6/24/2003

Kids Club begins Monday

(June 30 - July 11)

June 24, 2003

Dear Praying Friends,

I know that your praying for Cynthia was heard by God. Thanks for loving her this way.. I haven't heard yet about the triplets, but will let you know when I do.

Thank you for all the prayers for Junior High Kids Club and all the I Can Do It trips. Our children have already been so blessed. Every day of Jr Hi Kids club was wonderfully wrought by God. Every child who worked hard during their school was rewarded and ministered to. How God's heart must enjoy seeing these children cared for and loved!

Today the young leaders here chose a variety of locations on our property and in our community to pray together. It was a way to prayer walk places our 500 kids come from and will be coming to soon. Kids Club begins Monday, and one thing we know for sure is we need to prepare spiritually, while the hundreds of details are still being nailed down. The warfare during Kids Club is intense and breakthroughs come through intercession. Kids Club is one of the best things God does here every year. Lives are changed. Will you prayer walk with us? ...

this apartment complex goes on for blocks ... there is little green, just concrete, mostly two story apartments and parking spaces. Steps go up to a second tear, and on these steps people sit to talk. children play in the parking lot, sometimes running behind cars as they come and go, often too fast. there will only be a handful of kids picked up at this apartment complex ... though hundreds live here. the kids we are picking up here have just moved here recently, moving four times already this year to complexes just like this ... today the young staff prayed and cried here ...
this place is called the PROJECTS ... sometimes the south side ... families live where there has been traditional gang violence and drugs. it is famous here for danger. the kids are hard here, harder to reach. we have had many who have lived here over the years, including quite a few leaders on this years team. one young leader is already making known his faith and his walk with Christ to the little homies in this complex. he has entry into homes we couldn't get the front door to open. it is the first summer though he has been ridiculed for his faith.
this house is in a "bad" neighborhood ... lots of prostitution. often invading this very home. these children struggle with everything normal ... there is no normal ...
this little trailer has no refrigerator and four small children and three adults. there is only one bed ... it is temporary they hope ... ok, we found you, good -- Kids Club starts MOnday ... (how many kids have moved since registrations were completed, just this week?)
where will the bus pull in here off this busy street, in that city bus pull out? will the kids wait outside ... it's so hot already ...
we have kids living all the way out here? ... Phoenix is so big already ... maybe a van can wind through this neighborhood and head south for those next few miles to the next stop
Why do we only stop for a few? I know we're packed, I know we have to say "wait list only" now ... Lord these neighborhoods are everywhere and kids in the hood have nothing to do in the summer, 500 kids doesn't feel like enough today, out here praying among these masses
let's sit here, a little shade ... on MOnday our neighborhood will open up ... and children will walk down this street, that one, and on the other side of the railroad tracks ... it will seem as if each home is sending someone

Lord, thank you for the 500+ kids who will be coming from east to west, south to north, the barrios of Phoenix, your selected picks ... make each child stand out to us, precious, known, wanted ... make the opportunities stretch like miracles of grace ... two weeks of moments where Your truth, love, memories are experienced ...

the buses are crowded inside the bus enclosure, the vans parked in a crooked row, scattered here and there on the industrial side of our property. they are funny looking, orange, white, white and blue ... the seats inside are torn ... the vans don't match either, only one of the eight looks official ... they are waiting for the day when they will be taxed, overcrowded, and important ... it is hot and hotter, everyday taking kids to Kids Club, then field trips, then the pool, everywhere ... their drivers will hunt for kids like it was their profession ... can my friend come? ... the hardest question of the summer

Lord, thank you for all our vehicles! Satan hates this motley fleet of vans and busses but we see them as chariots of rescue. Protect them, protect their drivers, protect the passengers. Keep each bus and van running! Lord, give us safety everywhere we go, give us amazing relationships on these buses and vans. Help us find every child.

the big room is bare, the carpet already stained. the walls were painted just this year and they look like an indoor soccer club. the big wooden cross on the wall is the only predictable thing that will remain unmoved. 500 kids will crowd into this room for the morning program of singing and funny actors who call kids up on the stage for a moment ... lunches will be served here ... hip hop dance class ... cooking class ... the days become filled with early prayer times and late day naps for exhausted workers who have already put in a ten hour day

Lord, we so want to worship You this week! Thank you for the worship team. Prepare them to lead this huge group in worship. Prepare the program team for two weeks of creative and funny material, for children of every age. Provide all the prepared lunches everyday, especially this year where our government sponsored lunches end July 3 and we end July 11.

this small 400 square foot building is crowed with supplies and boxes and swim suits and medical supplies. today it is unsorted and hot ... there has been little life here, just storage ... by Monday, the computer, nurse, high task-driven leaders with clip boards, folders and directives will be running in and out of here ... more scissors, bandages, forms, information, socks for roller skating and a million other items will move in and out of this small space 10 hours a day

Lord, thank you for all the volunteers! Guard the hearts of those that carry the load of details. Decisions that affect countless children and staff will be made here ... give discernment. Bless the servant hearts of all that love you and so serve others. Keep them from discouragement.

each classroom is this size ... large enough for 30, crowed at 40, 3rd grade english class has much more than that, others too. some of our supplies are still new, bulliten boards and chalk boards not installed yet, new colorful cabinets with hardware and shelves sitting patiently on the floor ... papers and items from other weeks of hard use make the rooms feel unprepared ... yet posters don most of the walls with this summer's theme verse ... one classroom has an airconditioner problem ... others?

Thank you Lord, for all the teachers preparing lessons from a special curriculum, written just for this Kids Club. Bless their insights, their preparation, their hearts. Protect them and their families as they invest these days in this deliberate and challenging work. Bless each space that will hold more kids than there is space for ... help them to work through the chaos so that children can learn. Use these classes for their second duty, the afternoon classes where crafts, dance, beauty, games, art and woodworking birth creativity and joy.

its so hot ... it feels like it will be 110 today ... the grass is still miraculously green on our huge soccer field, what a gift this space is. children in Phoenix play outside, and even play soccer in the heat ... games, wonderful water games take place out here too. in the morning neighbor kids will arrive 2 hours early, ready for action and will find something to do out here.

Lord, be in the fun, the exercise, the adventure, the bonding with leaders that happens during Kids Club ... thank you for our own field ... thank you for our first basketball hoop, for the recreational space you are still developing. Thank You Lord Jesus for Kids Club!

Meet This Year's Work Crew

the hardest working young people you will ever meet,
giving two weeks of their lives to kids and the Lord

and they live together, on top of it all

47 come from urban neighborhoods
35 from the suburbs ... totalling 82

Ethnicity

31 have at least one Latino parent
11 are African American
33 are White
5 are Native American
1 Asian
1 Trinidadian

Home town outside of Phoenix

7 -- Williams AZ
1 -- Barrington, NJ
1 -- Fayetteville, Arkansas
1 -- Kimball, Nebraska
1 -- South Central, L.A.
1 -- Houston, TX

Sending ministry:

12 from Young Life

23 raised in Neighborhood Ministries (2 who attended the original kids club 1987 )

42 come from The Church at The Neighborhood Center

10 come from ODF

18 come from SBC, Trinity, or a non-Phoenix church

Some issues our work crew is facing or have faced :

are trusting God to conquer drinking problems/drug use
have handicaps/disabilities
are on medication
are parents (have own children)
have completed probation or are on probation
have served some jail-time

Interesting Other:

12 of us serve with a sibling
1 of us is married
we are ages 15-30
49 are in high school
6 have college degress
10 are pursuing degree completion
at least 5 are children of past staff

can you picture them ... envisioned, ready to serve, uncertain, mature, immature, strong, frail, nurtured, nurturing, growing, committed, restless, coming home, called, struggling ... these young Christians will give their lives away and find life in return ... they will be asked to be family for each other ... this diverse and complex bunch of people, a perfect representation of the body of Christ .... pray for them ... Kids Club is designed for such as these kingdom warriors

Jeremiah 6: 16

IS THIS YEARS KIDS CLUB THEME VERSE

This is what the LORD says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls."

We desperately need you to stand with us as we seek God for the ministry of Kids Club. I'll be sure to send you updates as the weeks progress. pray especially for all the details of Lake Day, July 11. We need boats!
I love you,
Kit