It's official :)

So drum roll please...............I got my funding! I joined the staff of Mission Adelante as the full-time director of Kids Adelante! A generous donor is matching a portion of contributions made to support my ministry through the first 12 months at a ratio of 3:2. The battle isn't over yet(as it never is with fundraising) but I now have a big chunk of time to raise some support!

I had my first real "wake up call" this last week at a park near Mission Adelante. We had a local church come down to do a VBS with our kids Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The first 2 nights of the week, we experienced a lot of tension as we essentially "took over" the park. Some of the middle school kids that weren't part of our group tried to instigate a fight but with the help of our volunteers, a potentially scary situation was averted. This really opened my eyes to the danger and constant worry our kids have about watching their backs. I think growing up in the 'burbs has really desensitized me to alot of urban normalities. I was very torn about whatever it was safe to keep returning to this park with our kids for summer activities or if we should stay at Mission Adelante. I felt it was a double edged sword because we could either stay and potentially draw in even more of the neighborhood kids or return to Mission Adelante to protect our kids. We opted to hold our future VBS activities at Mission but I am still very committed to handing out fliers to the neighborhood kids that aren't involved with Mission Adelante. I don't want them to have to suffer because of the safety issue.

On a happier note, last night as we had at least 80 volunteers, Mission kids, and non-Mission kids playing together, I had such a moment of peace. The church had brought a sound system and as the sounds of Christian music filled the park, I was over joyed that God was making his presence very known. Children that had attended our VBS camps last year in the park but weren't part of Mission, came back this year! I was able to again invite them to our Thursday night Bible Study. I hope they come tonight!

Thank you to those of you that have kept up with my sporadic blog and have kept our kids in your prayers. The slumber party is next week......AHHHHHH :)