Week 2-Covenant UMC, Eastern Hills Baptist Church, Good Hope Baptist Church, FBC Monticello, & Loundon Association

Rosamond

This past week at Rosamond was great all around. My heart goes out to the folks from Covenant United Methodist Church who came and loved on the kids this week. Taking a look at the quality AND the quantity of ministry throughout the week, Jesus could be seen through it all. We hit a high of 55 kids at Bible Club on Thursday, and each day we had to call in for extra lunches. God is obviously bringing the harvest and the workers together. One of my favorite moments was on Wednesday, when we moved inside to hide from the heavy downpour…that stopped as soon as we got inside. The youngest group was at Bible story and Ms. Alyssa was asking the kids how we can help others. Little Jirah (or Scoop, if you remember him by that name) said with such plain and understandable speech, “When we do good works.” For those of you who don’t know, Jirah was enrolled in our school this past year after a summer at Bible Club of not really talking, never listening, and always being one of the worst-behaved kids at Bible Club. It was awesome to see what God has done in his life: the changes for His glory and Jirah’s good that He has made in Jirah’s life. I look forward to seeing the fruit that is born in the kids that were loved on this week. Keep praying for these kids and stay tuned for next week’s blog to see the next peek into God’s story for Memphis, TN. Hasta la vista to all and to all a good night.

-Kaden

National

National welcomed Monticello Baptist Church from Monticello, Georgia to serve. For most students in the youth group this was their first mission trip and the transformation in hearts throughout the week was an incredible sight to witness and to hear about on Friday morning when we praised the Lord for what he did throughout the week. On Monday morning we took a short time to read Romans 12:9-20, and every day the teams love continued to be more and more genuine toward the kids. As I was watching all the walking groups be dismissed from the park on Friday afternoon I was overwhelmed with joy. The kids all had a hand to hold or shoulders to ride on and the love that was present was truly flooding the park. Every morning, the Word has been coming alive in the park. Throughout the whole week we had very steady numbers at National in the mid to upper forties. Every day Bible story, crafts, and games did better and better. At Bible story this week the kids acted out all the stories that were taught. For Jonah they had a big boat and whale they had drawn on canvases, for Zacchaeus they gave out a bunch of fake money that would then be handed over as tax money, and every day the kids would walk away from Bible story having memorized the memory verse for the day. At crafts the Bible story was reiterated and matched the memory verse for the day whether the kids were making bracelets, making a whale out of tissue paper, or using their thumb print to make a tree for the story of Zacchaeus. When one game didn't work the team jumped into the next game without hesitation. There was lots of ultimate frisbee games with the older kids and follow the leader with the younger kids. The kids were entertained and learning about Jesus every minute throughout the day. It was such a joy because of Moticello’s willingness to serve and be all in for the kids this week that my jr. staffer, Sarah, and I were able to be a lap in the different stations and really build relationships with the kids. Every child at Bible club got attention that was centered around the genuine love of Christ, and I could not be more thankful that our National kids are being loved with the love of Christ day in and day out. Thank you, Monticello Baptist, for being all in for these kids and demonstrating what love looks like in action and word to these beautiful children.

-Gaby

Guernsey

What a fun week we had at Guernsey with Eastern Hills Baptist Church! This team came in so willing to learn, grow, and serve, and that they did! The ups and downs of the weather brought huge puddles and lots of mud to Bible Club, but it didn't seem to stop the kids from coming. The daily growth in attendance was a testimony to Christ's love and passion being shown through these youth and their leaders. We got all the way up to 77 kids on Friday--what a perfect way to end the week! The team was able to entertain all the kids in each of their stations, no matter how many kids were there, how wild they were acting, or what activity was happening, and when things didn't go exactly how they planned, everyone did a great job being flexible and trusting God to act through them. And so many new kids came, whether they were brand new to Bible Club or kids we hadn't seen since 2013! I was overwhelmed to hear each team member talk about the special divine appointments God had given to them. Sarah and I were so thankful for our first mission team. Their loving and willing spirits set the tone for the coming teams. Thank you, Eastern Hills. We, and more importantly, our kids, had a wonderful and blessed week because of you! I hope our paths cross again.

-Holly

Johnson

The first week of the summer at Johnson was a great one! We had seventeen team members in from the Loundon County Association and they were very willing to love on the kids at Johnson. The kids seemed to be having a lot of fun throughout the week and were even sent home with a bag of treats on Friday. Our biggest day was Wednesday when we had 65 kids. We even had a couple of salvations throughout the week! The team handled the rain great and it was a good way to start off the summer at Johnson. I am sure we will see the fruit from the seeds that Loundon County planted this first week of the summer.

-Chris 

Whittier

Persevering through rain, storms, and lots of mud, Monticello Baptist Church made the first week of Bible Club at Whittier a success! The fact that this team was new to Street Reach was not made evident throughout the week, as they arrived extremely prepared on Sunday, and were always ready for the day ahead. On Monday, 43 smiling faces arrived for their first Bible Club of the summer, and club numbers only grew throughout the week, with 59 kids on our biggest day! This is completely due to the fact that Monticello did not quit knocking on as many doors as possible, as they allowed the Lord to lead them to houses that needed the love of Christ the most. During club, Whittier kids enjoyed being able to be a part of the Bible story each day, dressing up in Biblical attire and acting out stories such as Jonah and the whale, Joseph and his coat of many colors, and Jesus healing the lame man. This helped the stories “click” with the kids, and allowed them to understand and remember each detail. On Thursday, Monticello youth taught the kids about the importance of a relationship with Christ, and how the Lord wants to walk through life with each of us. By the end of the week, kids were able to recite the first step in that process, found in Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” What a joy it was to see the Lord use Monticello youth to further His Kingdom!

-Emily

Kendrick

Earlier this year the former Kendrick site was turned into a car lot and the staff and MITs wondered if we’d even be able to run a club for the kids from the neighborhood, but God had everything worked out. A community member whose grandchildren have attended club for years let us know there was an empty lot nearby and the staff got to work on making it into a Bible Club! It’s been great seeing the support of the community this week as we’ve gone out to pick up kids. Many of them expressed genuine concern and appreciation that we still get to have club for the community. Neighbors of all ages have come out to say, “Hi” and let us know how excited they are about us being back in town.  

This is the first week that we have been open for summer 2014, and Good Hope Baptist Church from Dalton, Georgia was back in town. They came prepared and ready to serve the families over by our Kendrick neighborhood! Despite the rainy days and the site being moved, the team kept high spirits and constantly added more and more kids each day. On Friday, we doubled Monday’s number of 18 and ended up with 36 kids at club. Mrs. Jamie came prepared with tons of crafts for each day--the kids of every age were so excited to see what she’d bring next. Games was never ending fun with crazy relays and obstacle courses built by our team. We even have a makeshift basketball goal! Of course one of the most important reasons we’re out there is Bible story, and our team came ready to captivate the attention of our kiddos with cool props, skits for the kids to perform, and fun games! It was so neat to see the impact of being back in the community. We were able to meet a college student that used to attend club as a child and a grandmother (whose children attended years ago) brought her granddaughter for her first ever Bible Club!  Needless to say it was a great week at Kendrick! The Lord really showed out and blew all of our expectations out of the water! We can’t wait to see how He’ll work in the lives of our children over the next 7 weeks! 

-Kacie & Marcus

Pope

The starting week of a summer at Pope was absolutely unbelievable.  With the energetic help of Eastern Hills Baptist Church, we finished the week with so many new kids on our heart. I’d say this week, as opposed to the weeks coming up, was one of total learning. Learning who likes to push our buttons, who will run away looking back and smiling (J-Money), and who will make us smile at the end of the day (which I’d say is all the kids). Not only did we learn faces and personalities, we also learned what crafts do and don’t work, the basketballs that go flat easily and the games that will end in “he cheated!” It was so awesome to see the kids who will continue to come to Bible Club all summer and needless to say I have never been more excited!

It's hard to see teams go at the end of the week because you can tell they are starting to get used to things on Pope Street. They know how to get there, which houses have the most kids, and how each child likes to be loved. As hard as it was to see our first week end, I am absolutely positive that this team was placed here on purpose. At the end of the week, I was able to share with my team (and myself) that our joy in Christ is connected with God’s Glory. As followers of Christ and missionaries of the gospel (Matthew 28:18-20) our joy we have inside of us must be shared. If you keep the joy inside of you and don’t use it to love others, the joy will quickly die, so we must go and tell the world, whether in Texas or on Pope Street.

Regardless He is good. John 3:30.

-Alli  

Jackson

This was a great first week at the Jackson Bible Club site. A group from Loundon County Association ran site this week, and they did a great job! Our songs station literally “rocked the blues away” bop-shoe-bop and really had the kids engaged throughout the entire week. Our crafts had great ideas, which really illustrated their preparedness for the week. They had the kids making puppets, bracelets, crowns, and even murals, which involved paint! What a brave group! The games station ran smoothly with a mixture of relay races, duck-duck-goose, bubbles for the little ones, and even a water day! Last, and certainly not least, was our Bible story station. The group took turns telling the daily Bible story, which gave the children different perspectives, but each member reiterated the importance and significance of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We were blessed to have 4 salvations this week! Praise God! The group came in on Sunday with wide eyes and willing hearts ready to love on the children at Jackson. They persevered through the rain to have a very successful week that topped out at 46 kids! What a blessing they were to us at Street Reach this week. Thank y’all for an amazing week with our kids!
-Alice & Brett