Community Night 11.20.15

Special thanks to Aleisha Boley for sharing this post and photos about Aim Right North's Community Night.

Amy asked me to write about Friday night community night and I'm glad she asked me to do this because even though I've only been here for 3 weeks, Friday night is my favorite night!

So what is Community Night, and what do we do?  Community Night is at Aim Right North. It's where the community people can come and hang out at the mission and enjoy a free dinner, games, and crafts. Not many adults come (mostly community kids), but there is a lot of them! So it's a fun time to get to know them and just work on building relationships.

 

 

 

 

 Like I said, there is food and crafts.  Where do we get all the help to organize this? That's the really cool part. Back before this building became Aim Right's, it was another mission that helped special needs people. So some of the people who volunteered with that really liked what Aim Right was doing and joined us and are now volunteering here! They are amazing people; we have some who are in charge of getting the food ready and out on the serving table--which I think is a very important job because food is always important. ;)

 

We have a very sweet lady who is in charge of getting crafts together for the kids, and she will once in a while have a game of Bingo for them where they can win little prizes. She's good at this, and you can tell she loves doing it and loves the kids.

There are even two men who sit and separate the plastic plates to make it easier for those who are serving the food. Everyone is important because of every little thing they do to help make the night run smoother. These people are such a blessing and make it so nice for us! That allows the rest of us to work on building relationships with the people and kids, although we do try to help wherever we can if they need it.

 

There is also normally a game of basketball going on, four square, tether ball, and kids just hanging out around the fire.  I love it! I love seeing the kids run around with their friends laughing and hanging out. I love seeing the volunteers joyfully giving up their time to help out.  At the end of the night,  AJ gets us all gathered around and ends the night with a prayer. I just pray that what God is doing here and the people He uses will impact these families and their children.

 

- Aleisha

A great Mexican-Italian meal

Ro and Lourdes provided Thursday night's Bible study teens with a scrumptious meal:  barbacoa, rice, homemade salsa, lasagna, and cheesecake.  Here is the main chef (Lourdes):

 

 

Barbacoa & rice:

 

Lasagna:

 

 

Ro's cheesecake is not pictured, unfortunately. 

(perhaps because I was too busy eating it?)

Ro-Ro enjoys hanging out with the teens

and making new friends.

 



 

 

 

I think the meal was teen-approved!

Meet Aleisha

Aim Right welcomed a new intern, Aleisha Boley, at the end of October. You know you have a great intern when the intern tackles painting the office area all by herself and is still able to smile about it! We are blessed and thankful that she is here.

 

 



I asked Aleisha to answer some serious (and not-so-serious) questions so you can learn a little more about her.  Here we go...

• What is your middle name:  Li Ming
• Did you play any sports in school?  If playing ball in the yard with your brother counts...I was homeschooled.
• What is the most interesting job you have ever had?  I have had lots of jobs that were fun and interesting, but I would say that the time I worked at a yogurt place was the most interesting. I got free ice cream all the time!
• Favorite book of the Bible?  I like a lot of the New Testament books, but my favorite would be Ephesians. It talks a lot about God's love, a time for everything, and putting the armor of God on.
• What states or countries have you lived in?  I was born in China. I lived in South Carolina, then moved to Ohio, where I spent most of my life.  [Aleisha was living in Fair Play, SC, before coming to Aim Right.]
• Something you could eat every day and not grow tired of:  Chinese food, all day, every day!
• Describe your family.  Awesome, fun, loving, and always there for each other.
• Something you already like about Phoenix:  The weather!
• Why did you decide to become an intern?  Because I felt God calling me here.
• Favorite hobbies or things to do:  I love to write, go to coffee shops with friends, drive in the mountains when the leaves change colors, and hang out with my friends.
• How you feel about driving a mini-van [the vehicle Aim Right provided for her]: I had to drive a mini-van for a while for my first car.  But then I finally got a car, and now I went back to a mini-van.  I like to call it Clifford the big red van!
• How do you think God has been preparing you to come here?  I believe God put my friends from South Carolina into my life for this, because we would get together and just have good discussions about God (before, I didn't really do that). Now I love having discussions.
• You would love to receive a gift card to ________:   Ross 
• Favorite holiday?  Christmas
• Something you miss about home:  My family and friends and the country feeling
• What is apiphobia?  Do you have this phobia?  Ummm....What kind of question is this?  And I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I don't.
• A famous person you would like to meet:  Jon Foreman
• Something you should never say to a short person:  "Can you even see when you drive?"
• One thing you are thankful for:  I'm thankful for the support I have back home.
• Describe the Kids Club you helped with in South Carolina.  I loved it!  It got tiring at times, but doing anything with fun and crazy kids always makes you tired if you don't have your own. We had it every Sunday afternoon.  We walked the kids to the church. We sang songs and had a story and snack for them. Like I said, most of the staff walked away tired, but it was always worth it.

A Glimpse of Artful Expressions

Special thanks to Anna Dufek of Moments of Wonder Photography who not only was one of the vocal performers at Artful Expressions, but also captured these images for us.  Proceeds from the weekend totaled nearly $4,000.  We are grateful for all who came as well as the talented local performers who shared in word or music.

 

Join us this weekend!

Space is still available to attend Artful Expressions this weekend.  Each evening features 3-4 performers.  The event begins at 7:00 PM on Friday and Saturday.  Doors open at 6:30 PM, with dessert and coffee available when you arrive.

 

 

Special thanks to Cakes for Causes and Smooth Brew for their donations towards this event.  We think you will enjoy their specialty items!