February and March 2019

two:fiftytwo After School Program - Only at the program once a week these days, I still cherish the opportunity to teach our weekly Bible lesson on one of God's promises. One particular lesson I enjoyed teaching was when all the students got to throw a bunch of balled-up paper at a student holding an umbrella. This was to represent God being our shield and taking care of us when going through a rough patch. Ephesians 6:16 says, "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." How foolish we can be when we sit there getting pelted by life even though God willingly offers his protection and guidance. Pray that as the school year approaches the final two months, the students would finish strong, that volunteers and staff would not burn out, and that those students that are still coming consistently can experience the love of Christ. Pray for the teachers of this neighborhood as well. Turnover is so great in neighborhoods like these since classrooms can be very stressful. Being in the school a couple hours a week, I see it firsthand. If you know someone who is a teacher, I challenge you to either offer them some help grading papers, or getting them supplies, or even just tell them you are in their corner praying for their year to finish off well.

Connect Middle School Program - I've had the privilege of leading the middle school program now for a few months and boy has it been eventful. In February, our Bible topic (chosen by the students) was MONEY. They learned about King Solomon's enormous wealth and how he saw his many possessions as meaningless. They looked up their own verses about money and we shared them with each other, learning about what God says about it in his word. They also learned about being good stewards of their money. The month of March, the Bible topic (again, chosen by the students) has been ANGER. Those who voted for this topic wanted to know better ways on dealing with their own anger. We learned that it's okay to be angry, but to not sin while angry (which is admittedly difficult when it's anger towards someone else). We even got to watch the movie Unconditional and wrote out times when the characters displayed anger, in order to help them recognize this emotion in others and the choices they made with their anger. We also learned that the things that we get angry about often reflect something specifically about ourselves. 

Entrepreneurs share their stories

We have Bible nights on our Thursday meetings, but on Mondays, we have our wild card activities including art, music, life skills, leadership, etc. A few weeks ago, we got to hear three African-American entrepreneurial women share their experiences with starting their own businesses. The students had the chance to brainstorm what types of businesses they would start up if they had the opportunity to do so. Their ideas were awesome! One girl talked about creating a social media app that helps to prevent online bullying. Peoples' accounts who make bullying comments could get blocked, then get suspended, and then eventually deleted. Another girl mentioned becoming a fashion designer who makes affordable clothing look stylish for those who don't have enough money to buy really nice clothes. These ideas were very specific to their own life experiences and I think it would be awesome if the seed was planted in their heads that if they wanted to, they could make their businesses happen.

Mission Teams - Every Spring break, we get college groups from all over the country (mostly Iowa) and they spend their week-long spring breaks serving the Brentwood community. We had teams from Northwestern College in Iowa, Simpson College (Iowa), and Asbury (Kentucky). The teams helped out teachers in the classrooms, mowed lawns, edges some sidewalks, picked up trash, bagged leaves, painted lines and colors on our courtyard, organized our church's storage and kitchen area, weeded our garden, watered our garden, spread zoo poop in the garden beds, spread mulch all over the garden, built new garden beds in the garden, completed our garden mural, and made an impact at our after school program. On top of all the ways they helped the community and 2nd Mile, we gave many talks about God's heart for the poor, God's heart for justice and righteousness, and the racial inequalities still experienced by so many people in our country.

Art night: learning about different textures

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