A Hope Dealer

A speaker at a workshop I attended at 360LA refers to herself as a "hope dealer."  She intentionally lives in a less-than-desirable area of Chicago to rub shoulders with gang members and share the hope of Christ with them.

I heard a song this morning:  Hope Can Change Everything.  Here are some of the lyrics:

I could be the spark
You could be the word
We could tell them something
That maybe they've never heard
Hope, yeah we could give it together.

Listen and be inspired to be a hope dealer today!

UYWI's 360LA

Guest post by Caleb Reed

Recently a group of Aim Right volunteers and staff spent the weekend in Azusa, CA (45 min east of LA), for a youth workers' conference called 360LA.  360LA is put on by the Urban Youth Workers Institute (UYWI) non-profit organization that exists to train and resource urban youth workers to effectively disciple and evangelize at-risk youth.  UYWI offers many online resources to pull up at the click of a mouse, but there is nothing like being at a live conference with hundreds of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who all are united with a passion to reach at-risk youth. 

 

 

This year’s conference theme was “The City Needs A Father."  The whole weekend revolved around this theme.   Workshops were centered around Community Engagement, Personal Development and Leadership, Discipleship and Mentoring, as well as Effects of Fatherlessness.  The general sessions were great times of worship and teaching.  We had the opportunity to hear from great leaders and teachers Larry Acosta (founder of UYWI), Efrem Smith (World Impact), and Eugene Cho (Quest Church), just to name a few. 

 

All our volunteers and staff walked away from this weekend definitely feeling encouraged and refreshed!  Conferences like this can be overwhelming and even tiring, yet they are times when our team grows together; I am confident we did just that.  If there is something I have learned over time, it is that to make a difference in a neighborhood and community, you need to have a strong team that works together, plays together, prays together, and learns together. 

A weekend in CA would not be complete without a trip to the beach.  Sunday morning, we packed up and headed west to the Santa Monica Beach; for some it was the first time to the Pacific Ocean; for one awesome young man it was the first time ever to the beach and ocean. 

Rewriting the Rules

Aim Right is in the process of purchasing a second location in the heart of the Sunnyslope area.  Here's a glimpse of the property, which has been used as the ministry location of Prodigal's Home for the last few years: 

 

The property is (was?) a part of "Mountain View Acres," and I came across a 1946 document outlining certain restrictions for properties within that location.  Some were quite humorous, such as:

No goats, hogs, cows, or other livestock shall be kept on the premises.

All dwellings must have inside plumbing and toilets.  No outside toilets permitted on said premises.

Then there was this one:

None of said lots nor any portion thereof shall ever be assigned, sold or conveyed, let or demised to, or occupied by any person who is or whose spouse is of Mexican, Hindu, Japanese, Mongolian, or Filipino descent, or who is of other than the Caucasian race.

Four races and one religion, listed by name.  Everyone else lumped into "who is of other than."   

In 1946 Arizona was a different world.  World War II had just ended; Arizona was now home to several military bases, as well as multiple prisoner of war camps and Japanese internment camps.  These were large scale, government mandated projects, and I can envision that many of the local folks weren't on board with this invasion into their landscape.  Thus they exerted control where they could -- including creating exclusive neighborhoods.  In no way was this behavior godly or right, but I can understand how it could happen, given the context of 1946.

It's 2014, and Aim Right is in the process of purchasing a second location in the heart of the Sunnyslope area.  The 1946 rules are being rewritten, and this place is going to welcome the youth of the neighborhood to come -- just come -- find a refuge and a friendly face, figure out a way to deal with the crazy stuff of life, and most importantly -- come and find Him.

"....before my eyes appeared a vast crowd beyond man’s power to number. They came from every nation and tribe and people and language, and they stood before the throne of the Lamb, dressed in white robes with palm-branches in their hands. With a great voice they shouted these words: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb!"  Revelation 7:9-10 (Phillips)

Painting Party

Last week while most of the guys were outdoors playing ball during Rec Center,

the young ladies had a little painting party.

 

Of Technology & Donations

 

It isn't often that I blog about office-related happenings, but the past few weeks have been slightly interesting on the office technology front.  The slow Windows XP office computer was upgraded to a new-to-us model we purchased economically through TechSoup.  I wanted to make sure all the files transferred properly, so we outsourced that job to a computer technician.  I made plans to be computer-less for awhile.

Long story short, I discovered there was a glitch with the accounting program once I had the new computer set up.  And I discovered a glitch with the old computer, too, which was to be our back-up should we ever need it.  Both computers had to go back to the technician again. 

The computers are finally back, and I'm loving the speed of the new one.  However, I spent a few frustrating hours yesterday and today trying to complete the installation of Publisher -- the one Office program I use frequently that wasn't already installed on the new computer.  I had purchased Publisher at a huge savings through TechSoup ($8 vs. $207 -- yes, please!), but getting the download activated and installed wasn't working properly.  After calling Microsoft and being transferred multiple times to multiple persons who don't speak my first language very clearly, I was finally told, "Uninstall the program and then reinstall it.  Then if you still have problems, call us again."

I uninstalled.  Reinstalled.  Uninstalled.  Reinstalled.  Re-read download instructions.  Finally, I happened to click on a file that led to a never-seen-before screen, and it began to activate the software.  Publisher and I are in business again.  Thank you, Jesus! 

-------------------

As we near the end of Kids Club for this semester, I've been thinking about how to give a little something special to all the children who can recite all the Scripture passages we've focused on since January.  I called a variety of restaurants -- Jack-in-the-Box, McDonald's, In-n-Out Burger -- to ask if they offered certificates for one item (like a burger or an ice cream cone) that we could purchase in multiples.  The lowest amount was a $5 gift card, too high above the budget I had in mind for 50 children.

Then I called a local Wendy's.  The employee who answered was exceptionally friendly.  I asked about buying certificates for a small item like a Frosty.  Wouldn't you know....they don't sell them, but they do give them away!  The employee's children go to a Christian school, and she was more than happy to hear about our cause.  She then gave me the manager's name, and asked me to call back a little later when he would be in. 

I called back later and spoke with the manager.  At first, he wasn't sure he had any certificates available, but then he discovered he had a few.  That few?  Turns out to be 50 exactly.  The Father provided -- in a way I never expected!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..."  James 1:17

Thank You!

A big thanks to all who put down the pasta (seriously:  two large roasters whittled down to one lone Cool Whip container of spaghetti left over) on Saturday evening and raised over $2,300 to send teens to camp this summer!