Rachel Buttig
 Founder/Executive Director
 East St. Louis DREAM Center

In May I celebrated five years of being in the ministry full time. I wanted to share this milestone with you, our partners, because you have been a vital and important part of these past five years.

 

I remember when I took that first step into full time ministry. It was scary, but I knew God was calling me.  

 

We started out small, and over the years God has increased this ministry. In the beginning, I was doing most of the ministry alone. Now we have been blessed with a team of amazing staff and volunteers! Since the beginning, significant things have happened. There is no way we could have done it without you! Below are some of the highlights of what God has done over these past five years:

 

Champions

The Champions recreational youth program started in Lincoln Park with three volunteers and ten teenagers. We only had a boom box, a few boxes of snack cakes and a couple basketballs. In the beginning fights broke out, kids stole our equipment, made fun of us and were very disrespectful. But now we have eleven volunteers and over one hundred different teens that come through each year. We grew from an average of ten kids per outreach to thirty kids per outreach. We are now in a beautiful and safe building (Mary Brown Center); and we have a lot of nice equipment, good food and a flourishing program reaching young people with recreation, relationship and restoration.  

 

Young Men

This lunch outreach started with me and only four young men who came to eat burgers cooked on a small George Foreman grill. I faced opposition and vicious words from people in the neighborhood who were angry I was serving the men in the neighborhood who were causing all the trouble. This outreach grew from only one volunteer to now having eight volunteers and sixty different young men who come through within the year. Trust has been built with these men and now they share their lives with us.

 

Prisoners Reached

A handful of prisoners have been reached through letters, visits and support at their court dates.  One prisoner supports the Dream Center financially. Another prisoner gave his heart to Christ in prison, is taking Bible correspondence courses and passes the Dream Center newsletter out to his fellow prisoners.

 

Staff and Volunteers

Janell Roedl came on staff two years ago and is now in the vital role of Office Manager and Outreach Coordinator. We now have twenty- five volunteers total who help with our outreaches and office work. We plan to add two more staff members this year.

 

 

We can't wait to see what God has planned for the next five years and we want you to be a part of it! We wish we could introduce you to every young man and every teenager that we minister to. We would say to them, "These are the people who help make this happen for you. You have people all over the place who love and care about you, who believe in you. That's why they give, in order to provide these outreaches for you."

 

Will you keep us in your prayers in the areas listed below as we continue moving forward? Please be in agreement with us for:

• A smooth transition as we add two new people to our office staff.
• God to give us favor and bless us with our very own building in His perfect timing.
• A fully funded and abundant budget for this year, lacking nothing.

Thank you again for your continued support. We know God has even greater things in store!  

 

LOVING East St. Louis,  

Rachel and the DREAM Center Team