Week 4- Boones Chapel, Trinity Baptist, Medina United Methodist, First Baptist Collierville, Little Union, New Bethel, Mt. View, and New Blackwell

Leawood

    This was a wonderful week at Leawood. We had a returning group in, New Blackwell, but this was their first time to run Leawood. We split the kids up into 3 groups and saved the song station until the end  with a special surprise....PUPPETS! The kids absolutely loved the puppets, especially since the majority of our kids are seven and under. We had our record number for kids broken three times over this week. On monday, when I told the team to expect 20, God blessed our site with 43. On wednesday, we had 48 kids and on friday God really showed out....we had 53 kids that we were able to minister to! It has been awesome to see God continually grow Leawood each week. We were also able to open up a new route on Treadwell Street. We had a total of 5 kids from that street with a potential for 3 or 4 more. There were a total of 33 new children that showed up this week.
    One highlight of the week was getting to hear DJ's version of Bazooka Bubble Gum. All he wanted to repeat was "pop my collar". Another memorable moment was when Ana started dancing to the puppets.
   On tuesday, we had rain in the morning so we had bible club in the gym during the afternoon. This helped us get some newer kids who were usually in summer school in the mornings. I want to give a BIG shout out to New Blackwell. They had so much passion and love for these children. I am so thankful they decided to come this week and work at Leawood.
   Please stay in prayer for this next week as most of the Leawood kids will take a field trip over to the National site. Pray we overflow that site with multitudes of children! Now put your "L's" in and scream "GOOOOO LEAWOOODD!" - Matt

National 

    This week at National we were blessed to have a returning team from Trinity Baptist in Manchester, TN. This team has seen National in so many ways, but it has been so neat to see what God has done over the past three years. Mrs. Kitty, a team member, came up to me and said, "Do you remember when we prayed for 30 kids 3 years ago?" I replied, "Yeah it is crazy how many God has brought to us to minister to." Now National is praying for over 100! The passion and love the team has shown these kids is astounding. It's such a blessing to be able to witness God bring in people for the kids to look up to. The bonds they make over the week is a lasting one, forever impacting the kids throughout their childhood. Prayer is so POWERFUL, and God is so Faithful! Thank you so much Trinity, thank you for showing what it means to really show love through actions. - Erica

Johnson

    This past week at Johnson was another success. We reached our record 45 kids again and had a few new kids as well. Our team from Medina United Methodist was new to Street Reach but they learned pretty quickly and improved the site each day! You could really see that they wanted to make a powerful impact on the lives of the kids at Johnson, and that's exactly what they did. God was very faithful in providing love through the actions of the team. Even in their smiles, God brought joy to the kids. We packed as much love into them as we could. Please pray that when we return that the kids will be as receptive! Thank you Medina! 

Guernsey 

    The team this week was First Baptist Church of Collierville. They were an amazing team! They were very well prepared to serve the children and hungry to reach out to more daily. They entertained the kids during bible story by providing costumes for the children to put on. They even allowed for them to act out some of the stories being told. The songs were very interactive and easy to sing along with for the children. They really enjoyed doing all the hand motions. 

    Kickball was a real popular activity among the older kids! They loved it! A memorable moment for us was seeing Reggie smile for the first time this past week, and he didn't stop smiling for the rest of the week. 

    Antavius' s Birthday was Friday, unfortunately he was not celebrating it this year due to his mom having to have surgery. After hearing about this, Collierville was able to bless him by bringing him gifts. God does big things through obedient hearts! All in all, the week was wonderful and the team blew us all away. The kids were extremely grateful to have Collierville. - Cole..... and Michelle

Whittier

    This week, Whittier was ran by the New Bethel Church team. This was the second week that Whittier was able to run at the New Life Park location. New Bethel was very excited to come back and minister to the kids at whittier again. The kids enjoyed the challenging, unique, and creative games that New Bethel presented.

    Each day the kids were able to make and take home a craft that complimented the "superhero" theme that New Bethel came up with. Helmets, shields, and breastplates were just some of the things that Whittier kids were able to take home and show off. 

    The bible stories were exciting and upbeat to keep the kids entertained. They also added to the "Superhero" theme extremely well. The team also introduced a few new songs that the kids would sing at the beginning at camp and could be heard as they were walking home at the end. Thank you New Bethel for making this week fun and exciting for the kids! - Josh

Kendrick

    Wow! What a great week to end the first half of the summer with New Bethel UMC returning to the Kendrick BYBC site. They did something unique by setting everything to a "superhero" theme. During crafts, the kids would make a new piece of spiritual armor, starting with the belt of truth and ending with the shield of faith. It was so cool to see some of the kids wearing all their armor to club on friday. 

    Games kept the kids going, going, going, with relays and ball games to fill every second of the station. Finally, Bible Stories gave the kids a chance to show their dramatic flare as they acted out stories such as David and Goliath, Ester, and Jesus calming the storm. These stories taught the kids of various "superheroes" of the bible, and that Jesus is the ULTIMATE super hero. 

    New Bethel immediately fell in love with the kids and even got a chance to celebrate cody's 6th Birthday. The team reached out to the older kids and "LS" shined with great leadership this week. I thank God for the fun week we had and the 50 kids He brought out Friday. Thank you New Bethel, you will be missed! - Holly 

Leahy's 

     Week 4 at Street Reach was a success. It was one of our largest weeks of team members and because of that we were able to open a 9th site this week. 

    I normally hang out at Kendrick, but this week I had the pleasure of serving the kids of Leahyville and the surrounding community. I was a little nervous at first about changing sites, but the Acteens team from Boones Chapel was amazing. They were never satisfied with the amount of children we had and they brought in record numbers for the site because of it. 

    Bible Story was awesome. I loved seeing the kids act out the stories they were telling. On our day with 64 kids they talked about praising God - they passed a ball around the circle and each child thanked God for something. When 7 year-old Junior's turn came, he looked around and said, "I'm thankful that we call all be here!" Thanks go to Mrs. Allison, Morgan, Charlotte, & Kelsi for a great time at Bible Story. 

    Games seem like they would be pretty simple, but figuring out what works best with who can be a challenge. My team did a great job of adapting to each age group with age appropriate games. I think the kid's favorites were soccer, Ninja, and dodgeball...and maybe the parachute for the little ones! Great job goes to Mrs. Brandy, Sidney, Sarah, and Ashley. 

    I am still singing some of the catchy little songs that we learned this week at Leahy's. We put up a tent for shade, the team had a cd player- oh did I mention there were buckets, drumsticks, bells and tamborines involved??? The kids had a blast. Songs were awesome, thanks to Mrs. Suzanne, Brittany, Brooke, & Laney. 

    Crafts were out of this world. We had paint, markers, beads, plaster of parris and so much more. My favorite craft of the week was really cool. The ladies brought ceiling tiles from Alabama for the kids to paint and make bulliten boards with. These were not just any tiles, but came from Boones chapel's BC after the tornados destroyed their building, What a testiment to Christ's love that this group still pulled together and came to serve others. Thanks Mrs. Lisa, Laurie, Brooke, and Sarah for your hard work. 

    Leahyville Bible Club was great this week! I wanted to share one thing. Early this week one of our boys, Erik, had his appendix removed. On Thursday I looked up to see his mom dropping him off. He really wanted to come so she brought him a chair and we'd walk him to each station. He also came on Friday. This is the kind of impact you guys make on the lives of these kids when you serve them. 

THANKS BOONES CHAPEL ACTEENS- LOVE YOU GUYS- Kacie 

Rosamond 

    What a week it has been this week. Mt. View Baptist came from Antioch, TN and did a fantastic job! The kids loved having you guys here to love on them. The team worked really hard to get the kids and was passionate about sharing the love of Jesus. When the kids arrived, the team did free play, and then we split the kids into groups. The bible story station was great and the kids learned some awesome and fun new songs. The highlight of the week was when two of the girls came to club for the first time and accepted Christ as their savior. Jenn Jenn helped in guiding them to HIm and they were so excited to be part of God's family. On Friday, the team took the kids home and all the kid wanted to stay. Great job Mt. View!! - Heather 

Rosamond 2 

    We had a great first week at he new Rosamond site! After getting it cleaned up, there was a lot of excitement about how the new club site would be. The children were very happy about having a bible club that was closer to home, and we were able to reach children that had never been to bible club! The week started out a little slow with 9 kids on the first day, but steadily progressed until there was 29 on Friday! 

    The team at the new club site was Little Union from Indiana, This was their first time with us at Street Reach, and they did a fantastic job. They were very flexible, and really showed great hearts in going to find new children. The children on the new site grew to love them, and it was a great experience for the new team. God did some amazing things at Rosamond 2 this week, and we will be looking forward to what is in store next! - Jonathan 

Week 3- Old Rice Road Baptist Church, Boanerges Baptist, Grace Baptist, Broadmoor United Methodist, Mt. Pisgah Baptist, First Baptist Gleason

Whittier

    This week we worked with "Amazing" Grace at Whittier. These guys were awesome! They brought a lot of fun, love, and structure to our bible club site. Pastor Jeff and the others did a great job in the bible story station, he found a way to make the stories relatable to each age group. The girls in songs got really creative and did "dance-offs" with the kids. The kids had a blast. At games the boys organized relays for the kids to do. Relays are very fun and they also introduce healthy competition. 

    The craft station went really well and the kids had something to take home everyday. The last day they took home goodie bags that they decorated themselves during crafts. The team really did a great job and the Whittier site was blessed to have them there all week long. Thanks again Grace Baptist, see you next year!! - Katie J 

Kendrick 

    God was so faithful this week at the Kendrick site! Boanerges Baptist Church ran club with a huge heart and passion. They were very passionate about getting kids and the number of kids brought to bible clubs increased more and more as the week passed. At the end of the week Kendrick was able to minister to a total of 63 kids! The team handled the large numbers excellently.

    Crafts were a hit with hats, bracelets, and more fun things that Boanerges brought with them. They were such a hit that the kids wore them all week long. The Games station was a blast and the kids played harder than ever. Music continued the trend of fun with drums, shaker, and tambourines. As the boys would say, they laid down some "fresh beats".

    Bible stories were led amazingly. They kept the kids engaged and tought them about God's love and sacrifice for them. David and Willie even accepted Christ into their hearts. It truly was an amazing week at Kendrick. Boanerges, you will be missed! - Holly 

Rosamond

    Wow, what an awesome week we had! God really proved himself to more than faithful. We started the week with 33 kids and ended the week with 66! Mt. Pisgah was very passionate about going and getting the kids and sharing the love. The kids really enjoyed having you all Mt. Pisgah. You were awesome with the kids, and you were great about listening to the guidance of the Lord and look what happened. Thank you so much Mt. Pisgah. You all rocked it and can't wait to see you again next summer! - Heather 

Guernsey 

    Guernsey hit a record breaking number this week with a total of 107 kids that were ministered to. God really moved at the site this week. We prayed for God to move in a big way and that's exactly what he did! Big thanks to our team from Broadmoor United Methodist. They all came on a "mystery" trip and didn't know what to expect upon arrival. 

    From the first kid on site to the last kid taken home Friday, Broadmoor's passion and love for the kids filled the Guernsey site. The team was extremely passionate about finding and bringing kids to bible club to be loved on. The love the team had for our kids grew more and more every minute. 

    The kids learned all the different names of God this week. They also learned that God protects, provides, heals, and the He will always be there for them. We are so thankful the team came to minister. They really did a great job. We thnk you all so much for allowing God to use you this week and reach the lives of our kids. You all are amazing. -Michelle and Cole 

National 

    Records were set all week long and Thursday 447 kids were ministered to. 91 of those kids were ministered to at the National site, which was a record high for us. Our numbers this week were: Monday 73, Tuesday 63, Wed 62, Thursday 72, and Friday 91. Tuesday and Wednesday it rained and we kept the kids until we saw lightning, so we had to take the home before lunch arrived. It broke hearts when the kids said that they were hungry. Albaro even said, "The trees...we have so many trees to sit under for lunch and then you can tell us another bible story...please tell us another bible story. FBC Gleason came back for the second year of ministry at National. It was so cool to see kids sprint to their favorite team members. They are a true testimony to Christ's love and the lasting impact it leaves on the kids. 

    The team from Gleason dealt with the loss of a close friend of the entire group Tuesday, but they fought through it and decided to stay to finish their ministry to the kids. The same day that they decided to do this, a white truck pulled up to National and dropped a little girl off. Her name was alice and she ran to come greet us! She now lives across from the Kendrick bible club site and she begged her mom to DRIVE her to National. God had it already planned out that Mrs. Tonya would get to see her favorite kid from last year. 

    We love Gleason, Thanks for being the hands and feet of Jesus this week! - Erica 

Leawood 

    This was a great week with Boanerges Baptist Church. They were a very passionate group of people. This week we opened up two new routes in which we got about 10 new kids, and many more new prospects. Zachery, one of the new kids, actually got saved this week on the walk back home underneath a big shade tree. We also had some new kids come from off of Salem. God is truly blessing leawood each day withe more kids and with new kids. It is really amazing to see him work. Another big shout out to the "Sons of Thunder" for coming this week and making it possible for Leawood to run again. 

Johnson 

    This week at Johnson was phenomenal. Despite the rain on Tuesday, club ran smoothly. Our team was from Broadmoor United Methodist and even though they were new to this kind of ministry, they were well experienced. Their passion was evident to the kids and the community. The team not only shared Christ's love with the kids, but they also recieved it back!. The kids learned about Moses and God's love for them in bible time and in Games they were eaten by "sharks" to follow out the story. Overall, this past week has been one hundred percent blessed and I can't wait to see what God does next. 

Week 2-Northwest Baptist, First Baptist Church of McMinnville, Unity Baptist, Broadriver Association, and Fairlane Baptist.

Kendrick

    Northwest Baptist Church from Gainesville, FL, Kicked it at the Kendrick site this week! The team was great about picking up kids; we enrolled at least 11 new kids. Music was outstanding with Andrew playing his guitar and at singing. The kids loved learning the songs we would often hear them singing praises to God under their breath. One of the boy's mom even mentioned learning the song herself! 

    Aimee and Dorothy really got the kids into bible story with costumes and activities. Jonah and the whale was a favorite among the kids. Games with Karen and Matt went so well that some of the other sites also incorporated their games into their rotations. Karen and Matt were great at being flexible with whatever age group they were working with. 

    Finally, Allie and Melissa made some awesome crafts with the kids! They loved the fun stickers the girls brought and the ways they could actually use their crafts. All in all, it was a FANTASTIC week! We had 39 kids at Kendrick on Friday. Northwest had an amazing time learning about God's love. Kendrick was definitely blessed this week and we are praying that the rest of the summer will be just as great! - Holly 

Leawood

    This was a great first week for Leawood. We were able to minister to a total of 49 kids this week! Our biggest days were Tuesday and Friday with 35 kids. This is amazing because last year our biggest days were usually with a total of 25 kids. Unity did a great job this week of keeping the kids entertained. The crafts were amazing and the kids loved them. The kids had a great time this week and always loved coming back each day. Stay in prayer that we are able to run Leawood as much as possible this summer! - Matt

Johnson

    Johnson had a returning team this week from the Broadriver Association. We started with 24 kids on Mondy and by the end of the week we were in the mid 40's. God's grace was evident as his spirit moved and added more to his kingdom this week. For the children who committed their lives, I plan to get them enrolled in our discipleship club. We were also able to go and canvas across Holmes in which 16 new kids came to our bible club. 

   A mom even came and watched her children. In doing so one of the team members was able to minister to her. Thanks to Broadriver Association for this faithful and fruitful week! - "Bucket"

Whittier

    This was the second week running our Whittier site. A team from the Broadriver Association came to minister to the kids. Whittier ran in the high 30's and in the low 40's throughout the week, while topping out at 49 kids at the end. The kids had fun staying cool under tents provided by the team. They also enjoyed competitive games and relays at the game station. 

    During crafts, each child had something colorful to take home. The final station was bible story and it was wonderfully led by Mr. Vernon. Each kid went home looking forward to the following day. They had a great time with the team because of their willingness to love and care for each one of the children. It was a successful, fun, and definitely exciting week. Thank you Broadriver!!- Josh 

Leahy's 

    This week at Leahy's we had a wonderful group of missionaries from Kentucky to serve. This team of 10 from Unity Baptist Church brought a little spunk and a whole lot of love to our children this week. We were able to minister to 49 children throughout the week. 

    One special moment was when a couple of team members connected with some of our shyer children. They really got down on the level of the kids and the children responded wonderfully to the extra attention. Thanks Unity for being the hands and feet of Christ!- Sara

Rosamond

    Rosamond had a great time with Broadriver this week! The kids learned about Gideon and his army on Tuesday, Ruth and Naomi on Wednesday and Jonah on Thursday. Thursday also involved a day of water games where the kids got soaked with not only water, but God's love. The kids also made a really cool craft each day that they could take home. The kids really enjoyed having Broadriver! We can't wait to see you all again soon!- Heather

Guernsey

    The second week at Guernsey was an amazing success. Big thanks to Fairlane for serving this week with us. Each day got better and better. We had about 55 kids a day until 90 kids came on Friday. God really blessed our site this week and we had two kids accept Christ, Qyntavius and Caressa. We are very excited to see how God moves in the Guernsey site and through our missionaries for the rest of the summer. Our songs being played at site, the kids have started singing them on the way home. We have had numerous times to pray with the children's parents. God is really working at Guernsey. Thank you all for your prayers and service at Guernsey! - Michelle and Cole 

National

    This week National and Leawood were ran as two seperate sites for the first time since week 4 of last summer. The kids and Matt were greatly missed but we each were able to reach a wider area of streets with 2 teams which means that we found different kids and more kids were ministered to. 

    National was ran by a very passionate team of 15 from McMinnville, TN. This team was very structured with everything and the kids loved it. The children really loved the songs this week and had fun. Six year old Michael stayed after club was over to help us clean  up the site everyday and on Friday four of our older boys wanted to help put everything up. God really moved in a mighty way and brought kids out from everywhere we had 13 kids Monday, 54 Tuesday, 66 Wednesday, 78 Thursday, and 65 Friday. 

    Andrew and I both stood in awe of how willing this team was to serve. Friday goodbyes were tough on both the kids and the team. I praise God for their passion for these kids and I am so excited that they will be back to National this time next year. No longer will National have to be shut down on week 3 of the summer. Thanks for everything McMinnville. We love you dearly!! - Erica 

Week 1 - Fredonia Hill, Grace Baptist, Acteens of Pickensville, and Biltmore Baptist

National

    This week at National we had a group from Biltmore Baptist Church in Ashville, NC. Leawood was combined with National and the staff on site consisted of Matt, Andrew, and Erica. We had a great week of ministry and on Wednesday 82 kids were ministered to. We are amazed at what God did this week and we can not wait to see what he does next. There are a ton of new kids, but they automatically stick to your legs and tell you they love you from day one. -Erica

Johnson

    We had a great first week at Johnson. We had a returning team, Grace Baptist Church from Oxford, AL. We were able to minister to about 35 kids each day. We were also able to see a lot of new faces and old faces from returning kids and new kids. We started the summer off well and God was evident in our work and servitude during the first week. I am greatly encouraged to see what opportunities He will let us have the rest of the summer. - "Bucket"

Leahy's

    We had an awesome first week with the Grace Baptist team from Oxford, AL. We had the opportunity to minister to a total of 53 kids throughout the week. The kids just kept bringing their friends and family members. Grace did an excellent job at all the stations and ended the week with a "water day"! GREAT JOB GRACE! - Heather 

Rosamond

    We had an awesome week at Rosamond. Our missionaries this week were the Actteens from Pickensville, AL. This is their second year returning to street reach and they blessed our club by bringing 8 people on their team including 3 new girls. Our first day was a success and 20 children were ministered to. We had the opportunity to minister to a total of 76 children throughout the week!! The highlight of the week was getting to canvas a new street and having two new families with several children to join with us! - Sara

Kendrick

    Week 1 at kendrick was a success. This week had record numbers for our little site. We're really grateful for our team from Biltmore Baptist Church in Asheville, NC. They worked so hard at getting the word out that Street Reach has started and bible club is in the neighborhood! Our team gave all of their love and energy to the Kendrick kids each and every day. We enrolled over 50 kids and had 42 of them there on Wed. and Thurs. this week. 

   Jennifer and Amber made the stories come alive and the kids learned and could retell the stories afterwards. Games were an by Stephen and Joe, who played anything from "Ring-around-the-rosies" and "Duck, duck, goose" with the little ones. With the bigger kids they played kickball and whiffle ball. They also taught about sportsmanship and letting the ladies go first.

    

    Crafts were amazing this week as well. Today, Waverly and Josh made bracelets with the kids. They explained the gospel and gave black, red, white, blue, green, and yellow beads with scripture verses to go along with each bead. Many of the kids were able to explain their bracelets to me before going home. 

   Vance did a wonderful job of connecting with two of our new boys. Neither had been their before and they really felt welcomed by our team. Christine also did a great job of connecting with one of our sweet families that sent 5 kids to our club.

   All in all- Kendrick ran smoothly this week and we loved our mission team. Seeds were definitely planted and we can't wait to see what God is going to so at Kendrick this summer. - Kacie

Whittier

    Bible club at Whittier was fantastic this week! Grace Baptist started serving at Street Reach this very week 6 years ago! Their passion for the kids is unbelievable. At the beginning of the week we only had 22 kids and by friday we had 47. Grace did an amazing job sharing Christ's love with all the kids this week. Way to go Grace! Can't wait to see you all next summer. -Katie

Guernsey 

Our summer kick-off week turned out to be awesome. BIG THANKS TO FREDONIA HILL!! The kids loved them and loved everything we did. Our crafts were a big hit this week. We made a lot of bracelets and things to hang on the wall that shine! When picking up the kids we had them standing outside wait for us to come get them. They were cheering and running towards the team members ready to go to club. We had a great week and Texas...keep it real and fun!!- Michelle and Cole