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East St. Louis Dream Center January 2010 Newsletter |
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 Rachel Buttig December Blog Posts
Executive Director 12/09/09: I thought we lost him
East St. Louis Dream Center | |
Precious People,
There is a line from a song that has been stirring in my heart over the past few days, and I pray it encourages you. It says, "I don't need to see it, to believe it..." Let this be your BOLD declaration of faith...to God, to yourself, to the devil and to your circumstances. As you believe, no matter what your eyes are seeing, your faith will get stronger and stronger; you will go from FAITH to FAITH. This is God's heart for you, that you go forward, and forward and forward. That you don't go back to doubt, but that you go forward to faith and believing Him MORE and MORE, because He truly is worth putting our faith in.
Romans 1:17 (NKJV) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from FAITH to FAITH; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
In Christ,
Rachel Buttig
East St. Louis Dream Center
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Pursuing Their Hearts
In the lives of the teens here in East St. Louis and the neighborhood I live in, there are a lot of things missing in their lives, but there is one thing that I believe their hearts ache for more than anything. And that is relationship, someone to love them, someone to show interest in them, someone to pursue their hearts. God has been stirring in my heart to find more ways to do this for the teens we minister to. I know that it will be a journey, because their hearts are covered with years of hardness produced by hurt that they feel and see every day of their lives. But, I know that it will be worth it and we will begin to see the treasures that are hidden in them. We will begin to find their hearts, hidden behind the prison walls they have built.
One way we are winning their hearts is by simply having fun with them, engaging in activities that help us connect with each other. One Friday night last month we all played volleyball together and another night we made Christmas cards. We are seeing small signs of their hearts opening up, whether that is through them smiling at us, laughing with us, feeling free to be themselves, or making comments like, "We're one big family."
  
  
As the teens open their hearts to us, it won't be long until they open their hearts to JESUS loving on them and working in their lives. |
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On Friday, December 18th we took 15 teens ice skating to an outdoor ice skating rink. Thirteen out of the fifteen kids had never been ice skating before, so this was a brand new experience for them. It was so much fun to watch them! Not only were the volunteers entertained by watching the teens skate, but the teens were entertained by watching us, since some of us needed them to hold our hands and help us skate! Through some donations given to the East St. Louis Dream Center, we were able to rent a bus, pay for their entrance fees and buy all of them hats and gloves.
Below are some highlights from that night:
* One of the volunteers was able to connect with one of our oldest boys, who I will call Gerard. He is 17 and has been a tough one over the years to reach. He quit coming to Teen Ministry for about two years, until a few weeks ago. He was the last ones I would have expected to want to go ice skating with us. This volunteer was able to talk to him about his plans after high school and the sports he's involved in. Before Gerard got off the bus, he made a point to shake the volunteers hand and let him know he had a good time that night!
* Watching all of the kid's faces once they put their skates on and had to walk 150 feet from the inside of the building to the outdoor rink was unforgettable. They were in shock, thinking, "What did I just get myself into?" But, they were so brave. Despite their ankles hurting and being very cold, some of them didn't quit till the very end!
* One boy who periodically shows up to Teen Ministry and hasn't shown much interest lately was ready to go an hour early and walked all the way to the opposite side of the neighborhood to come to my door and double check on the time we were leaving. He was buzzing the whole night! Also, in most experiences of taking the teens out somewhere or when they show up for Teen Ministry, they are late. But for this event, the majority of them were early!
* One boy, who I will call Rodney, really clicked with a new volunteer. Rodney stuck by his side the whole night and I believe made him feel very welcomed. This volunteer taught Rodney how to ice skate and even how to do backwards turns on the ice. Every time I looked, I saw these two together. At the end of the night, Rodney asked me, "Where's my Dad?" referring to the new volunteer, his new found friend. He was so confident in the new things he had learned while ice skating, that he taught me how to do a backwards turn. He skated right beside me and told me, "I promise, you won't fall." I am not very coordinated and of course almost fell.
* One of the teen girls who I will call Tatiana really clung to one of our lady volunteers. They connected right away and hung out most of the night. They were able to talk about what she wants to do when she gets older, have interesting conversations and lots of laughs. Towards the end of the night Tatiana held onto this volunteer more so than the rest of the night. This is what the volunteer said about her experience with Tatiana, "She made me smile and made my time on the bus enjoyable..."
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God is FAITHFUL! He continues to meet the needs of this ministry and do even more than I have asked Him for. Thank you for being a part of that and letting Him use you as a channel to get His provision to this ministry! As you give, I am praying for your finances as well, that you will see increase.
Each month, it currently costs approximately $2,000.00 to run this ministry. If you would like to know specifics about what the money is used for, please feel free to call or e-mail me. I would be glad to share this information with you.
If you would like to sow into this ministry, you can do so by making checks payable to " ESL DC " and mail them to the address below. Or you can give by clicking the Pay Pal button below. You can also sow into this ministry by checking out the NEEDS LIST on the web site and contacting me about what you would like to give.
THANK YOU so much for your VALUABLE prayers and support!
Sincerely,
Rachel
Contact Information:
East St. Louis Dream Center
1235 McCasland Ave, Apt. 9B
East St. Louis, IL 62201
618.482.2791
http://eaststlouisdreamcenter.blogspot.com/
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