That You May Abound In Hope

A crowd of people lined up outside. It was a chilly December morning, but they waited nonetheless. Too early for sunlight to sneak over the tall buildings of downtown Jacksonville, which made it even chillier. So many faces, stories, and expectations. Some may not have possessed home addresses, some may have been disappointed time and time again in the past, some had a criminal record, which in employers' eyes either taints or eliminates their chances. How could a job fair change the direction of one's life?

Last month, 2nd Mile partnered with the Better Together Job Fair, volunteering our time to help it run smoothly. I held a parking sign and waved it at traffic, directing them to an open field near where the fair was taking place. There were companies, businesses, lawyers, and counselors also giving their time to make sure that people were given the chance to either fill out applications, schedule interviews, or in some cases, be offered a job on the spot. Standing on the corner with my sign, I mostly just engaged with people that had yet to enter the job fair. On one occasion, a woman in a van pulled over to where I was, rolled down her window and explained with the biggest smile on her face, "I got a job!" I have friends and family that don't even look me in eyes with such familiarity and excitement, and I don't even know this woman. Oh yeah, she also won a bike in a raffle to help her get to and from work. Many others walked away from the fair, walking their bikes alongside them with newfound pride. Each one of those anticipatory faces early on, hopefully, got one step closer to the direction they were hoping. For those with a criminal record, many places of employment refuse to offer jobs, and in many cases, those released from prison end up right back in prison due to lack of opportunity for putting themselves on the right path. I commend these companies and businesses for taking chances and giving hope to people that may have been running low on any kind of hope. I've been encouraged by Roman 15:13 when hoping and praying for Max to be born which says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, that you may abound in hope."

Connect Update

Learning about John 3:17, Christ came to save, not condemn

The new year has brought a little bit of change to our Connect Middle School Program. Firstly, I'm currently its director. Secondly, we'll be meeting every Monday and Thursday. More hours equals, hopefully, more time to help with school work and greater relationships among volunteers, students, and each other. I'm hoping to include leadership training from learning how to set up a projector to learning how to impact an entire community. Becoming servant leaders means having the right attitude, the right heart, and a right understanding of God. I hope to gain a better understanding directly from the students as to what topics they want to learn about, what questions they have about God, and how these things impact their lives outside of 2nd Mile. Thank you for those who donated Teen Study Bibles. The kids were grateful to have one to take home with them. I'm hoping this will lead to being able to do some program work outside of the program, getting them to read the word in their homes on their own.

Staff Retreat
At our annual staff retreat, we celebrated what God did in 2018 in Brentwood, as well as dreaming about the future of the ministry. With a vacancy at the permanent executive director position, we discussed what type of leader we would need to help reach our dreams of the future. Please pray as 2nd Mile navigates building a profile for the future Executive Director, searching for possible candidates, and filling the position.

Marshaun (4th grader) who attends two:fiftytwo, shooting a free throw. Check out that form!

November-December

Family Fall Festival

At the end of October, we held our 10th annual Family Fall Festival where hundreds of neighbors came to enjoy trunk or treat games, candy, food, a bounce house, music, and so much more! This is our biggest event of the year and we partner with JHA (the Jacksonville Housing Authority), many churches, and health vendors who come out and donate their time and energy to the people in our community. This was one of the colder and windier festivals to date (normally it's blisteringly warm) but that didn't stop people from enjoying time with family and friends. Our high schoolers in LEAD worked the grill, the food, the face painting, and the bounce house. Our middle schoolers in Connect worked on a photo wall a few weeks before the event so that people could take their pictures and share them on social media. 

7th grader Semajah (right) and her mom pose in front of Connect's photo wall

Voices of Health Competition

As many of you may have heard or seen, 2nd Mile Ministries was involved in an online voting competition from Oct. 1st through Nov. 9th. Eight non-profit organizations in Jacksonville battled it out to see who could get the most votes. First place was awarded $20,000 and 2nd place was awarded $10,000. After being in 1st for more than half the competition, the numbers from St. Vincent's hospital overtook the lead while we managed to maintain our 2nd place slot. Thanks to many of you, we won $10,000!!! We hope to use eventually use this money to revitalize our programming with supplies and possibly help with a new irrigation system in our nutritional garden. With such a heavy focus on health programming the past few years, we definitely were happy to be a part of Aetna's Voices of Health competition.

New Role

The past few weeks, I have taken over the director position for our Connect Middle School Program. I've been fortunate enough to partake in the weekly activities and lessons with this age group for the past three and a half years. However, even with that exposure to this age group, I still have much to learn about what life is like for a middle schooler in 2018 and in this neighborhood. Please pray that God grants me wisdom and energy to lesson plan and bring helpers into this new experience with me. 

Wishlist

If you are in the giving mood this month, here are a few things you could donate by either sending them to my house (3646 Brentwood Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32206) or the church (4003 N. Pearl St., Jacksonville, FL 32206).

two:fifty two After School Program: Click on Amazon wishlist, kid-sized footballs, adult-sized basketballs, dodgeballs, construction paper, canvases, learning games, etc.

Connect Middle School Program: Click Teen Bible for guys (I could use 10), click Teen Bible for girls (I could use 10 of these as well), anything you feel a middle schooler would enjoy (?). I know Bibles shouldn't have genders attached to them, but I'm hoping these types of Bibles will allow for greater willingness to read on their own.

LEAD High School Program: Donations to go on a retreat this year with those in the program.

Me: I'm hoping to raise another $200 in monthly support. If you're led to eat up half my goal with a $100/month donation, great! If you want to give but can only give like $5/month, great! If you want to give but can only commit to one time at this time, great! Click on our website, 2ndmilejax.com, and you can give in any manner and amount you wish. Any amount helps.

Thoughts?

To end this blog, I'd love feedback. Do you like the new format? What would you like to see or hear more about in these blogs? Know anybody that might want to be added to my email or mailing list? Any ways that I can be praying and advocating for you?

Max in Wisconsin during Thanksgiving, unsure of the cold

October 2018

2.5.2.

At my wedding as a middle schooler

Student focus- This is Diallo. I've known him for a while. Met him when he was in 4th grade in our 252 After School Program. He was an usher at my wedding when he was in middle school. He is now a junior in high school. It's crazy to me just how much he has grown. There are many stories like his in this neighborhood. Kids who have been in 2nd Mile for years and have stuck around Brentwood for a long time. Many of our students move away and there is a very transient nature in the neighborhood. I don't get to see Diallo quite as often as I used to, but it was encouraging to see him out on his porch and willing to come help out at our recent Action Day. He has a busy high school schedule and can't be around as often as he'd like. Pray for opportunities to invest in his life spiritually and relationally these next two years he has in high school.

Growing Leaders- Every Friday, our after school program takes a break from working on homework and does some sort of Fun Friday activity. This past Friday was the first time ever in 2nd Mile's history where a Fun Friday activity was partly planned and led by a previous two:fiftytwo After School Program student! Challah (now in 9th grade) taught our kids how to make slime, which is always a crowd favorite. She has been volunteering at the program either once or twice a week. She helps tutor and teach kids about how to be great students. Na'veh (standing next to Challah), who used to come to our Connect Middle School Program, also assisted Challah in leading the Fun Friday activity. Both of these girls have been regularly attending our LEAD High School Program on Tuesday nights. Pray the God uses these girls in many more ways to bring the love and presence of Christ to those around them.

Open Court- This past Friday was also 2nd Mile's first time doing Open Court. At North Pearl Baptist Church, one Friday per month, we open up our gates and let anyone who wants to run 5-on-5 basketball to do so. We sold chips, pickles, gatorades, soda and also had cards and games going on inside. I haven't played full court basketball for a few years. It was exhausting but lots of fun. It was especially fun seeing shots being made as literal lightning fill the distant sky. Hopefully these nights catch on and more people get introduced to 2nd Mile, the church, and others in our programs.

Voices of Health- If you are on facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, or have an email, YOU CAN HELP US WIN $20,000!!! Every day, from October 1st through November 9th, you can vote for 2nd Mile Ministries. The organization that gets the most votes wins. We've focused on Health Education heavily the past five years, giving kids healthy snacks every day, teaching about exercising, food labels, and eating healthily. If you have been keeping up with the blog, I'd love for you to help us out. If you have an email, facebook, twitter, and/or LinkedIn account, you can vote up to 4 times (once on each platform) per day. You can vote here to get started!

Could you commit to voting daily?

September

Action Day- Early on a hot Saturday morning in Jacksonville, Florida, it may not be everyone's first choice to get up, put on some gloves, and pick up garbage on the streets. Sweat runs down your face and you begin to smell like that which you have picked up from the ground. After the streets begin to look cleaner, no doubt in the following months, there will begin to be sprinklings of trash in those very spots. What's the point? Why is this important? As my pastor would say when bringing forth questions to the congregation, "Glad you asked!"

Our Action Days at 2nd Mile have consisted of picking up trash, mowing lawns, cleaning up empty lots, weeding/planting/watering our nutritional garden, getting rid of waste that has been an eye-sore, all in the name of being a tangible presence of God's love in the Brentwood. As 2nd Mile focuses on leadership development, we've turned over our planning for Action Day to our high school students in our LEAD program. Not afraid to make suggestion and take ownership of this, our high schoolers pointed out specific areas, streets, and blocks where there was particular need for cleaning up.

This coming Saturday, I'm excited to encourage their leadership with my presence and help in order to love on Brentwood through getting a little dirty for his name's sake. How great it is to see young people desire great things for their community and put their ideas into action!

Open Court- At the end of September, we will be having our first ever Open Court at North Pearl Baptist Church! Open Court will be one Friday every month where anybody that wants to come and run some basketball games at the church may do so. This will be in the evening times and as we approach fall and winter, the light in the sky will fade. Pray that we find a solution for visibility (some sort of lighting system) to continue what we hope will build relationships and excitement in our neighborhood. Also pray that this become a safe place where people can have fun and experience the love of Christ, even on the basketball court.

I want to personally thank my friend Scott for donating some really cool basketballs and a couple chain basketball nets to the ministry. There are already kids saying, "Curry!" when they shoot that Steph Curry ball, hoping to match their shooting ability with the all-star's. These gifts are very timely additions to what we are anticipating to be a very fun opening night of Open Court. Thanks man.


Yoga- Starting in October, in an effort to contribute to the health and wellness of our community, Brentwood Yoga will begin. Having done a trial class with its instructor, I never realized the physicality and flexibility needed to do some of these stretches and moves. The instructor isn't into all that namaste stuff. She focuses on worshiping God with the physical bodies he has given us. It was a really cool experience and makes me want to take better care of this body that God gave me. Our body is not our own. We've received it from God, it was bought with a price and we should honor God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Please pray for these three things coming up in our ministry. Already, there's been a lot of buzz amongst the students and families of our programs. A guy named Breon, who I met back in 2010 when he was 14 years old, walked down the street yesterday (now 22) excited to come to the church and run some basketball games. Pray that God would bring people who not only want to do these things, but need these things. I've seen God ignite drive and passion in our community through just a spark. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog.

My photogenic son (now 19 months)

Entering the New School Year

Duval County has started it's 2018-2019 school year which means our elementary, middle, and high school programs are in full swing. One of our biggest goals in 2nd Mile Ministries is to build into and strengthen relationships with students and their families through our leadership pathway. Students in our two:fiftytwo After School Program (2nd-5th grade) will transition to our Connect Middle School Program (6th-8th grade), who will eventually transition to our LEAD High School Program (9th-12th grade). This year, we have four girls entering high school, three of which have been in every one of our programs. They are also planning on volunteering at the after school program from which they once attended.

We are very excited to see our students spending lots of their childhood learning, growing, and leading. This year, I have the unique opportunity to attend every one of our programs in hopes to help kids graduate more smoothly from one program to the next. It's crazy to look at some of our kids now, knowing that they were once tiny elementary school students and in many cases, unfamiliar with the gospel.

two:fiftytwo After School Program: We have the most students that have been in our program for three years or more with six. We also have four brand new students and a returning student signed up. Last Friday, we learned about chemical reactions and mixed baking soda and vinegar to make a gas. We are excited to continue to build up these leaders in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God and men (Luke 2:52).

Connect Middle School Program: Since the middle of the summer, we've started a new Bible series called "Fundamentals of the Faith," where we teach the main points of the Bible, how to read it, how it's put together, and who God is and what that means for their lives. Last week, we talked about the attributes of God. We have a very solid group of students. They are very committed to staying connected with us as much as we are to them and their families. Pray that they would be able to relate the gospel message and what they learn at our program with their own lives. Jovan, who gave his life to Christ at KAA, has been excited to memorize scripture and learn all the books of the Bible. Good things are happening here.

LEAD High School Program: I attended my first ever LEAD program day last week. There were about 15 students, most of which were very vocal and familiar with each other. Neek does a great job leading those kids. He himself is a rapper and very culturally relevant. About once a month, he plays a popular song (not necessarily Christian), and has the kids read the lyrics and dissect it. He has in the past focused a lot on having healthy emotional responses to different things in life. The program will occasionally watch a movie together and answer questions about the characters' emotions and whether or not they were healthy or unhealthy.

Ways you can help: At the beginning of the school year, we put new items on our Amazon Wishlist that you can purchase and send to us. You can send things either to my house (3646 Brentwood Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32206) or directly to North Pearl Baptists Church (4003 N. Pearl St., Jacksonville, FL 32206). Another thing the kids would love is new basketballs and basketball nets. We get a lot of use out of our hoops and the nets usually break every year or so. If you wanted to get some heavy duty chain nets, that'd be awesome too! Another way our ministry continues to work in the Brentwood neighborhood year after year is from financial donations. If you'd like to give monthly to help sustain God's work, you can go to 2ndmilejax.com and give online.

A Glimpse of Heaven

Challah (age 8)

Have you ever tried to daydream about eternity? It hurts my head sometimes to try and make any sense of it. What will it be like to be with the Lord forever and ever, and ever, etc.? If God was to show us entirely what eternity will be like, I'm sure our brains would not be able to comprehend all that we'd experience. Thankfully, I serve a gracious and unpredictable God. In the middle of June, God showed me just a flash of heaven, and it happened on our annual trip to Kids Across America, in Branson, Missouri.

Ferrell (age 8)

I had the unique privilege to represent 2nd Mile Ministries on this year's trip to KAA. Our ministry has been going on and off for the past decade and it has been a fun way for our kids to experience lots of outdoor activities that they are not accustomed to (tubing, archery, ziplining, ropes courses, staying in cabins on a mountain). This year, I brought six of our middle school students and we went with about 50 students from churches around our neighborhood in Jacksonville. Why this was a very special trip for me was because I've known these particular six students for an average of 5.6 years each, two of which I've known for 8 years! It's been amazing to be a part of their growth and development and to be able to see how God has transformed their hearts to desire a relationship with him.

Ferrell (age 9), Challah (age 10)

KAA is a week long camp, and they emphasize team building, encouragement, and HYPE! Loud cheers can be heard throughout the day, even including energetic dances during meal times. To contrast this constant hype, Wednesday night came. Every student that went to camp (from all across the country), sat on wooden bleachers arranged in a semi-circle deep in a clearing in the woods. It was dark, humid, and the air smelled faintly of bug-spray. On this night, college students who work at KAA performed a reenactment of the resurrection along with a relevant skit about a brother and sister dealing with issues that many middle schoolers deal with. This skit was powerful because the one playing Jesus took some very real punches, was thrown to the ground, and got scraped up pretty bad (nothing he wasn't willing to do for the sake of those kids, he told me the next day). Afterwards, the main speaker gave a very informative and clear invitation to the campers, if they would like to entrust their lives to Jesus Christ or rededicate their lives to Christ.

Ferrell (age 13, at KAA)

They had the adults that accompanied the campers (me) stand in the open in case our students wanted to make that decision so we could pray with them. What happened next blindsided me. One by one, the six students I've known for so long, either came down to give their lives to Christ or rededicate their lives. What's more, a couple of them were in tears at this decision and I was in tears while praying for them. To embrace my young sisters and brothers was a gift from God, being able to get excited with them about eternity and what this meant for their lives as they would go home to Jacksonville. Not knowing exactly what heaven will visually look like, the sense I got in those moments were of intense peace and joy knowing that one day we'd dwell with God and worship him in one voice as one family. I'm getting chills just typing this now.

Memories of all the Bible lessons we've taught at 2nd Mile, the discussions, the teachable moments--they were the water to the plant, God supplied the growth (1 Corinthians 3:7).

The day after Crosstalk (what they call the night with the skit), they have a bell-ringing ceremony for those that have made that initial decision to put their trust in Christ's saving grace for their lives. Below are pictures of the two that made that decision--Jovan, going into 7th grade, and Challah, entering high school this fall. Rejoice with me as the angels, too, celebrate their adoption as son and daughter of God!

Challah (age 14, at KAA)

For those who specifically donated for the students to be able to go to KAA this summer, thank you! For those of you that have supported me through the years prayerfully and financially, thank you! It's these moments that not every missionary gets to see, the fruit of God working strongly in the lives of children. I pray that my own faith can be similar to that of a child's.

Now that we are back in Jacksonville, pray that some real discipleship can take place. One of my own take-aways from KAA was a story about discipleship. Please permit me to share with you quickly.

Jovan (age 11, at KAA)

There was a man who would teach and preach the gospel, and he'd bring one thousand people to Christ every day! So in a year, how many would he bring to the Lord? That's right, 365,000 people. In three years, this man would reach about one million people! That's amazing! To reach the 7 billion people in the world who don't know Jesus, it would take this man almost 20,000 years to reach the world (you gotta figure that's at least 250 lifetimes). Now, there was a different man who reached only one man this year and discipled him for that time. The following year, both he and this new disciple each reached another man. The following year, those four each reached one more, and so on and so forth. If you had to guess, how long would it take for that system to reach the 7 billion people in the world? Without doing any math, I'd assume it wouldn't take as long as the first guy, but I would've had no idea that it would only take 34 YEARS! Imagine how much easier obeying the great commission would be (Matthew 28:18-20) if we discipled just one person?

I'd challenge you, if you claim to be a Christ-follower, to find a person to disciple in their faith, just one. If you are not a Christ-follower, I'd encourage you to not just take my word for it, but examine what the scriptures say about Christ and about God's amazing love for you. You are fully known and loved.

I hope you take a second look at the photos I included. Ferrell and Challah have been around 2nd Mile probably the longest and they are very near and dear to our hearts. Seeing them grow up and change has been beautiful to witness. I praise God for that encounter of heaven in the woods, and I'm excited to see the ripples and waves that God has in store for these young people, to Brentwood, to Jacksonville, to all the nations.

Wins and Losses

The month of March in the life of 2nd Mile Ministries is busy and action-packed. This is usually when we have teams from different colleges across the country come into the heart of Brentwood for their spring breaks and love on and serve this community. Whether it's volunteering at one of our elementary schools or picking up trash and beautifying the streets and sidewalks, these college students come in with an eagerness to work hard, love well, and even learn about the community and God's heart for the poor.  This year, we had two teams come--one from Northwestern College in Iowa and the second from Simpson College, also in Iowa. 2nd Mile has had great relationships with both of these colleges as they've served with us multiple times in the past. What was unique about this year was that the Northwestern team came with 19 football players and coaches. It was fun to watch these two colleges spend their lunch breaks getting super competitive, running 5-on-5 basketball games, full-court mind you (this doesn't often occur in Florida's hot weather), four-square matches like they were playing for some sort of world championships. I definitely got sucked into the fun and games and tried my best to resist going all out due to my continuous chest recovery.

Looking pretty small in between these beefcakes

I was very excited this week because I was to lead a group of six of these football players to clean our church's courtyard, measure lines, draw lines, tape lines, and paint lines onto the basketball court. Growing up, I have fond memories of wheeling out our basketball hoop to the street, taking my three-point line measuring device, and drawing my own half court with a full on free throw line and high school and NBA distance three-point lines. To be able to create something semi-permanent on a courtyard that for years just looked like a slab of concrete was very exciting for me. It was my luck that week that three of the six players assigned to me had already had some experience painting lines on playgrounds, parking lots, and soccer fields. In addition to the basketball court lines, the group helped paint a challenge circle in the center. In the past, we had to draw the challenge circle with chalk by hand almost each day due to Florida raining randomly for 20 minutes most days in the summer. A permanent challenge circle allows for more prep time for staff and high school interns for lesson planning.  As if my group of six didn't already have a lot on their plate that week, they finished in two and a half days and also knocked out some windows and boarded up those windows on a two-story building in the remaining time. These guys can work! As a result, the court has been used a lot more often, the kids are a lot more excited to have those three-point lines and make up different games with them (as I too enjoyed doing growing up), and different people have been coming around the church to play, which will hopefully result in more interactions with people in the neighborhood. Who knew that some legit painted lines could do all that!

Often, 2nd Mile inquires if there are any education majors coming. There usually are always some and we ask that some or most of those students help us out at our after school program in the afternoon. This gives them a chance to be up close and personal with our kids, give them one-on-one attention that is so crucial to their increased development, and have fun with them along the way. To the left is a picture of me (center of circle) leading our after school program kids and college helpers in a game of challenge circle, the most uproarious game I've ever played. When spring break teams come, we on staff are simultaneously energized and drained and it makes for a very memorable and meaningful time of the year for us, as well as the kids in our ministry. I'm sure some of the children felt like little celebrities for the week, having 30 college students want to play whatever they wanted to play.

Last day for brother and sister

In other news, two of our after school program students have recently moved to Nevada. Daiyona (3rd grade) and Devaric (4th grade) have been with 2nd Mile for almost two full years and we've grown to see more and more of who God made them to uniquely be. Daiyona is always willing and eager to help out and try anything, even if it's something she's never tried before. She's quick with a hug and not afraid to be honest about how she's feeling. Devaric also loves to be helpful, sometimes in the form of cleaning, but mostly in the form of cheering people up and trying to make them laugh. He's a great big brother to his sister. They will truly be missed. Devaric can be hard-headed at times (who isn't), but I'm hoping and praying for God to continue to work on his heart. One day was particularly awesome for him (behavior-wise) and he said he was doing good because that morning he asked God to be with him. The joy he had for his answered prayer was so pure. I'm so blessed to get to witness God's work up close.

Max loves standing

If you have a facebook, check out more of our spring break Urban Exchange pictures. You will not be disappointed. You can help us out simply by checking out 2nd Mile Ministries, liking, commenting, and sharing pictures/posts/etc. with others. This helps perpetuate how often our content gets seen by others in their feed.

Please pray for:

-God to make Daiyona and Devaric's move smooth and that they'd find the right kind of friends quickly.

-God to help Max learn how to eat through his mouth and not a tube.

-God to be abundantly at work in Brentwood.