Early Morning Star Wars

So I'm sitting here with my cool friend who's a sweet, kind, patient camper that should be in school. We're hanging out FOR headquarters today because his mom and baby sister are downstairs with Refugee Family Literacy. His mom is in an English class and the baby is with the other babies being taken care of so mom can learn. My camper is in middle school though, he's much older than the other kids that are hanging out downstairs in the preschool. Why is he here you ask? After the class, we're headed to the clinic to get the baby checked out and that sweet, kind, patient big brother is along to translate. It's hard to totally agree with the situation. I wish this awesome son and big brother could be in school right now getting his educational needs met at the same time as his mom. Things don't always happen as they should though. As we sit here together in what we fondly call the Couch Room, I'm thankful for a few things. I'm thankful for a Kindle with access to Netflix so there is something for us to while we hang out for a few hours. I'm thankful the mom is finally receiving services she hasn't been able to get since she first came to America almost 2 years ago. I'm thankful that though life has been hard for this little family, they cling tight to each other and love each other in a way that you don't see everyday. Middle school boys aren't necessarily known for their love of babies, but this one genuinely loves his sister so much. He plays with her and sings to her and will do anything he can to make her smile. I wish he was in school today, but I know that helping make sure his little sister feels better soon is where he needs to be right now. To be honest, I look up to this kid. His character is impeccable and his devotion to his family is admirable. At camp, he's one who always listens, always helps, and always befriends those who need someone. I'm a little happy that he gets a bit of a day off from school. There's been a lot going on with his family and I think hanging out and watching Star Wars for the morning might be a much needed break from reality.

Also, I've been enlightened about all things Star Wars during our time together. It's always good to learn new things. I taught him what the word "clone" means and blew his mind. "Every day is a school day" he tells me.

Updates
This Thursday at our after school tutoring group we had a lot of fun. The wonderful Ms. Amy shared with us some great lessons about conductors and insulators. Conductors speed things up and insulators slow things down. We applied this to real life and talked about different things that are setting up the girls for success in work and things that are holding them back. The girls were really into it and all in all it was AWESOME.

This sweet girl had an ice cream sundae for the first time this past Thursday. My job can be so fun. :)

Perspective

It's been an interesting week or so for me. I feel like I've gained a lot of perspective.

Background
A lot of people ask me how we keep up with the kids once camp is over and to be honest it's not easy.  With two Youth Programs staff members and crazy work and school schedules for volunteers, it's hard to track down every camper and keep up with them. We sure try though. Fortunately, there are a few families who help a lot. I know when that several camp families are well served and if I can't personally make it to visit them, someone else is. I am so thankful for these people and their servant hearts. Others we keep up with the after school groups. We are able to keep tabs on the family through teenagers. Other times we have to be more reactive and respond to families calling out to us. Anyway you look at it, it truly takes a village to keep up with all the families.

Story time! 

Story #1
One sweet middle school camper calls Josh out of the blue. In their conversation, Josh learns that the family is no longer living at home and that they might be living in a shelter. Not being able to get too far talking with the student, Josh spreads the word and we start a search for information on where they might be. We drive around, try to call back (the number was disconnected), and pray a lot. We finally get a call back from the family and set up a meeting with the so we can hopefully understand what's going on and see how we can support them. Please pray for us and the family as we are meeting with them Saturday.

Story #2
I'm friends with a lot of campers on social media. It keeps me accountable to living every part of my life in a way that I wouldn't mind them seeing and it helps me keep track of all of them at once. Recently, a camper posted pictures of her arm with cuts she made herself. Having friends who have struggled with cutting in the past, I know what a real problem it can be. I was encouraged to see many people rallying around her, sending messages and inviting her to talk, but knew that there was more that needed to be done. This camper happens to be very connected with one of our volunteers who is a trained counselor. What a blessing to be able to send an email about concerns over this camper and know that the next day someone who loves her and knows her well would be there to support her. It's such a comfort to me to know the body of Christ is at work here and that I don't have to care for all these youth alone. Please pray for this family and the other youth in Clarkston struggling with or without such a strong support system. 

Story #3
The after school homework group I help with has become such a blessing to my life. We've grown to about 15 girls and at least 5 volunteers who come every week. Annalisa and I were overwhelmed by the amount of interest people had in our group. After trying to work with youth within our own programs for so long, it's amazing to see all that can happen when two people come together and share their resources to work toward a common goal. We've been blown away by our girls too. We had one 7th grader write a thank you note for the wonderful Ms. Pam who has been bringing us dinner. Her sweet and kind spirit humbles everyone who comes in contact with her. She's a younger one in the group, but definitely sets an example for youth everywhere. We are also interviewing a few girls for a video to promote our program and after sitting in on two of them yesterday, I am completely blown away with how humble, wise, well spoken, and completely amazing our girls are. They left our videographer speechless and their stories about their dreams, struggles, and families is honest and powerful. We were worried about the girls not wanting to share about themselves on video, but I am confident that both girls left empowered as their resilience and hard work was put on display. I am so proud of these girls I work with. They bless me more than I could have ever imagined. Pray that we are able to empower youth and restore their dignity as they participate in our programs. 

Story #4
Our Facebook page receives a decent amount of traffic, however we do not normally receive many messages. Recently we did. It was a short message in broken English explaining that this man was a Syrian refugee in Lebanon with 5 children who was trying to find a way to educate his children and receive asylum in America. The Syrian refugee crisis has been receiving a lot of news recently. In Clarkston people have been talking about it for a long time now. I don't think it hit me how desperate these families are until I read that message. It could have been a scam. I recognize that. It also could have been real. Pray for the people currently fleeing their homes in search of refuge. 

Conclusion
After the events of this past week I am thankful for my family. I have never had to worry about ending up in a homeless shelter because I know that even if my parents were in a position where they couldn't pay the bills, we have more family and friends that could take us in. I am thankful that I don't work alone, but that there is a whole body of believers who I work alongside to achieve the same goal of seeing the Kindgom come to Clarkston. I'm thankful that the ones I serve serve me, humble me, and are already great all on their own. Last, I'm thankful for a safe place to live in a country where I am free to be who I am and I don't have to worry about someone coming after me or my family based on my political or religious beliefs, my ethnicity, or my social standing.

How was your week?

Progress

First, let me say thank you. Thank to my family, friends, acquaintances, and strangers who have been encouraging and supporting me. I'm so blessed to be surrounded by friends in the middle of the support raising process to relate to and people that are willing to try and understand. I'm blessed to go to a church that is passionate about missions and proud of my serving in Clarkston. I"m blessed to be a solid 43%! Y'all are seriously the best and I can honestly say that I couldn't do this without you.

I'm so thankful for the support and love. Y'all make this pie chart and my life in Clarkston possible!

Homework Group:
It's been really exciting to be a part of the homework groups that have picked up since school started. I had the honor of hanging out with Josh and his boys while cooking them pancakes for their dinner one Tuesday night. I also got to sit in with Scott's group where it all started. I remember going to hang out with the same group of kids when I was in high school. It's pretty cool to still be in touch with those kiddos.

The most exciting thing though is the girls group that Annalisa and I have started together. The support has been overwhelming in the form of volunteers and materials. We had a wonderful party this past week with about 25 people including, students, volunteers, and some wonderful people from the Chick-fil-a Foundation. They brought us a delicious dinner and shared some encouraging and inspiring words with the girls.

It's so great that these students in these groups are getting the chance to have so many people who care pour into their lives. What a blessing it is to be here and see so many people getting excited about serving the youth outside of Summer Camp.

This is the youth room where homework groups meet and friends are made. Homey right?

FOR at the Fox:
Other than the really awesome homework groups that are going on, there's other cool things to be excited about too. For example,a few of us got the chance to go to the Fabulous Fox for the Chick-fil-a Foundation's first ever True Inspiration awards. Three youth, with fancy new duds, and a few staff members were all dressed to the nines for the event. There was a dinner and award ceremony where non profits from around the nation were recognized and rewarded for their work with youth in the areas of leadership, education, and entrepreneurship. Friends of Refugees was not in the running this year, but we were able to do some networking and learn about what other organizations were doing. On top of that we got to meet Lecrea, which was a pretty big deal. All in all, our group had a blast. It was so much fun to get dressed up and have a special night out. It was nicer even to be around so man other people who care so much about nurturing youth to be all they can be. It's encouraging to know there's so many people out there who care.

Two lovely ladies who repped FOR well at their first visit to The Fox. 

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that the homework groups continue to grow and have a positive impact on the youth. 
• Pray that support continues to come in so I can focus on being fully here without having to worry about finances. 
• Pray for my health as I get over a nasty sinus infection.  
• Pray for the community that Kingdom of God would continue to come in Clarkston.