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East St. Louis Dream Center:
Kissed by a Rose
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Dear Partners,
Hello wonderful partners of the Dream Center! I want to thank you for your faithful support while I was on Sabbatical. I had a wonderful time of refreshment and inspiration. God showered His love on me by the people He let me spend time with and the beauty I saw in His creation.
I wish all of you could come visit the ministry, so I could show you the wonderful people who cause this ministry to be a success. The East St. Louis Dream Center is made up of two staff members (Janell and myself) and seven amazing volunteers. All of us together do the administrative work, fundraising and outreaches. Most of you had the opportunity to hear from Janell while I was on Sabbatical. She is a missionary of the Dream Center and raises her own financial support to be able to serve here. I wanted to share with you an excerpt from one of her recent newsletters, "Kissed by a Rose." As you read it, I pray that you are encouraged to slow down and enjoy the God moments around you.
Loving East St. Louis,
Kissed by a Rose
Psalm 46:8-10
Attention, all! See the marvels of God! He plants flowers and trees all over the earth... Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.
While visiting the apartment of one of the guys who faithfully attends our lunch outreach, we were shocked to see...
Luscious, flourishing rose bushes in vibrant fuchsia stood in the place where we once walked past small, stubby plants. It took our breath away!
In Psalm 46, God calls us to "Attention," to "see all the marvels of God!" This beautiful display of life was undeniably a marvel of God. Every day God gives us "grace gifts" just to make us smile. Too often, however, we are too busy to notice. But God wants us to "Step out of the traffic!" Slow down and smell the roses.
We were not "kissed by a rose" that day; we were kissed by our Beloved, Jesus. He was showing us His beauty. It's these little "grace gifts" from God that spur us on and encourage us to keep shining the light of Jesus into East St. Louis.
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Volunteer Opportunities
Three Volunteers- to prepare a lunch and deliver it to the center once or twice a month on Wednesdays. ESL DC would cover the food cost.
One Volunteer- to shop twice a month at Sam's and Walmart for the items we use for the office and outreaches. ESL DC would cover the cost.
Three Volunteers- to help with our Champions Teen Program on two Friday nights a month. (1st and 3rd Fridays, 6:00pm-9:30pm
Two Volunteers- to help with various office tasks and behind the scenes prep work for our weekly outreaches.
One Photographer- to come take pictures and video at our Champions Teen Program in order to help promote the Dream Center. Digital camera and video recorder needed.
Contact us if you or someone you know is interested. We would love to have you on our team!
618.875.2131 (ext. 107)
esldc@eaststlouisdreamcenter.org
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