Dear Lord, I Pray...

I (Emily) have the privilege to work with the 7-10 year old group of kids at Kid's Club.  Two of my nephews are currently in this group and we have fun with it because they aren't in the stage of life where they are too cool for me just yet.

Last night at Kid's Club, we broke the kids up into small groups of about 5 kids each and we had them write out a prayer to Jesus.  Trish has been teaching on the miracles of Jesus and she told the kids that when they need a miracle in life there is only one place to go - to Jesus.  

Dante (age 10), one of our nephews, wrote this prayer:

Dear Lord, I pray...

for my mom because she has cancer.  I'm just asking for you to heal her and let her hair grow.  

and for you to help my friend.  I want you to help him stop bullying people and help him to come to church and to let him love you more.

  

and my dad's girlfriend, she's having a baby boy or girl.  I want you to tell her that everything's going to be alright.

  

and what happened in Japan, I want you to heal them and help them pay for their stuff.  

Amen.  And God bless the people.

I realize this is a personal thing to be putting on our blog, but I was deeply moved by his genuine heart for other people.  He wasn't prompted to write these things, they were weighing heavy on his heart.  His behavior has been up and down in school, but over all he really tries and is proud when gets high marks.  He is very smart and I am humbled to see how God is moving in his little heart.

To all of you who pray for us and support/encourage us in one way or another, you have impacted Dante's life indirectly.  You make it possible for us to push through the hard times and invest in these children because we believe in a big God who can break cycles and bring radical transformation.

I don't know where Dante is headed in life, but I do know a small piece of what he will be up against in fighting what the culture is telling him, what his father is telling him, and what the Enemy is whispering to him.  I am humbled that God has placed us where we are to help show him that there is a different way to live, and that Jesus really can transform people.  We are not going to change Dante's life or path, but Jesus Christ can and he has a plan for him.  A plan that is good.  

There is nothing as humbling as the faith of a child...

Football!

 Last week some football players from Greenville College in Illinois came during their Spring Break to serve the kids in our community and our church.  The coaches and team members (22 to be exact) arrived Saturday night and worked hard all week long.  Monday through Thursday they ran a football camp for the kids in our church and the neighborhood.  They held the camp at a local park (one of the few) after taking time to clean up all the trash and syringes that were lying around.  Unfortunately this park is known as "Needle Park" which happens to hold our public library.  For four days, this park was transformed into a place where kids were learning about discipline, teamwork, Jesus, and skills needed to play football!

So how did this impact our schedules, other than running our nieces and nephews to and from football camp?

Groups that come usually bring their own cook or take turns making meals, but this team decided to hire Emily to cook for them!  This was an exciting and new challenge.  Thanks to some helpful advice from people more experienced, helping hands in the kitchen, and the grace of God - the football players were fed and she had a blast "throwin' it down" in the kitchen.  Emily's parents were in Philly for a few days and her mom helped with some cooking during the week!

Jonerik led worship for the team as they debriefed at the end of their long days.  He offered an open discussion about what God was teaching them and what they were experiencing.  It was powerful to hear how God was using and blessing them as they used their Spring Break to serve others.

If you look closely in this picture you will see little 4 year old, Gigi hanging out with the team.  She LOVED the attention and made friends left and right.  She loved football camp too.  Yelling and tackling things are a perfect outlet for all of her energy!







The team also did some work projects around the church and accomplished some things that were great for a big group of football players to do.  We were really grateful for all their hard work and dedication.

They were a great testimony just by being a group of men who respected authority and loved Jesus.  They shared some of their lives with the kids through talking about who Jesus is and what He has done for them.  We were blessed to have the group come.

For more pictures and information on their week check out their website:  www.emapnation.com
They have several "Philly Updates".

In the meantime...

I apologize to my internet followers for our delay in making our site a little more presentable.  I don't want this to delay all of the updates, however, so you can enjoy some rough drafts in our design until the final product is in place.