East St. Louis Dream Center

Urban Missionary                                                              September 2, 2008
Updates
Hungry
In One Week
Info
 
618.482.2791
 
1235 McCasland Ave., Apt. 9B
East St. Louis, IL
62201
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If I were to describe what I do, I would put it in these words, I'm an URBAN MISSIONARY. I live in one of the worst housing projects in the city of East St. Louis, IL, where I live among the people and minister to them on a daily basis. This is my full-time job, and I LOVE it!
Weekly Schedule
Tuesday: Hiding Place- Bible Study and Prayer for teens
Wednesday: Hamburger Wednesdays- lunch for young adults in order to build relationships with them
Thursday: Office work- Behind the scenes preparation
Friday: Teen Ministry- Provides recreational actvities, worship and Bible study for teens on the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month
Tuesday-Friday: Prayer Walking- Each morning I walk through the neighborhood praying for the people and this ministry.
Monday-Sunday: Spontaneous Ministry- No matter what time of the day, there are always opportunities for me to minister.
Hungry
Nothing makes me more excited than to see kids hungry for the things of God. At the Hiding Place Bible study 2 weeks ago, one of the boys kept stopping to write down the verses that I was teaching on. He also wrote down the name of the song that we worshipped to because he wanted to look for it later. I ended up giving him a copy. It was so wonderful to know that this 14 year old boy was interested enough in God's Word and worship to write it down for later. Thank you God for hungry hearts!
In One Week
Since I live here I can get used to seeing the police, hearing gun shots or seeing and hearing about violence that goes on. I can imagine this is also how the kids here become indifferent to the violence. Also, the people here are like family to me and I feel safe with them so I tend to not focus on the craziness. But at the same time, I don't want to ever get used to it, because I want to see it change. The other day I was curious as to how much really does go on, since I never keep track of it. Over the past 12 days I have kept this log of the things I have seen and heard.
 
08.20.08- 4 people were shot, with injuries
08.28.08 (9:08pm)- Girl taken away in ambulance because she was in a fight
08.29.08 (3:23pm)- Saw 2 police officers across from my apartment
08.30.08 (1:30am)- 3 guys playing dice outside of my window
09.01.08 (7:02pm)- One man got arrested 3 doors down from me, possible domestic violence
09.02.08
1:22am- Woke up to hearing 8 gun shots from the building across from mine
1:26am- 1 police car showed up, went back to bed
5:29am- Heard another gun shot and lots of people yelling, began to pray 
5:35am- 1 more gun shot, kept praying, yelling stopped & people went in doors, went back to bed
 In Closing
 
The monthly cost for running the East St. Louis Dream Center is $499.00, this does not include my salary as Director of the ministry. If you would like to begin supporting me and this ministry financially, checks can be mailed to the address listed above. They can be made out to ESL DC, or you can give on-line by clicking on the blog link above. All donations are tax deductible.
 
THANK YOU for your continued prayer and financial support. I am HONORED and THRILLED to be in partnership with you!
 
Rachel Buttig
East St. Louis Dream Center