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East St. Louis Dream Center Newsletter
 September 2010 |
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NEVER Let A Dream Die
Do you have a God-given dream in your heart that has been there for years, but you still haven't seen it come to pass? If so, I want to encourage you to NEVER let this dream die.
Just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't happen. Use this time of waiting to let the dream become BIG inside of your heart. God plants dreams in advance so they have time to grow inside of our hearts. If we don't let the dreams become BIG on the inside of us, they can't happen on the outside of us.
We have to believe it inside our hearts before God can make it happen in the physical realm. Often in this time of "dreaming" it's easy to just let the dream go. But God intends for the dream to become bigger instead of weaker and smaller.
If your dream has died in you, as you go to God to ask Him to REVIVE IT, He will. It's His dream anyway that He's planted inside of you. His dreams can't happen accept through His people...that's you! Let Him DREAM AGAIN through you and NEVER let a dream die.
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Rachel Buttig
Executive Director
East St. Louis Dream Center |
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August 12 - Melting Hearts August 13 - Menard Prison August 17 - Baseball Game August 18 - Small Signs August 19 - A Job & A Purpose
August 25 - He Found Him |
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Volunteer Opportunities
Do you have a heart for
missions? If so, East St. Louis
is a mission field. If you
would like to help serve in
this ministry, give me a call
or email and we can talk
about volunteer
opportunities. THANKS! |
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Prayer Focus uis Dream Would you like to know prayer needs of the ministry? Each month, I'll include a prayer focus that you can link up with us in faith for. This month's focus: It is our heart's cry that God would knit our hearts together with the teens from the Friday night program and together as a team. Thank you for your VALUABLE prayers! |
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Teen Ministry
As I look over the past few months of the Teen Ministry that we do, I see glimpses of change and watch as God connects our hearts more with the teens. Below are some of the highlights from this summer;
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We are starting to have more kids approach us to ask for prayer. One of the boys approached a volunteer recently. He was concerned that he may have gotten his girlfriend pregnant and he asked this volunteer for prayer. The volunteer was able to speak into his life about sexual purity and prayed for him. Later he found out that his girlfriend was not pregnant and was relieved.
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We have recently added more art and craft activities for the teens. Some of the teens play basketball but there are about ten teens who love the art table! They sit there the whole time painting, drawing or working on a craft project. One night there was paint everywhere, on the floor, on the table, on their faces and clothing. Hahahahaha, what a sight, but they had fun. All of the volunteers have received a few of their creations.I have some of their paintings hanging on my fridge right now!
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We have been meeting on a parking lot in the neighborhood since the building we were using is not available for the summer. One night the parking lot was getting oiled and painted, so we had to come up with a last minute solution. We set tables up in my front yard, played games and grilled hot dogs. Afterwards we crammed into my apartment and watched Remember the Titans and ate popcorn. Even though it was unexpected, it was nice just being with the teens and enjoying the movie together. |
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In the last month we have had some kids come back who we haven't seen in a year. It was wonderful seeing them again! Even though they had been gone for a while, they made themselves at home like they had never left.
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One boy who hadn't been in a while was shocked that we still had his name on the roster. One volunteer responded to him, "Of course we do! You're a part of Teen Ministry!" When he was coming before, he had a heaviness on him and just wasn't himself. We knew he was into some trouble but he didn't open up to us about it. It had been about nine months since he had come on a Friday night. But this time when he came back, he was a different person, lighthearted,playing games, asking us questions about our life and making us laugh.
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We took six teens to a Grizzlies' Baseball game. It was super hot, but we enjoyed just hanging out with them. One of the volunteers was taking four boys to the snack bar when a lady walked up to them and handed them tickets for all of them to get free food! God's favor! On the way home the girls had some bonding moments, we blasted the music and sang out loud together.
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Several of the teens come early to help us set up and stay late to help tear down. One boy in the neighborhood mentioned to me that he needed community service because he is on probation. I told him that if he helped us with Teen Ministry he could get some hours in. It has been a joy having him help us! He is very respectful and interacts well with the volunteers. |
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How precious it is to be connected to you! I know this ministry COULD NOT be a success without being linked to people like you. THANK YOU for staying connected to me and this ministry! THANK YOU for your prayers and your giving hearts!
I have a dream of having 30 partners who will support me and this ministry every month. Currently we have approximately 16 partners who send monthly support. All donations are tax deductible and go towards the cost of running the ministry and my salary. Please take a moment and ask God if He is directing you to become a partner with me and this ministry. If God is prompting you to partner with us, these are the ways you can give;
Check or Money Order- write the check to " ESL DC " and mail to the address below
Pay Pal- click on the donate button below OR go to the web site and click on the donate button
Needs List- Below is a list of items that we use monthly. If you would like to give specifically towards these items, please write this in the memo of your check or Pay Pal memo. OR If you would like to purchase these items, feel free to contact me and we can talk about it.
- 16 lbs. ground chuck
- 50 hamburger buns
- 60 hotdog buns
- 60 hotdogs
- 50 slices of American cheese
- 110 Little Debbie's
- 110 small individual bags of chips
- 4 bags of ice
- 2- 12.5 lb. bags of Kingsford Match Light Charcoal
- 20 Zip Lock Gallon Freezer bags
- 100 small Styrofoam cups
- 110 thick paper plates
- 110 Napkins
- 4 rolls of paper towels
- 20 trash bags (30 gallon)
- 50 postage stamps
- 50 adhesive seal envelopes
- 1 black cartridge of ink (HP 92)
- 1 color cartridge of ink (HP 92)
I couldn't do it without you,
Rachel
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