathan

Kendrick 

We had an amazing week with returning team from Yadkin Baptist Church! Yadkin rolled into town this week with tons and tons of love and passion for these kids and ready to pour it out! Monday started out rainy and with fewer kids, but that didn’t slow down or discourage this team from getting fired up and hitting it even harder on Tuesday. Each day seemed to bring more and more kids, ending with 49 kids by Friday! Yadkin poured out the love that Christ has first showed us to each of the kids every moment they got to spend with them. It was a great time all week with lots of fun games and songs that could be heard all across the site as the kids were singing along with Christian music. The kids also enjoyed all the fun crafts they did all week and all the great Bible stories they heard. Thank you so much Yadkin Baptist for coming and pour out your hearts to these kids at Kendrick! Love you guys!                            

 -Logan

National 

National welcomed First Baptist Church Fisherville this week! This week at Street Reach we had a record number of missionaries in and were able to open all of our residual sites which meant that Vernon opened and took two of the National routes for those specific kids to be loved on even deeper with the love of Christ. With that happening, National was able to extend its routes into new areas of the neighborhood and canvas older routes to minister more effectively to the kids in this community. Each day, Fisherville brought back new faces of kids excited about Bible club and each day more kids were added to the daily number. By the end of the week, National had 57 kids. All glory to God for each child he handpicked to be there daily. On one of the new routes we were able to walk relationships began to be built. Lisa is the grandmother of Max, a boy new to Bible club this week because of a new route National began. A relationship began to blossom this week between the team members walking this route and Lisa. They were able to pray over Lisa simply standing on the sidewalk on multiple days this week. Hope is rising on these streets! The neatest thing about these relationships forming is that they will be built on by teams the remainder of the summer and Fisherville who laid the foundation for them will continue to play a part in them because they are a local team, just having to travel about 30 minutes to Memphis. It was sweet being able to serve alongside of a team that was able to directly impact the city that they live in. Be praying for the older boys (10+) that are coming to Bible club. They aren’t active participators in Bible club, but keep coming back because they obviously find something attractive about Bible club. Be praying for their hearts and that their would be an avenue for teams to witness to them. Fisherville didn’t travel far to partner with Street Reach, but their hearts extended far and their love reached far, into deep places and they left every ounce of love within them at National in those kids. I am humbled yet again at the ways God is moving at National and the ways he is going to continue to move this summer! 

-Gaby 

Treadwell

Treadwell Bible Club is open for business! Many people believe that you have to leave the state or even cross an ocean to minister to people in order to call it a mission trip, but not FBC Fisherville. This brand new Street Reach team from just outside of Memphis came out this week and ministered to a ton of kids at Treadwell.  It was a blessing to watch them grow throughout the week as they got to know the “Bible Clubers.”  The kids were so excited to see Bible Club back in their neighborhood and were anxious to get started with 28 kids on Monday.  That was only the beginning because on Thursday we had 61 kids at club and then a few came up during dismissal and helped clean up the site. It was great to see some old faces at Treadwell, and a real treat getting to meet the new ones.  I was so impressed with the maturity some of the kids showed this week.  A boy, who two years ago at Treadwell would whine and complain for the last chocolate milk, was now helping serve lunch to all of the other kids first and he ate last.  Older siblings were such a big help with their younger brothers and sisters, and two were joyfully willing to sacrifice their candy bucket from crafts when a younger sibling lost his/hers.  The kids were able to learn Bible stories of loving your enemy and reaching out to those others may overlook.  Both of those concepts are foreign to the kids in our community, but the team did an awesome job sharing the love of Christ in all stations.  The notion of servant leadership was both displayed and taught by the team, and the kids quickly picked up on that.  It was a great week to open Treadwell with a wonderful team!  FBC Fisherville, you guys are awesome and we cannot wait to have you back in town!

-Kacie

Rosamond 

This week we had Calvary Senior High at Rosamond. They have been coming to Street Reach since 2009. We had a great week of the youth loving on the kids, really pouring the love of Jesus into their lives. This week we started a new route by picking up the apartment kids off of National. On Thursday we had a little deaf boy named Nehemiah come to club from the apartments. One of the students from Calvary took a class and knew sign language so she got to really love on Nehemiah on Thursday and Friday. We had a great week and hit our record this summer with 51 kids! God is really working in the hearts of the Rosamond kids. Walking home one day we even had 2 salvations which is an awesome encouragement to myself and Ashley.

-Justine 

Vernon 

Week three was an exciting week at Vernon, with a team in from Plainview, Texas. It was the first week for Vernon, and the team took setting a great foundation seriously. Everyday we had new kids coming and by the end of the week we had reached 28 kids at Bible club. The team built great relationships with the kids, and the kids were sad to see the team members go, but they are excited that Bible club is back up and running. I'm excited to see how God works through the new team to make an impact in these kids lives.
-Marcus

Whittier 

We had a wonderful week at Whittier!  Calvary Church from Missouri came in and poured everything out on the site! I can’t even begin to tell you how sweet it was to see team members with children on their necks, backs, and hanging on to their arms and legs!  We had a massive 74 kids at site this week thanks to the team’s eagerness to go out and hit up the whole neighborhood. Something super exciting happened this week!  The older boy who was asking about being jumped on Friday last week gave his life to Jesus on Tuesday this week!  He has been so eager to get in the Word and learn more of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus! What a sweet thing to see the lies that this world has poured into these children’s lives be washed away in Jesus! Please pray for this boy—that he would not lose his passion and would continue to hunger for more of Jesus! Pray for the rest of the older boys that they would let go of their lives and follow Jesus! Pray for the team and Hannah as they run Whittier next week! Pray for a fruitful week! And pray for a brand new site I get to open up next week—Bayliss! Pray that we would be able to reach kids who have never heard the name of Jesus! Thank you so much for your faithfulness to pray for Whittier and now Bayliss!
-Lauren                                                                   

This is a week that has made Street Reach history. Street Reach had the most missionaries in this week that we have ever had, and on Thursday of this week 590 kids were ministered to which is the most Street Reach has reached on any one single day alone. Memphis was flooded in love, in light, and with the glory of God. 

For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:36

All glory to God for the ways he is flooding these streets and using all the missionaries to proclaim his name and provide release for the captive. 

Next week, even more missionaries are coming in to serve at Street Reach and two new Bible club locations are being opened that have never been exposed to Street Reach. Be praying for each child that will be sent out and for God to move in even mightier ways than he already has been. 

Week 2-Silverdale, Green Forest United Methodist & The First Southern Baptist

 Rosamond

Street Reach Week 2 at Bible Club Rosamond was another fantastic success! The team from Green Forest United Methodist Church spared no fiber of being when it came to pouring out themselves for the kids. Every day at Bible club was another chance to show Christ’s love. The kids thoroughly enjoyed Ultimate Frisbee and singing about Jesus, the Rock, who rolls our blues away.  It was amazing to see the change of heart in the older kids on Thursday and Friday, when the day before they were especially disobedient. Years from now this will be a week they can look back on when searching for a precedent to determine whether to act rightly or wrongly. I Cannot wait to see what our wonderful God has in store for next week.                                                                                        -Kaden

 Whittier

It was a hot week in Memphis, but hot weeks can be the sweetest! I mean, think about it, these kids choose to come hang out with us in the blazing heat—there must be something attractive going on!  This week Green Forest United Methodist Church came and loved on Whittier. It was such a joy to serve with them!  Despite the heat we had around 40 kids come hang with us every day! This week we talked a lot about prayer and this sparked some incredible conversations on our site. Some of the sweetest moments have been our prayer times before lunch.  It has been so sweet to see the kids, especially the older ones who tend to keep to themselves, open up and ask for prayer for themselves and others. We were able to pray over a sweet little boy at our site who has a brain disease and for his doctors to have wisdom as they try to determine how to treat it. Another touching moment happened with that little boy’s older brother. We were in Bible story and he asked, “What are we supposed to do when someone jumps us?” My heart broke as we sat there and talked and all but three of my older guys told me of times they had been jumped by other neighborhood kids. We talked about what Jesus had to say on these things and my deepest desire is that over the span of this summer that these boys would see that even though the cost of following Jesus is high, it’s worth it. Please pray for these boys—pray that they would “drop their nets” and follow Jesus. Pray for the little boy with the disease—pray that God would heal him and be glorified in his life! Pray for wisdom for Hannah, Ariel, and I as we lead and love our site. Pray for next week’s team! Glory to God alone.                 

-Lauren

 Pope 

Pope was such a great place this week! Silverdale came back for a second summer and continued their trend of hitting top numbers at Pope with 56 kids hearing the Word on Friday! The team members even continued friendships with the kids they had started last year. I know so many kids were blessed with having Silvderdale in this week and being loved on in such a wonderful way. Many seeds were planted, watered, and even bloomed this week with a few kids making decisions to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Continue to pray for Pope as it runs this next week and that more and more kids come to know the Lord and those who did make decisions continue to grow and desire to learn more. I am truly blessed at what God is doing this summer at Pope and thankful for Silverdale to help build the momentum for the next six weeks.                                         
 -Aimee

 National 

“The A Team” teamed up to run National this week which was made up of staff and missionary in trainings (MITs). MITs are jr. high and early high school students from the community that attend Brinkley Heights Urban Academy (BHUA) and wanted to lead, and in their own words they wanted to be an MIT to see kids in their very community come to Christ. What a beautiful picture of the harvest being reaped! This week at National our focus for the week was all about prayer. It was sweet to teach the kids coming to club all about prayer because National has been covered in prayer throughout the years and prayer is a huge testimony to why National is still continuing to be a Bible club site. Throughout the week we focused on praying to our Father, the Lord’s prayer, and what it means to pray continually. The kids took time during Bible story to specifically pray for the missionaries that are coming the next six weeks of the summer and the ways they would be ministered to because of the missionaries. They then made cards for each of the teams working National the remainder of the summer that can be given to each team to know that they have been prayed for. How beautiful is it that kids that we are loving and bringing Christ to and praying for are the ones that are praying for us as missionaries to do that effectively equipped by the Spirit. I am thankful that National was able to stay open this week and for the 45 kids that came to be loved with the love of Christ. Be praying that the children would continue devoting themselves to prayer (Colossians 4:2). Glory to God for another wonderful, Christ filled week at National!

-Gaby 

Guernsey 

What another great week at Guernsey! Returning team Silverdale Baptist Church came in excited to get back out on the streets, sharing the love of Christ with the kids and community. Despite the heat, the team stayed energized throughout the entire week, working harder every day. The joyful, servant-like spirits of the team members brought tons of kids out, breaking this summer's record with 69 kids at Bible Club on Friday! The week was full of exciting events. Multiple kids prayed seriously to ask Jesus into their hearts, the stations were constantly full of fun and creative activities, and Channel 3 News even showed up one day to do a feature on Street Reach! It was so cool to see the kids interacting with the Silverdale students. The team truly reached out to the Guernsey kids with love, friendship, and a living example of Christ. You could tell that the Bible Club kids were watching the way they lived closely and wanting to find how their own lives could be changed. So many awesome conversations about living as a follower of Christ happened this week. Thank you SO much, Silverdale, for answering the call to come to Memphis! We can't wait to continue seeing the fruits of this week.
-Holly 

Leahy’s 

Leahy’s was a staff run site this past week. We had forty kids one day, and really got to use the week as a time to learn and experiment with different Bible club techniques. Little Jacquelynne has decided to start teaching Spanish during lunch, and DJ has been going home and telling his father the Bible stories. We very much look forward to next week and having a team at Leahy’s again. 
-Rachael

Johnson

We had an amazing week with First Southern Baptist Church! There were even more new kids that came out this week, and we had an average of 35 kids that attended club. The team had a mixture of middle and high school students and they were about to encounter urban missions for the very first time. This was an awesome experience to watch the change in the lives of the Bible club kids, and the team members throughout the week. The team saw just how much the children and the community needed Christ, and they poured His love into the kids. New areas were covered this week as well, and the kids from there were so excited about coming to Bible club. We even saw kids from other sites that had moved to the area, which we didn’t know if we would see again. There is such a great need to invest in the kids with every moment we have, because we do not know if we will get another day with them. The kids learned about prayer this week from the team, and found the importance in being connected with God. We had many opportunities to share with the kids what the Bible says about prayer, and how we can draw near to God because of what Christ has done for us on the cross! Praise God for the wonderful group we had this week, and I am praying for the next group that will be coming to serve at Johnson. 

-Jonathan

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. -Colossians 4:5-6

The Word of God is the only thing to remain and the only way to sum up perfectly these weeks here at Street Reach. These verses ring out because the missionaries this week continually loved, continually shared the gospel, and continually were the salt and light in this community. 

Be praying for next week as Street Reach faces it's biggest week yet. 12 sites will be open, hundreds of kids will be covered in the Lord's love, and 200 missionaries will be pouring themselves out into this community. Jesus is going to be reigning all over the streets of Memphis this next week just as He was this past week. All praise, honor, glory, and power to our Heavenly Father for the hope that is rising in Memphis! 

Week 1-Grace Baptist Church, Daniell Baptist Association & Iantha Baptist Church

                                                   Pope 

The summer has officially started and what a good way with Iantha Baptist Church giving up a week to pour themselves into these kids! Pope is not the same from last year, with many new families moving into the area but that only means new children to love on. Iantha tackled the adjustment excellently and the kids had a blast! We topped off our week with 34 kids hearing the gospel of the Lord! This was a great week and I know it’s only going to get better from here on out! Thank you, Iantha for laying down the foundation for the summer and kick-starting it off! Pray for Pope as we continue to connect with new families and minister to many children in the area who need hope in their lives. 

-Aimee

                                                          Kendrick 

What a great first week we had over at Kendrick! Grace Baptist church was in the house starting the summer off with lots fun and energy.  We started the week off with 32 kids on our very first day and ended with 44 on Friday! The team poured out lots of love to the kids they led them in telling Bible stories, making fun crafts, singing silly songs, and playing lots of games! Thank you Grace Baptist for laying the foundation for an awesome summer to come! 
-Logan                                                                                                                                

 National 

 The first week lays the foundation for the remainder of the summer. Matthew 7:24-27 in Scripture talks about the wise and foolish builder; the wise builder is the one who builds his house on the rock and the foolish builder is the one who builds his house on the sand. This week at National, the foundation that was laid was built on the rock giving God all the glory for all the kids that were able to be witnessed to this week. On Friday we had 69 kids come out to National and that was a blessing. The missionaries were able to do some wonderful canvassing to bring back all the beautiful kids of this neighborhood. Iantha Baptist Church poured Jesus’ love on these kids this week through shouting some crazy songs, marching around the wall of Jericho in Bible story, making salvation bracelets in crafts, and playing multiple games of kickball during games. The first week is so important for getting the word out about Bible club and even more planting seeds in the hearts of so many kids that are going to bear fruit as the summer goes on. This is exactly what Iantha did equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit. All glory to God for a fabulous first foundational week at National. 

                                                 -Gaby 

Guernsey 

There is no other way to describe this first week at Guernsey other than mind-blowingly amazing! First-year team Daniell Baptist Association ran Bible Club and set a GREAT foundation for the rest of the summer. 100 kids were enrolled throughout the week, and over 50 kids came to club Tuesday through Friday. Each day only got better, and the kids kept having fun in every station. Games station did everything from relay races to yoga, songs introduced the kids to a ton of fun, interactive songs while throwing in the chicken dance every now and then for kicks and giggles, the crafts were engaging and even showed up on the kids' front doors, and Bible Story really challenged the kids to think, while entertaining them and sticking with them throughout the whole week! The gospel was presented to 57 kids on Thursday and 9 of them expressed serious interest in being discipled into a relationship with Jesus Christ. How cool is that? Please be praying for those kids as we continue the summer, start discipleship clubs, and build these relationships. We are SO thankful for all the energy and hard work that Daniell provided us. God has some awesome plans for Guernsey this summer!

-Holly 

Johnson 

We had a great week with Grace Baptist at the Johnson Bible club site! The kids were very excited to see club start up again for the summer, and the team did a great job of making them feel welcome each day they came out. The site has changed a little since last summer and there were a lot of new kids that had not had the chance to experience Bible club yet. There were families that had moved since last summer that were driving their kids to club site now, when we thought we may never see them again! By the middle of the week, it was obvious that God was moving in the hearts of the team members and the Bible club kids, as there was energy and a joyful spirit in them that could only come from the Lord. We all learned to be flexible throughout the week, and did whatever we needed to do so that the kids knew how much Christ loves them.  This week was a huge blessing for us here, and we are really looking forward to what God is going to do through next week’s team. 

-Jonathan

Leahy’s 

Leahy's had an awesome and grace filled kickoff for the summer. One day we even had 57 kids! The Grace Baptist Church team was so great. They worked hard and walked far to pull in these numbers! Some amigos favorites were made as well as some being taught Bible stories from one of our six year olds. It was very easy to see God and His influence at work at Leahy's, and we cannot wait to see what God has in store for the rest of the summer with the help of volunteers ready to serve! 

-Rachael 

Whittier

We had an AWESOME week at Whittier!  Grace Baptist from Alabama came in and poured SO much into the neighborhood! We started out the week with 20 kids, but ended with 68!  The team was super intentional with the kids and parents in the neighborhood and we saw so much fruit this week! A couple crazy neat things happened this week.  On Tuesday, one of the kids was asking a team member loads of questions about Jesus.  The team member dropped back and began to share the Gospel with him and at the end of the conversation, the child accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior!  Over the next couple of days, I caught this kid sharing Jesus with anyone who would listen!  I can’t even begin to explain how much this blessed all of our hearts!  Excited to see him grow as he is disciple this summer!  On Thursday, one of the teams stopped and talked to the man who lives behind the site.  This man has been SO good to us—mowing our lot, keeping it clean, and tossing back balls over the years.  At the end of their conversation, this man who has watched team after team love on his neighborhood gave his life to Christ!  Absolutely amazing!  The team also bought groceries for a diabetic low on money and clothes for some kids who were just taken from their mother’s custody and given to their grandmother.  I was able to have one on one conversations with a few of the older kids who are hungry for discipleship! I’m so excited to see where that leads. I can’t even begin to tell you of how encouraged the mothers and grandmothers I’ve talked to have been after all that these missionaries from Grace poured out! Here are some prayer requests: Pray for the kid and the man who gave their lives to Jesus! Pray for those that are going to begin their discipleship journey.  Pray for the Harvest and the Workers! Glory to God alone!                                                                                                                                       -Lauren  

                                                        

 Rosamond 

Week one at bible club Rosamond was pretty spectacular. Having up to 47 kids at bible club on the first week is enough to attest to God’s power, but having some of the most beautiful summer weather I’ve ever seen at bible club along with some of the most well behaved kids is additional proof of God’s love and faithfulness, especially to the team from the Daniell Baptist Association that was faithful to God by answering the call to come to Street Reach. From learning about Prayer or Josiah in bible story to dancing like chickens in songs over to freeze tag in games and to the colorful crafts, the kids showed bright brimming smiles on their beautiful little faces. At the end of each day, the teams (age groups) competed for the best behaved group position to receive the grand prize of going to games first the next day! Monday’s winner was team Grizzly (the 6&7 year olds), followed by team Cobra (8&9) and team Shark (10+) on Tuesday and Wednesday. And the final best behaved award went back to team Grizzly. One of the coolest parts of this week was seeing all the kids who came to bible club because their friends had told them about it the previous day! The harvest truly is plentiful, may the workers be many.

-Kaden