Community 4:12

Mentoring Partnership with the City of Aurora

Had an exciting (and bit intimidating) offer from the City of Aurora this week.  They have asked us to partner with them on applying for a 3 year, $500,000 Youth Mentoring grant.  If we get the grant, this would be the first time they have partnered with the faith community to provide youth services!  They want Community 4:12/CCC to serve as the liaison and coordinator with churches all over the area to provide mentors for 6th grade students at Waldo and Jefferson middle schools.  How could I say no to something like that?!  The grant is due in two weeks (they said that is typical of federal government grants--very short turn around time), so we're going to be busy.  If you have been part of, or know about, a great mentoring program that I could learn from, let me know! 

School Supplies in May

We are trying something new this year.  Every August we always do a school supply collection at Community to make sure the kids at Brady Elementary come to school prepared to learn.  This year we decided to try something that a lot of the surrounding school districts do . . . order pre-packaged kits that contain all the supplies for each grade level that the teacher requests.  It's great---no shopping and not being able to find the right things, no trying to stuff everything into one bag, no hauling tons of supplies from church to the school, and it actually ends up being a lot cheaper this way.  So, all a person has to do is say they will commit to sponsoring a child for $25.  The challenge is, we hve to place the order now for next fall.  People at Community are not used to this rhythm, so I knew we couldn't expect to get a lot of people to commit to school supplies NOW when they are thinking graduation, summer, etc.  So, I had to take a guess as to how many people I THOUGHT would sponsor children and lay that cash out up front.  Yikes.  I committed to 300 kits (about 1/2 the school) for this year.  That's $7,500.  Double Yikes.  Thankfully, I've been pleasantly surprised at how many people ARE willing to sign up now (and pay now) for supplies for the fall.  In fact, we have gotten some terrific feedback that people love this idea.  Everyone will get names of specific children that they are sponsoring, because Brady families will order a kit at registration in August (and pay a small amount so that this will still be a fundraiser for the school).  So, sponsoring families can actually write a personal note to the child(ren) they sponsored to help them start the year off right.  I have to attribute this brilliant idea to Ron Kelso who has done all the leg work to make it happen.  We have had a good response already, but we are no where close to 300 yet, so if you'd like to sponsor a child with school supplies for next year, email Ron at ronkelso@sbcglobal.net and let him know how many ($25/child)!

Habitat Groundbreaking

Three years ago, Ron Kelso's (2nd from left) life was shattered when his 19 year old son tragically lost his battle with depression and ended his life through suicide.  With the strength that only God can give, Ron committed to fulfilling a dream he and his son had shared---to build a Habitat for Humanity Home.  Ron sponsored a fundraiser and raised $35,000---enough to purchase land for a Habitat build.  Because of his ties to Community 4:12 and the work we are doing in East Aurora, he was determined to do the build in that community.  However, there has been no land available, so for the past 2 1/2 years, the money has sat in a Habitat account. 

This spring, Habitat decided to embark on a project they had not done before . . . rehabbing a foreclosed home.  It is on the East Side of Aurora and the approximate cost?  About what Ron had secured in cash and in-kind donations.  Ron got to meet the Craft Family (mother and 2 teenage twin daughters in this picture) and immediately knew this was the family "Kevin's" home had been waiting for.

Today was the groundbreaking ceremony.  Even though the house is built, it was gutted to the studs due to extensive mold damage and so for the next 2 months, every Thursday and Saturday teams of volunteers will work to build the Craft Family their new home.  If you'd like to participate in one of the build days, click here to contact Ron. 

I am so proud and humbled to have Ron as a dear friend and long-time leader with Community 4:12.  Thank you for your faithfulness, Ron.  I can just see Kevin's smiling face, and I know his loving and generous spirit is being built into this home.

Praying with the Mayor

Once a month for the past year or so, I have had the priviledge of gathering with a few Aurora pastors at Mayor Tom Weisner's office to pray with and for him and his staff.  There are a lot of things I respect about the mayor, but one of the big ones is his desire to involve the Church in addressing the issues challenging the city.  He is surrounded by some strong Christ followers in his office, and while I am not sure how he would describe his relationship with Jesus, he is at least interested in blanketing the city and his office in prayer.  I appreciate his willingness to share both work and personal challenges and submit them to us to pray for him and his family.   I loved his simple prayer this month, "Help me to always remember that I serve both the City of Aurora and You." 

Just don't give up . . .

One of my great joys this year has been leading two Enrichment Groups at Bardwell Elementary School on Mondays ---one for 6 third graders from Brian's class and one for 5 fourth graders from Erik's class.  We have done everything from writing a short story to submit to a Scholastic Book competition to learning about web search engines and internet research to studying endangered animals and historical people, places, and events.   It has been a real thrill for me to watch young minds expand over the year.

To wrap up the year, the kids in both groups really wanted to take an educational field trip somewhere.  Not being an official teacher of the school, getting transportation and approval to take the kids out of the building was a challenge, so I decided to bring the field trip to them instead.  So today, children's author and illustrater, Kevin Luthardt, came and did a two hour workshop for the 11 children I have been working with all year.  He talked about the process of writing a picture book from idea to publishing, and he shared some of his own story of becoming a writer (he even pulled out a big stack of rejection letters that he got before publishing his first book).  He taught the kids how to draw a cartoon elephant and then asked each of them to start a story by using the "story board" process.

All of the kids did a great job, but there are a couple in the group that I see brimming with potential to be writers or artists or both.  I can only pray that they are going to have some strong people in their lives encouraging them them not to give up . . . because sometimes all it takes is a couple of rejection letters or comments and potential never becomes anything more than that.

Field Trip to Springfield

Had a great day traveling with the 4th graders from Bardwell Elementary to Springfield.  The day started before 5:00 am and we didn't return until after 9:00 pm, but the kids were terrific and we saw some great places.  The Lincoln Museum was particularly impressive and interesting.  Hard to identify the wax from the real people in this picture, huh?  I guess the clothing style makes it pretty easy to identify my group from Lincoln's family, but there were some pretty impressive wax figures!

A highlight of the day for me was getting to spend some time with one of the boys from my son Erik's class who is considered a "bully" (he's not in this picture, because he refused to be associated with our group).  He had some pretty shocking things to say about his dream of growing up and recreating a genocide like the Haulocaust to wipe out all races except Puerto Ricans, and about what he was going to do with the several shot glasses he purchased from the gift shop.  But he was also the most interested of all the kids in the group in actually learning something on this trip and had a pretty amazing ability to synthesize information.  He started off the day by telling me he didn't like "white people," which I took as a warning that he was not going to be pleasant to be around.  But, we ended up having a couple of really good conversations, and I saw a softer side to him that I would guess he doesn't reveal very often.  I see two very clear and opposing possible paths for this bright young man who is obviously a leader.  I fear the one he will take is what everyone is predicting; I pray some positive relationships will step into his life and steer it the other way.

Parents United in Action goes to 2 more schools!

Thanks to the generosity of Community attenders during out Celebration Generosity, I have the funding to significantly expand our Parent Mentor program next year.  We will continue at Brady and Bardwell and will take it to two other elementary schools in the same geographic area, Beaupre and Rollins.  I had a wonderful meeting with the Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education this week, and it was so encouraging to hear her say they would like to work with us to find a way to take this program to all 12 elementary schools in the district.  For now, though, it was so fun to be able to tell the principals of those two schools that they can have the program at their schools next year if they are interested.  I don't think I've ever heard a quicker, "YES!" before (they knew about the program from hearing the principals at Brady and Bardwell talk about it).  So, thank you Community for providing an opportunity for 30 East Aurora parents to have a life changing experience next year!

And the People Gave . . . Very Generously!

What an amazing weekend at Community!  We collected about $230,000 as part of our Celebration Generosity service to be used for the Jesus Mission in East Aurora, Uganda, Philippines, and Church Planting efforts through our New Thing Network.  The Neighborhood (East Aurora) Team raised over $72,000!  That will allow us to expand our Parent Mentor program, bring on a Leadership Resident for our future East Aurora Campus Pastor, hold 4 large community events, continue to support our tutoring and educational programs and begin some School for the Arts opportunities in the coming year.  A huge thank you to all of you who were part of this amazing celebration of generosity!

Writing . . . necessity or extra-curricular?

I love to write.  I have always been able to express myself so much better in writing than verbally.  So it breaks my heart that my kids are not learning to love to write.  We knew there would be many aspects of their education that would not be as "top-notch" here in East Aurora district 131 schools as they were in Naperville district 203.  And we're mostly okay with that, knowing that education is far more than what you learn in school.  But, the one area that I notice a huge difference in what is taught and required of the kids here is in the area of writing. 

There is so much need to focus on the basic reading and math skills that writing seems to be a subject that gets the short end of the stick.  But for me, knowing how to communicate effectively in writing is an absolutely essential life-skill.  I know the boys are young, so there is time for that skill and that love of writing to emerge, but it worries me a little that they aren't starting young.

So, being the "fix-it" kind of person I am, we are starting a new evening routine around the Strand house.  After dinner everyone is going to sit together and "journal."  Each person can write whatever they want, they just have to write something.  I figured I'd get all kinds of moans and groans about that, but last night after picking out their own special notebooks, the boys each eagerly sat down to write!  Brian decided to write a story, and Erik wanted to draw and write the step-by-step plans for building a fort in our backyard.  I suggested about 15 minutes---not wanting to expect or push too much.  I'd say they each went for at least 30 minutes.  Granted it was a new and novel experience, so I suspect it won't be that easy most nights, but it did my heart good to see the boys ENJOYING creative writing!

Casting a Lighthouse Vision

The vague vision and dream is starting to feel more real.  Tonight we held our Neighborhood Team Vision Dinner in the building that we dream will one day become The Lighthouse.  About 200 people gathered, some from Aurora, some from CCC, to hear about our vision for the church and community center we hope to open in East Aurora.  I am obviously pretty biased, but it felt like a powerful night . . . like God is really up to something.  I still really don't know what is going to happen, but I think after taking this vision public and asking 200 people to join us in this mission, we've got some serious momentum building.  Now I just pray that God keeps us moving in the right direction.  If we are moving this fast in the wrong direction, we're in for a serious trainwreck; but if we're moving where God is leading, it feels like we are heading down the runway about to take flight!  If you happened to be at the dinner tonight, I'd love to know what's stirring in your spirit about all of this.