One of the greatest opportunities with the children of Mission Adelante during summer vacation is the blessing of extra time. Two weeks ago, one of our Kids Adelante volunteers, Karlie Mann, began a Bible Study with four of our young girls. Over the course of five weeks, Marlen, Gissel, Gabi, Andrea, and Karlie will be digging into topics about how one can follow God and the characteristics of faith needed to pursue Him.
Last week, the group discussed the fruits of the Spirit. Much of the language used in the Bible tends to be unfamiliar to the kids. Karlie was able to discuss with the girls what following God really looks like and explain God’s word in a meaningful way. The Bible Study allows the girls to ask questions about God as they encounter information that is contradictory to what they have learned at the Kids Adelante Outreach Bible Study.
This was exemplified as Marlen described to Karlie how her parents have had ties to the Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, and Catholic churches. The incongruity of three different doctrines has caused ten-year old Marlen to seek where the truth lies. Marlen has used the teachings of the Bible that she learned at Kids Adelante as the lens through which she has observed other faiths. She was able to see the truth of God’s wisdom amidst so much confusion!
She has been praying for God to show her where HIS truth lies. As a result of her prayer, her parents announced that they would no longer be attending the Mormon Church. The faith of this little girl and God’s pursuit of her has been evident since she stepped through the doors of Mission Adelante! Please pray that God would continue to show Marlen and her family the truth of His love.
In other news:
- Megan McDermott, Molly Merrick, and the Kids Adelante Group 4 leaders, Brad and Amy, took seven kids to the Royals game last Tuesday. They had fun watching the game and interacting outside the neighborhood.
- Becky Masters, our summer intern, has jumped into our ministry with both feet! She is involved in two adult ESL classes, English tutoring, the resource center, this week's evening VBS, and contact work with individuals in our community. She also has a goal to help a discipling pair finish up the discipleship course this summer. Having grown up in Argentina, Becky is able to relate to Hispanic immigrants in a special way.
- A team of four starting "The Bridge Hispanic Ministry" in Hickory, North Carolina will be visiting for 4 days this week to observe our work and learn from our experience with cross-cultural ministry. Please pray that they'll be able to assimilate everything they learn here into their ministry there.
Prayer needs:
- Rogelio is a neighborhood man who has done work on the roofs of our facility and Jarrett and Jason's houses. Please pray for him and his family to turn to the Lord for comfort as they mourn the loss of his 15-year-old son, who was shot outside their home last week.
- Four new kids were drawn to the VBS last night that the First Presbyterian Church youth group from Manhattan, Kansas is leading this week. Please pray for more neighborhood kids to be attracted through the VBS activities and to become consistent at Kids Adelante.
- Twenty-five Heartland Community Church interns will have a free car wash in our parking lot this Saturday morning. Pray that their demonstration of servant evangelism will be well received by the neighbors and will facilitate our overall outreach effort.
- Please continue to pray for discernment and clarity for Jarrett and Megan M. as they select the kids to invite to participate in Leaders In Training during the upcoming school year.
Current needs:
- Our resource center is overflowing with clothing--thank you for all the generous donations!
- We're already collecting school supplies to distribute to about 60 community kids in August. It would be most helpful for backpacks to come already stocked with all the supplies an elementary school student will need. Those items are listed below. Could you organize a "Backpack Drive" for your church or group?
BACKPACK
500 sheets wide lined notebook paper
5 wide lined spiral notebooks
4 glue sticks (keep in package)
1 - 8 oz. bottle Elmer's glue (no blue glue)
1 small zippered bag for pencils
1 pkg. erasable pens (blue or black)
5 pocket folders
1 box colored pencils
1 ruler
2 "Sharpie" markers
2 pkgs. 3 x 5 index cards
1 red felt tip pen
1 pkg. #2 pencils
2 boxes crayons (24)
1 pair small scissors
Important upcoming dates:
- Monday, August 3 @ 6:30 p.m. Volunteer Team Meeting at the Mission
- Sunday, August 9: Trimester-end Party