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Looking Back - listen in as our staff reflects on the past year
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YOU CAN HELP!
Join the Redeemed Team! |
Fortress is seeking 10-12 high-energy, high-caliber college students to serve as interns in our Summer JAM program. This year's theme is Redeemed. Are you ready to get your serve on? Contact ramon@fwydc.org to apply.
Be a point person for Fortress Counts. ------->
Represent your group/church for our Fall for Fortress '09 Auction & Dinner. Contact stacy@fwydc.org.
Send birthday wishes to a YDC kid.
1/18 Kerry (17)
1/19 Brandi (13)
2/2 Royleesha (18)
2/7 Bre'Shauna (3)
2/18 Johnny Keys (13)
c/o Fortress YDC
712 E Stella St.
Fort Worth, TX 76104
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YOU CAN GIVE! |
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This month, Fortress Counts on the following:
*20 lb. HP copy paper
*100% juice boxes
*Hefty Supreme styrofoam plates
*Fruit Roll-Ups
Special Needs:
*plain white kitchen towels
*small color printer |
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UPDATE
Please help us update our database. Click on "Update my profile" at the very bottom of this email and enter your name and the church/volunteer group you're part of, if applicable.
Thank you! |
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COMING UP |
| 1/18 Sunday JAM 12:00-2:00 lunch - Southlake Church
1/18 Scrapbooking 3:00-9:00
1/25 Sunday JAM 12:00-2:00
lunch - RH Homebuilders
1/30 HYPE Night
2/1 Sunday JAM 12:00-2:00
lunch - Weatherford church of Christ
2/5 Out to Lunch with Fortress 2/5 Family Night
2/8 Sunday JAM 12:00-2:00
lunch - Lake Cities church of Christ | |
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Pressing On in 2009! 
Greetings!
in a recent staff meeting, Michael shared a devotional thought from one of his favorite Pauline letters, Philippians 3:10-16. ( Read the passage here.) It's such a powerful reflection of what our Christian life should be like - to want to know Christ, to share in his suffering, to die to ourselves and become more like him. We're not there yet. Even Paul admitted that he hadn't taken hold of it completely. But one thing he WAS sure of: that he'd let go of the past and was straining, striving, pressing on toward the goal. May we all have this urgency and excitement about pressing forward toward the prize that God has set aside for us. As we begin the new year, let's encourage each other and hold each other to higher standards. Let's want to know Christ. Press on! |
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Fortress Counts! an in-kind giving program |
 At Fortress YDC, we talk a lot about numbers. Children in Building Blocks, our new early learning center, are learning their 123s. In Fortress Literacy Center, our after-school program, we celebrate the 2.0 grade level increase in reading comprehension each school year. Our summer program sees hundreds of volunteers who get to share the love of Christ with children and spiritually grow through their service work in the community. The staff counts down the minutes until the kids start arriving. We get to share and experience God's life transforming power with hundreds of children each year. We like numbers. Here are a few more:
- 75 juice boxes consumed on a daily basis during snack time
- 150 paper plates and napkins used to serve meals each week
- 4 rolls of toilet paper used every two or three days (and that's just the girls' restroom!)
- 120 hands to wash before they can sit down for snack time
- 3500 sheets of copy paper printed each month
- 40 gallons of gas burned doing van routes after school each week
- 48 black ink cartridges emptied in our printers every year
The numbers add up!
For 2009, to better meet the needs of the kids those numbers represent, we're kicking off a new campaign: Fortress Counts. Imagine this: if each lady in Bible Class bought an extra roll of paper towels next week.... if the guys you play basketball with contributed a gas card twice a year... if your Sunday School class filled a basket with office supplies...if your youth group collected juice boxes for a month...just imagine! Those numbers wouldn't seem like much to each individual, but they'd add up BIG for Fortress!
Won't you be a part of our mission?
Once a month, once a quarter, once a year.
It's really about so much more than paper products and office supplies.It's about making a difference in the lives of our precious children of God. It's about offering healthy snacks to hungry little tummies. It's about encouraging capable minds to succeed beyond their wildest dreams. It's about eternity. Now there's a number we can get excited about!
Contact stacy@fwydc.org to enroll your group as part of Fortress Counts. We need you! |
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Christmas '08 |
 The front room at Fortress was literally standing room only on Sunday afternoon, December 21. At noon, Fortress Church families arrived to begin setting up and preparing for the YDC Christmas Party. At 1:00, another group of volunteers donned gloves and started plating food. At 1:30, YDC students and their families began trickling through the doors, filling every seat in the house. Meanwhile, in the back room, Ms D and her volunteer crew kept filling plates with mouth-watering fruit, veggies, deli meats and cheeses, and desserts. At 2:30, Fortress Church Sunday School classes performed songs and skits to a full house. Somewhere around 3:00, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived! This wasn't just any Santa Claus. We're pretty sure he was the real deal!
Thanks to the generosity of our sponsoring churches and groups, each of our kids took home gifts with their names on them, and each family was blessed with a big basket of nonperishible food.
 We hugged old friends, snuggled sweet babies, and welcomed new faces. We caroled, nibbled and laughed. Perhaps 3-year old Josiah put it best: "I like this party. It's a happy party!" :)
On behalf of the 75+ kids who were blessed this Christmas, Fortress YDC staff and volunteers gratefully acknowledge the following groups for their neverending support and commitment to our programs, and specifically for making this year's Christmas Party possible:
- Southlake Church - Finger Food Trays
- Fortress Church - Finger Foods
- Hans Muller (Swiss Pastry Shop) - desserts
- Special Friend - extra food
- Mid-Cities Church of Christ Youth - volunteers/servers
- Legacy Church of Christ small groups - gifts
- Lakeside Church of Christ small group - gifts
- Southwest Christian School 5th and 6th Grade - gifts
- Decatur Church of Christ Ladies' Class - gifts
- Legacy Church of Christ small group - Food Baskets
- Diane & Don Savage - for purchasing the Santa Visit package at our auction and then donating it to us!
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W.E.I.G.H.T. Training |
Ramon and Kristen have been busily developing an exciting new curriculum for our junior and senior high students. Known as W.E.I.G.H.T. Training (for the boys; WAIT Training for the girls is also in development), this program will help drive home Fortress's mission: to provide opportunities for inner-city children and youth to experience powerful life change in order to become productive Christian adults. The class is intended to equip urban young men with the 6 pillars of W.E.I.G.H.T.:
- WISDOM to live skillfuilly
- The motivation to reach beyond mediocrity to EXCELLENCE
- The confidence to be men of INTEGRITY
- Rightly related to GOD
- A vision of being a man of HONOR
- Possessing the tools to be men of TRUTH
The 12-week class, taking place each Monday evenings beginning January 12th, addresses 4 primary topics: self-growth and physical development, relationships, choices, and social skills.
The standards are set high for enrollment in this class, but the rewards are worth it. Besides the obvous reward of skills, knowledge and self-value, the young men who complete the course will go shopping for a new shirt and tie, and then will enjoy a night on the town - dinner and a play - to show off their new skills and attitudes.
Next month, we'll highlight WAIT Training. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the program, please call Ramon or Kristen at 817.335.1007, or email: ramon@fwydc.org; kristen@fwydc.org. |
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We Knew Them When... |
 Six-year-old Johnnia, a 1st grader, is all grins and somersaults. Her big brother Markel, 9, is big smiles and strong handshakes, which bodes well for the future President of the United States.
In fact, you can go ahead and call him President Milstead; Markel is president of his 3rd grade class at Morningside Elementary.
"I decided to run for President of my class because I'm good at a lot of stuff," says Markel. "I was nervous on voting day because I thought another kid would win. But a lot of people picked me and I won!" Markel was a little disappointed to discover that the job isn't much more than a title. "I don't get to make rules or anything," he groused. But when asked what law he'd make when he becomes President of the United States, something he aspires to, he sat tall and proud and said, " My law would be [that] nobody can judge people by their colors."
On his way to becoming President, Markel wants to be a basketball star at TCU and then play for the Dallas Mavericks. "My favorite player is Carmelo Anthony [who plays for the Denver Nuggets] because he's a great shooter; he's best at fade aways."
At school, his favorite subject is reading, especially books about animals. At Fortress, his favorite rotation is the F.O.R.T., where he recently learned that "God is a spirit, but Jesus was a human."
Markel and Johnnia say that rarely fight, and in fact, they actually enjoy each other's company. Johnnia is bright-eyed and enthusiastic, and dreams of being a cheerleader at TCU. "I can already do the splits," she offered. If you want to see for yourself, just ask; she'lll slide right into them at a moment's notice.
After college, Johnnia (pronounced JaNEEa) wants to be a 4th grade teacher. "Even though I haven't been in fourth grade yet, I've been watching 4th grade teachers and 4th grade kids and I think it looks fun," she states. She got a Baby Alive for Christmas that she loves to play with, but she says her very favorite activity is school. "Especially math and science," she insists. "We always do fun things in math, like we go get in a group with the teacher and play games. We have maps and if the teachers get lost, we take them back to Texas and Fort Worth."
At Fortress, Johnnia likes the rewards. "If the whole class is good, we get candy!" she exclaims. Like her brother, Johnnia's favorite rotation is the F.O.R.T. "I liked learning about Moses. He always followed God, even when he was a little kid," she explained. "He always followed God no matter what."
In 12 or 13 years, when Markel leads the Horned Frogs to the NCAA Championships with his sister cheering them on... in 40 years when President-Elect Milstead appoints Johnnia Milstead as Education Secretary... we'll thank God that we knew them when. | |
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Thank you for supporting God's work here!
For His Children,
Fortress Youth Development Center | |
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