Another Location!!

I'm not good at making long stories short. Just ask my family...I love to tell every detail. I also strive to be precise but fail to be concise. And so as I ramble on and on, I bet I lose my listeners in the process: maybe they don't understand what I'm saying amidst all of the details or maybe they tune me out because they get bored. Being clear and concise and to the point in what I share with others is something that I must continually work hard at. So, I'll try to be concise in the following important Sowing Hope update.

God has opened up another area in Wooster where Sowing Hope Ministries has and will be able to continue to share the love of Christ. It all began last year when a mother around the Wooster Towers indicated that her friend's kids might be interested in the summer's Schellin Park day camp. Although I did not know her friend or the kids, I went over to the apartments off of Rebecca Street where they lived and was received with open arms. (Literally, the 5-year old girl came up to me and gave me a hug as I was talking to the mother.) The kids attended camp; a volunteer even picked up and dropped off these kids for the camp. They enjoyed their time so much that they kept coming back. In fact, the mother, kids, and another sibling chose to attend the Wooster Towers' picnic. And this same volunteer that had gotten to know the family picked them up and dropped them off for this picnic. Praise the Lord!!!!

So this year Stephanie and I made contact with this same family in order to say hi and invite two of the kids to Vacation Bible School. The mom signed the kids up on the spot!

Meanwhile, another mother from the apartment complex came to the church in need of food. While she was talking with a pastor, she shared that her boy had been picked up by a van from the Grace Brethren Church before they had moved to Rebecca Street Apartments and still desired to have her son be picked up. Although I'm pretty sure that it was another church that had been picking her boy up, Stephanie and I indicated that we would look into a ride for her son.

A couple weeks later we went over to Rebecca Street Apartments in order to give this mother information about VBS and the bus pick-up for VBS. "There are some other kids here [in the apartment complex] who might be interested in going as well. I can give them the information," she said. So, we left her with several fliers and packets of registration forms. I personally was not expecting anything great to come from this encounter. Yet the next time Stephanie and I stopped by the apartment complex, a mother approached Stephanie with the registration forms all filled out. What was surprising was that we did not know this mother that approached Stephanie and that she had been thinking about getting her son in a Vacation Bible School (apparently the same day that she received the registration and information from the first mom). Several days later we ended up walking away with a total of nine kids registered from the apartments. This number did not even include the kids that were registered from the area immediately surrounding the apartment complex.

Because of God's work in providing opportunities for ministry at Rebecca Street apartments, we ended up adding this location as a third stop to our normal VBS pick-up route. The pick-up time? 7:30 am. And believe it or not, most of the kids were ready to go at this early hour. And we ended up picking more kids up from Rebecca Street Apartments and the area surrounding this apartment complex than we did from the Wooster Towers and the area surrounding that complex. And 4 kids trusted in Christ from Rebecca Street apartments through the ministry of VBS volunteers. Wow. Praise the Lord!!!!!

Since the Lord has opened up the door for ministry at Rebecca Street Apartments & the surrounding area, Sowing Hope Ministries has decided to incorporate the apartment complex in its regular ministry activities. And today was the first day that Rebecca Street Apartments was included in SHM's regular summer ministry schedule.

What is this regular summer ministry schedule?

• Mondays: One-on-one activities with kids (building friendships through ice cream, hiking, walking, playing at the park, etc...)
• Tuesdays: Small group (Bible study and fun activity)
• Wednesdays: One-on-one
• Thursdays: Thursday events (games, craft, Bible lesson, snack)
• Fridays: Kids activities (games and snack)

Please pray for Sowing Hope that the Lord would work in the lives of volunteers and families through the above events & relationships.

Oh, and not only was Rebecca Street a new stop for the bus during VBS, but, Lord-willing, it will be a new and third location for our annual picnics.