Jesus, call Felicia to follow you!

There is a very sweet family that lives one block up from us. They used to live one block over on Lee Street and then moved out of the neighborhood for a year or so and now are back. They have come to Celebration on and off for the past couple of months. I have been able to read the Bible with the mom a couple of times. We aim for every week, but her life is a little crazy with six kids. I wish so much that I had a picture of them to share with you, but once I get one, I will put it up. I got to read the Bible today with Felicia (the mom) at her house. She told me that she wanted to read through 1 John since that's what we were studying at Celebration when they first started coming. Today we read 1 John 1:5-10. We had a great talk about living in light instead of darkness and that we are all sinners and in need of God's grace in our lives. Jesus was the only one to walk this earth and not break any of God's commands, so he is able to be our perfect sacrifice. We deserve death because of our sin, but God offers life because of his death. And what an amazing life we can have with him here on earth and in heaven forever. Life with him is not problem free at all, but it is full of hope and joy because we have the God of the universe living inside of us. Felicia's two girls who are five and seven were reading and praying with us. They are at camps this week and are involved in Kingdom Kids during the school year. Pray that this whole family would choose to follow Jesus and not just know about Him. Pray that He would change their lives like crazy because their hearts are changed. We watched a video on Sunday for Celebration and God was really teaching Felicia a lot though it. Pray that He draws her to Himself!

Judah and Papa--don't we look alike??

Judah and I have returned from a week with my family. It's so good to be home! We flew to Tulsa, OK, to see my sister and brother-in-law for a few days, drove down with my family to Ft. Worth, TX for a cousin's wedding, drove to Nixa, MO, to spend a couple of days at my Dad, Mom, and sister's house, and then flew back out of Tulsa yesterday morning. Judah definitely hit his traveling limit yesterday, so we're glad to be stationary for a little while. What fun it was to spend some much time seeing family. Judah loved all of the attention and I loved hearing some many comments about who's nose he had and how his teeth came in early just like mine. God creating family is such a beautiful thing. No matter what issues each family may have, God definitely has a purpose in placing us in just the right family. I am learning something about what it means to be created in the image of God when I look at a little boy who has some images of me. God, please grow our children and the children that we disciple who aren't biologically our's to reflect your image so much more than our own!
I wish Judah could write to you about his first extended visit to the subburbs. I'm sure he would have a lot to share! Pray for us as we have chosen to leave our families and culture to live in our neighborhood. I can't imagine living anywhere else, but it can definitely be hard sometimes. I am so thankful for the family that he has given us here. I have the best brothers and sisters ever! Pray that God would bring along a dad and mom here--an older couple that could disciple us youngsters. :) We need it!

A few more week two pictures

Here is Brenda and Carmen cooking dinner for the group at camp. Brenda is from a church in Ohio and came last year as the cook for camp and was back again this year. A woman from her church donated money for our two new stoves in the picture and she had a great time cooking with them. Carmen is a wonderful sister in the Lord from our church.
Here's my little Judah with Denny, Brenda's husband. He still has a smile on his face even though Judah just threw up on him! Brenda loved our neighborhood so much after coming last year that she wanted her husband to come out and visit, so they were here last fall for a few days and both of them were her last week for camp. What an encouragement they are to us! Pray that they would be able to come visit us again and maybe even move here sometime in the future. :)

A great second week at camp

Here is the black team on the art side making pictures with glitter glue
Here is the orange team playing with play-dough

What a great week of camp we had last week. It was such a different week than the first. There were fewer kids and helpers, which worked out ok because then you could really get to know the kids well. I'm all for smaller groups. :) I kept expecting 50 crazy kids to jump out of the closet somewhere because of how crazy the first week was. We had some awesome helpers again this week. We definitely couldn't even begin to think about running this camp just on our own. So, to those who helped--thank you!
On Saturday, a group of about 50 went to the beach with ROCK. It was a beautiful day and we were so encouraged by how many people came along. This morning, Brent and 5 teenagers--Kiara, David, Hilda, Hector, and Carl--headed out for Momentum for the week. Please pray for God to do something big that lasts for the rest of their lives. Pray for growth and spiritual maturity.
Sunday celebration continued to be on I John. The message was about idols. Ryan and I were downstairs in the nursery, so we didn't hear it, but my friend Cheryl gave us a summary. Lord, forgive me for putting things ahead of you. Only you are worthy to be worshipped! When I drove Cheryl and her daughter Katie home, I asked her if she was following Jesus and committed her life to him. She has been coming to church regularly again and making good changes, but I hadn't heard anthing about a decision to turn her life over to him yet. She said yes she is following him, so give me wisdom in talking to her more about this and discipling her. Pray that she'd know how to be a good mom to Katie and that Katie would realize the importance of obeying her mom.

Report from Camp Week One

A picture of my husband Ryan and I and three of the guys from the Austin church. On the far right is Sarah's husband, Jon. It was the best picture I could offer because I don't have a picture of Sarah!

Here are some thoughts from Sarah Hensley, who came down with a church called Origins from Austin, TX, to help with the first week of camp:

"We really enjoyed our time in Philly participating at Urban Hope's 1st week of summer camp. In addition to gaining an increased understanding of life in the inner-city, we were glad to help facilitate a fun week for the kids. We realized that most of these kids will not go to an elaborate summer camp; so, it was a joy to see them having a good time in a safe environment close to home. They loved being creative and silly and accomplishing new things. We pray that last week was just the first of many times that these kids will be involved with Urban Hope. Jon [my husband] was especially excited to see one of the young ladies, who came through his game room, accept Jesus as Savior at the end of the week. He had been rewarding the campers with bubble gum if they memorized the Way. She recited it in his room, then in front of the whole group, and placed her faith in Jesus the next day! Thanks for sharing your neighborhood with us and allowing us to be a part of a fun week!"
Please be praying for our church this week as we are in our second week of camp for the summer. Pray that lives would be changed for Him!