Carpe Diem

This neighborhood is a transitional one.

Nearly 60% of its residents are renters.

That means they move a lot.

Fortunately, they often move to different homes or apartments within this same community, and we're able to maintain connections with those families and children. Sometimes, though, they move beyond our feasible reach -- to North or South Phoenix, to one of the suburbs, to Mexico, or to California -- and you hope and pray that another ministry in that locale is poised to reach out to them.

I know that life is short and precious, that time on this earth is a limited commodity. I know that the Psalmist uses such descriptions as "a shadow....fleeting....a few handbreadths....a mere breath" when illustrating the "measure of [our] days."

But even with this knowledge in my possession--of humanity's frailty and brevity--I too often live with the attitude that there's all the time in the world. I take it for granted that tomorrow will look like today, and yesterday, and the day before, that doors will remain open, that if we said "hello" today, we'll get to say it tomorrow, too.

I forget how transitional life is.

Yesterday two of our Kids Klubbers boarded the van with a Big Announcement. They're energetic, fun brothers around the ages of 6 and 9. In the 5+ years I've lived in Phoenix, they've lived in the same house, on the same street, with the same parents, with a bird and a dog or two. I remember when they bricked their whole front yard, with the exception of a few circles surrounding some trees. I remember when their younger sister was born, and I was invited inside the house to take a peek at the little one. I remember the excitement of the older brother when he went off to camp at Youth Haven Ranch, and how his pronunciation of it sounded more like "Youth Heaven."

Now I remember when he made the Big Announcement.

Before he boarded the van yesterday, he stood right outside my open window and announced matter-of-factly:

"We're moving. This is the last time we're going to church. The living room is packed."

"Where are you moving?" I asked.

"Far away," was his response. "To an apartment. We'll go to a different school."

He clarified why the sudden, out-of-the-blue move:

"My mom and dad are fighting. We will come see our dad on the weekend."

My heart sank. These little guys are caught in the middle of their parents' separation. They'll have to make new friends at a new school, settle into a new home, and adjust to ping-ponging between mom and dad. Will there be a church nearby that will invite them to come? How will they fare when their mom has to get a job to make ends meet? What scars will they bear, or do they bear already, because of the brokenness of their family?

This encounter with the Big Announcement, while unexpected and unwanted, has been a good reminder to seize "such a time as this," or in a similar vein, carpe diem. It is not promised that tomorrow I can share Jesus with Juan or Angel or Cassandra. However, there is the moment that is now, and how is He asking me to spend it?

2010 Auction

Here are just a few auction highlights in photo form. It takes many volunteers to make auction day go smoothly, and regretfully, I didn't get photos of them all.

Auction Cashiers - Hilda, Andrea, & Stephanie

(with Ro and Delia there for moral support)

Burger Griller - Arlis Unrau from Pryor, OK

Bake Sale Crew - Emily Chupp (intern)

Kelsi Burkholder and Crystal Cross from IN


Chicken Griller - Kevin Hudson, Phoenix


Auctioneer - Steve Cross, IN

Mo Miller (IN) and Chuck Reed (OH) also assisted with the auction.

The highest auction item, a "Puff Quilt" made by Ida Anna Miller of Phoenix, sold for $2,100. It's pictured below, the second quilt from the left. The proceeds from that quilt and other items will be used to make Aim Right's final mortgage payment on the property. Praise God that He's provided the means for us to reach that milestone!

National Pancake Day!

For a little something different, we celebrated National Pancake Day yesterday evening at tutoring. Yum!

Welcome, Andrea!

A little over a week ago, we were blessed with the arrival of a new intern -- Andrea Stoltzfus, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Let's get to know her a little bit, shall we?

What do you like to do in your spare time? Play or watch football, be with friends, snowboarding

How many siblings do you have? 1 brother and 1 sister

What do you like about Phoenix? The warm weather and palm trees

Why did you decide to become an intern? I visited Aim Right last summer and thought being an intern sounded like something I'd like. [As a side note, Andrea came to Phoenix with her youth group to help another church with their VBS. That church scheduled her youth group for a tour of Aim Right one afternoon. And...the rest is history!]

What is a favorite snack? Chocolate-anything

Who is a person in the Bible you admire and why? Esther. She was very courageous and trusted the Lord to protect her.

What is something you learned growing up on a dairy farm? Hard work is rewarding.

What is one of your pet peeves? When people start talking, then stop and don't finish

Ten years from now, what is one thing you hope to have accomplished? Grow an inch [Um....please let us know how that works out for you, Andrea!]

Externally Focused

If your church vanished, would your community care?
Would your city leaders notice that you're gone?
Would your local schools be surprised by your absence?
Would the underprivileged and those living in poverty note a difference?

The Externally Focused Network is a ministry that trains churches to impact their communities with good news and good deeds. There's an excellent, although lengthy, article on their website called How Externally Focused Churches Minister to Children. In the following excerpt, Omar Reyes, Community Development Director for NorthWood Church in Keller, Texas, shares some thoughts on outreach to children:


Working with children, especially those in the community who may come and go out of a program, can be frustrating work. “People don’t always get involved because they do not see immediate results. You have to pour your life into kids and realize that you may never see the results,” encourages Omar. He makes this statement not simply from observation, but from his own childhood experiences. Born and raised in Belize, Omar says Canadian missionaries had a huge influence on his life. “They came in 50 years ago and won my parents to Christ. All the way from elementary to college, the missionaries taught me. I was the kid that they reached out to. I was on the other side. I didn’t know how much it formed in me until much later in life.”

After he left Belize, the missionaries never saw him again and may never know what an impact they had on his life. “I would go in Monday and stay all week, like a boarding school. Those missionaries had me cutting wood and baking bread and they poured their life into me. And yet, I grew up rebellious, and most of them don’t know what’s going on with me now.” Omar’s own life is testimony that to work and change a generation means pouring out and leaving the results up to God.

“Abraham should be our example of what it means to pour your life out and change a nation,” he says. The Bible says that Abraham gave his life to something that he could only see from a far off and Hebrews 11: 1, 2 says: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for."

Omar says, “You cannot care for glory if you are going to work with kids. It is not the work that pleases God. It’s because of their faith that God commended Abraham, Moses, David, Samuel and others. Even if we don’t see immediate results in serving children, we have faith that God will bring the results and change a nation and a generation.”

Defying Description

Sometimes words are overrated.
I have no words to adequately describe what you see below.
Just this -- please come to the auction and outbid Matt on these cutesy aprons.

Thank you very much.

Points = Prizes!

Kids Klubbers have been earning points over the past few weeks -- points for attendance, memory verse, behavior, and answering review questions.

They finally got to "cash in" those points for prizes yesterday.

Some of the prizes were donations from Toys for Tots; others came from local churches or individuals.

A few of the prize recipients: