March - Spring has arrived!

twofifty:two After School Program: This is year number 10 of this program! Over the years, we've had 39 boys and 43 girls in this program, 82 all together. With anywhere between 11 and 19 students each year, this program met every school day and we've gotten to know kids best during this stage of their lives. I've been compiling names, grades, and duration in 2nd Mile for many years. Our 2nd grade-5th grade program has seen 11 of the 82 students stay for all four years of the program (a great feat when considering how much people are transient and move away in our neighborhood. This year looks a little different, but the heart is still very much the same. Going completely virtual, this program's 15 students has 14 newcomers from various places in the city. They talk about emotional and mental health as well as doing fun and interactive activities over zoom. I've joined the calls a couple times and those kids have a blast doing impromtu show-and-tells and getting their chance to talk and answer questions.  Praise God for technology. We pray that we will be back in person in the fall, but for now, God has been sustaining this program through multi-year grants and generous donations.

BLOCK: Here at 2nd Mile, we started with elementary school, intentionally growing with those specific students to then create a middle school program, Connect, to continue those relationships and that growth. Eventually, those students would become high schoolers and another program would be started. I feel as though the middle and high school programs have had the least consistency in 2nd Mile's life. Contributing factors of this were probably having three leadership changes in about two years, as well as the program only being once or twice a week due to conflicting program schedules and limited meeting space. Currently, I lead BLOCK virtually where a small number of students get on weekly and we have had a great time and have gotten used to the format and each other. Please pray that more students would show up, that if/when we go to in-person in the fall that we'd be able to reconnect with students that have fallen through the cracks. We've had 130 middle school students in our programs over the 8 years of having programming for them. We've had 56 high school students in our programs over the 5 years of having programming for them.

BLOCK also has an instagram now, which I hesitantly agreed to manage. If you have instagram and know your way around it, please, PLEASE reach out to me because I am out of my depth. The handle is block_brentwood if you'd like to follow.

As We Gather: This relatively new program was created last fall to allow people over 55 years old to connect online, learn technology basics, socialize, learn about God, and do different activities. These 9wk long sessions are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings and the program is going to begin it's third 9wk run in April. Please pray that As We Gather would continue to grow in consistency and numbers so more and more seniors in this neighborhood can be served and loved in new ways. There have been over 20 people signed up already for this program.

Tapestry Talks: One of the things I've missed most about this past March has been mission teams. We usually get anywhere from one to four mission teams from colleges and churches across the country during their spring breaks and they help serve our neighborhoods, schools, neighboring organizations, as well as learn about God's heart for justice. Thanks to covid, we got cancelations from groups in 2020 and many of our previous connections showed hesitancy in traveling in big groups for their spring breaks. Enter Tapesty Talks. With all that has been happening in the news in regards to racial injustice recently (even though this problem has been around a lot longer than many want to believe or acknowledge), Tapestry Talks aims to not only be a prerequisite class for college students before they come on a mission trip, but for all people that want to learn more about racial reconciliation, God's heart for justice, and their own biases and leanings on issues. The first round of classes had a mixture of white and black people, a women's Bible study from Madison, WI, and members of the black community in Jacksonville. From what I've heard, it was a successful first 6wk course.  Please pray that this course would soften hearts to be more understanding of other peoples' experiences, would humble people's preconceptions, and would bring glory to God most of all. God's heart for us to "love our neighbors" and even "love our enemies" couldn't be more crucial in these times of stress, anxieties, and uncertainty. If you are interested in participating in this now 8wk long course (one virtual class per week) while it's still free, visit  www.2ndmilejax.com/tapestry-talks.

In other news: We had a garden day last Saturday and it was super exciting! Students from a neighboring high school came out as well as some staff and other volunteers. Four high schoolers, four staff, three other adults, and seven youngens planted vegetable seeds such as sweet tomatoes, peas, jalapenos, yellow tomatoes, and eggplant. We also planted herbs like basil and rosemary (which smells amazing). Finally, for the first time in our garden, we planted some flowers such as sunflowers, morning glory, cypress vines, lavender, and cosmos drawf cuties (look 'em up). We weeded, built cement block benches, watered, and dreamed about future garden days.

We also finally installed both our new basketball goals. The old ones had broken backboards. I have high hopes for a three-point contest and a skills challenge in the summer which will immediately preface a late night outdoor viewing of Space Jam 2! But we'll see what happens.

Me teaching about companion planting and perennials vs. annuals

Companion planting sweat peas and basil

Hopefully these will all grow

Big thanks to Johan and Michael (and other Michael as well)

 

February in pictures

Ever since Summer Day Camp 2020, a lot of ministry and prep has looked like the following two pictures--divvying up individualized supplies for each participant, put them in a box, and then either delivery the boxes or have them picked up. Then, participants collectively get on a zoom call, and we do an activity together. Our two:fiftytwo After School Program is currently doing it, and I'm doing this as well with our BLOCK Middle and High School program.

 

To be very transparent about ministry during the pandemic, some roadblocks we've hit have been:

1.) Us being able to get into the schools (for volunteering or connections and communication with teachers)

2.) Students having internet access at home, or a device that would allow them to be on zoom.

3.) A large enough indoor space and the means to allow for a program to be run safely in person. 

However, roadblocks, quite literally, allow for new detours and roads to reach our destination. Some new avenues that the pandemic have allowed for us are: 

1.) Extending our reach to students outside of our immediate neighborhood who wouldn't have been able to come to our programs in person due to distance. 

2.) Being able to find grants that specifically help non-profits continue their work and be innovative with outreach.

3.) Time for future-planning, dreaming, and vision in our programs for when the pandemic dissipates.

Taking over BLOCK in January, I've taken to zoom meetings with a certain level of enjoyment. Being interactive and making up activities has been enjoyable so far and the students that come have seemingly enjoyed the time and keep coming back with enthusiasm. I've felt a great sense of freedom for planning and executing lessons. Every opportunity I can, I get the students' input on things they want to do and learn. For February, they gave suggestions for movies for an outdoor movie night, and of the four choices, the final vote was The Croods 2: A New Age. Our movie night in December had about 35 people at it, and this time there were about 50. We were still social distanced, but since it was a little warmer out (sorry rest of the country), we replaced hot chocolate with flavored lemonade. Popcorn with all the fixins was still a huge hit, as kids put anything from marshmallows to hot cheetos (and often both) in their popcorn. I can't wait for the next one.

And finally, the last big part of February for me, Max turned four years old?!? He is growing up so fast and he definitely makes parenting actually fun and enjoyable. We are making slow progress with eating and potty training, but it is progress. Thank you for continued prayers. There's a whole lot more that 2nd Mile is doing besides what I'm doing with BLOCK and hopefully I'll be able to make a longer blog the next time and include everything that's going on...it's a lot.