Heart for the Nations

Massive Growth

2009-09-21T17:06:00.000-04:00

With 19 team members headed to Ireland this year, I thought we had lost it! It was our largest team and we usually only have between 20-30 kids at each camp. Well, who am I to question God. At both camp locations, Athenry and Westside, we started the first day with about 20 kids and it grew each day! By the end of the second week we were serving almost 70 kids! We ABSOLUTELY needed every single person on the team! God sure does have a sense of humor.

Open House at Biggby Coffee

2009-05-25T21:39:00.011-04:00

Biggby Coffee held an open house for the Urban Art students last week. Their pictures were displayed for a week where customers could vote for their favorite. The shop also donated $1.00 per drink over a 4 hour window. At the end of the week, the Urban Art students from City Mission were honored at an open house in the store. They were given a free drink and presented with awards. We had a great time and give a huge shout of thanks to Biggby!!

CMA Art Exhibit for Parents

2009-05-17T20:48:00.003-04:00

This past Friday, City Mission Academy students displayed art work from school and Urban Arts after school programs. The parents were able to peruse the rooms and see the beautiful work the kids had done throughout the year. Way to go CMA kids!

Biggby Coffe and an Art Show

2009-05-11T22:22:00.004-04:00

I am so excited for next week. Biggby Coffee is hosting an art show for my Urban Art kids! A manager for Biggby over heard my mom talking about Urban Arts in his store one day and approached her with a fund raising idea. I gave him a call not too long ago and it's now a reality!

From May 18-24, Biggby Coffee in Southfield, MI (the one on Evergreen Rd.) will be showing my City Mission Urban Art students work. The kids have been working on projects since January and have five fabulous pieces each to show. Now here's the even cooler part:) On Thursday, May 21 from 5-7pm and Sunday, May 24 from 1-3pm, Biggby is donating $1.00 for every drink sold. I will be behind the counter helping out (probably as the whip cream girl) and promoting our program. The kids will come in on Sunday afternoon and see their art, be awarded by Biggby and given free drinks!

I'm so grateful that the Lord continues to show me creative ways to expand and promote Urban Arts!

If you're local come on by during those four hours and support the cause!

2009 Summer Camp Support Letter

2009-05-04T21:08:00.002-04:00

Dear Friend,
Last summer Urban Arts held three weeks of camp in Detroit for inner city kids. We worked with over 120 children and had wonderful camps! It went so well that our partnering ministries have invited us back, and we have added a new partner! Five weeks of camp are planned for the upcoming summer with City Mission, Central Detroit Christian and Highland Park Community Outreach.

Our goal is to expand the children’s exposure to the performing and visual arts through daily hands-on activities and Christ-centered teaching. This year’s theme is “Celebrate the Gift”. Children will experience the elements of visual art, music, drama and dance. Daily lunch and a snack will be provided. Each camp will end on Friday evening with a dinner and closing performance for friends and family.
This is a faith based ministry. Currently, we have very little funding. So, we are asking individuals, groups, and churches to prayerfully consider sponsoring one or more children for a week of camp. The total cost for a child to attend is $80.00. This amount covers all meals, art supplies, a camp t-shirt, and transportation. Checks may be made out to START Ministries, a Michigan 501-C3 non-profit organization. START (Short Term Ambassador Relief Teams) is graciously handling our funding for this summer with no administrative fee. Therefore, 100% of the money donated to Urban Arts will go toward these summer camps.

Also, enclosed is a list of supplies needed for the camps this summer. We are striving to complete this list from volunteered gift cards or contributions from friends and family. Please consider helping us in this area of need.
If you have any questions, feel free to call or email me.
Serving Him,

Katie Beth Hostetter
Urban Arts Director

“The children at City Mission have so much talent and potential. The Urban Arts program helps children identify and put into practice their talent and potential. We are glad to have such an outstanding partnership.” --Nicole Aikens, Co-Director of City Mission

ITEMS CAN BE PURCHASED WITH A GIFT CARD FROM THESE STORES:
Sam's Club, Wal-mart, Meijers, Costco, Speedway, BP, Mobile)
sandwich makings
snacks (goldfish, fruit snacks, ect.)
cookies
juice boxes (100)
Mini-DV taps for video camera (30)
colored gaffer tape
100 brown paper lunch sacks
zip lock sandwich bags
3 CD players
300 CD-R disks
gift card for gas stations (Speedway, Meijers, BP, etc)

How I laugh

2009-04-30T22:00:00.001-04:00

As we were finishing up our latest art project, Angel, one of my students, needed to fix her painting. She had done a wash with three colors and didn't like the way it turned out so she came back up for more paint. As she was moving the brush across some blue paint landed on the butterfly she had drawn. One of my workers who was helping Angel said, "Oh he's ok!" and Angel turned to him with her big, serious, brown eyes and said, "That ain't a he it's a she! And now she's blue! That ain't right!" Oh how serious she was. It took all my strength to simply smile and not laugh out loud at her cuteness as I overheard the conversation.

U Serious? PINK chocolate?

2009-04-27T20:35:00.004-04:00

Easter has come and gone and I have been a terrible blogger since then. My apologies. Urban Arts has kept me busy busy busy! But here is a cute story from one of the boys we work with.

For our Thursday night class the week before Easter, instead of holding the drama and art classes we normally have, we decided to bring all 35 kids together and teach them how to make molded Easter chocolates. We had everything set out on long tables and two ladies were in charge of melting the chocolate down. I thought it would be neat to have different colors of chocolate..green, yellow, blue, purple, pink..all pastels for Easter. As the kids came up with their mentors, one boy, Larry, said ' What that?' as he pointed to the colored chocolate. I said, 'What the chocolate?' He said, 'yea'. I said 'It's chocolate but a different color so you can have Easter colors for your mold.' He said 'I don't eat no pink chocolate'. I laughed as he went for the milk chocolate and made his little Easter bunnies and crosses.

This was the very first time for all of the kids to make chocolates. They had a great time and it was nice to be able to be in a relaxed environment with them!

And the Angels are Singing

2009-03-19T10:17:00.002-04:00

St. Patrick's day is now a day I will never forget. Not because of the brilliant greens or the crazy hats people wear, but because it's the day that Taugh asked Jesus into his heart.

The kids sat down at their tables that were prepared for the third art project of Urban Arts Class. Since it was St. Patty's day we brought green bug juice and chips. and as the kids snacked my mom began to tell the true story of Saint Patrick. The kids were listening intently. Now if you know my mom, you know that she is able to weave the salvation message of Christ into almost any story. This story was no different. As she neared the end, she asked if anyone had never asked Jesus into their heart. Taugh raised his hand. He came up in front of the class and prayed to receive Jesus as his Savior. It was a beautiful moment.

Crazy For Christ

2009-03-11T14:45:00.004-04:00

The theme for the Urban Art kids at CDC this semester is "Crazy 4 Christ". We are talking about how we can show others every day, in every action, how crazy for Christ we are. The previous week we encouraged the kids to bring something in that they enjoy doing and share how they can be "crazy for Christ" while doing it. We had one girl come up before class who shyly showed us her musical recorder. She asked if she could share a song on the recorder. As simple as it sounds, Tyana wanted to use what she learned on her little plastic recorder and play for God. She is 1 in 50+ kids. If she is the only one who "gets it" this semester, it will be totally worth everything I do.

Even boys like valentines:)

2009-02-12T17:35:00.004-05:00

Red soda with ice cream, pepperoni and cheese pizza, heart balloons, cute napkins and a really cool valentine card was what made up the party that we threw for City Mission urban art kids on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun! We didn't tell the kids in advance, but surprised them with all of this and they were just grinning from ear to ear. Of course, we had art to work on, but after all that sugar it was pretty interesting to get see them try to stay focused on the project at hand. (that's why the typical snack is HEALTHY!) But they did pretty well working on their "dot art". It's really coming along! I can't wait for the final project. After we had cleaned up, I handed out my valentine cards to the kids. The boys got really cool cards that turned into a b-ball court and b-ball. Guess who ended up putting them together:) Yep! I helped them out and we had a fun game of basketball!

Summer in February

2009-02-05T01:07:00.003-05:00

Here's a quick update on what Urban Arts is looking like for this summer. We are again, partnering with City Mission and Central Detroit Christian for 2 weeks each. Both organizations will be able to offer a week of elementary day camp as well as a week of middle and high school day camp. An additional week is pending with a ministry in Highland Park, MI. (just on the outskirts of Detroit)

It's crazy to look out my window at piles of snow and ice cycles as far as you can possibly see, but it takes so much preparation to get commitments from volunteers, line up people to help prep for the crafts, create a program, and find the funding among many other things! I'm really excited about the 2009 camps! I have the theme, but I'm going to keep that a secret for a little while longer:) You'll just have to check back!

Keep us in your prayers! Grant proposals are being mailed over the next few months!

Early Art Forms Emerge Again

2009-01-29T23:39:00.003-05:00

Two Urban Art tracks are offered to the 6-12 graders at City Mission this semester. One track is visual arts and the other is drama. Did you know that the art form of block printing started in 200 AD! Well, we are taking it to the next level here in 2009! Students are going to design and create their own stationary with original block printing. I'm thrilled to have my mom teaching this art form! In the drama track we are going to explore something that was created a little closer to the present day...like 1845...well, it's better than 200! We are digging into monologues. Dramatic and comedic. I'm looking forward to teaching my group how to explore their character and engage the audience!

Second Semester in Full Swing

2009-01-15T19:26:00.009-05:00

Urban Arts is back from Christmas break! I have the same group of kids at City Mission but this semester we are focusing on visual arts! They are learning so many cool things. The theme for Central Detroit Christian Urban Arts this semester is "Crazy for Christ". We will be focusing on drama, music and dance with the kids. They are going to help write an original drama script for the performance in May! Enjoy the pictures of the City Mission kids working on their art projects.

The Littlest Star in Brightmoor

2008-12-13T23:37:00.006-05:00

My Tuesday afternoon class of Urban Art students at City Mission not only performed at Kensington but they performed for the tutoring classes at their Christmas party. They performed The Littlest Star. We had a ton of fun and the kids did a great job reading their parts!

Pictures Worth a Thousand Words

2008-12-03T23:47:00.012-05:00

Tonight was the City Mission Urban Arts performance at Kensington with the New Community Kids. It went really well and my kids were on their best behavior! I am so proud of them:) Here are some pictures to enjoy.

Rehearsal Rehearsal

2008-12-02T22:54:00.004-05:00

Have you ever needed to be in two places at once before? Well, we all know that it's really not possible but if there was a night I could have picked to be in two places at once, it was tonight. My City Mission kids had their dress rehearsal for the performance at Kensington Church and my Central Detroit Christian kids had their dress rehearsal for their performance the following week. I ended up at CDC. We had a lot of work to do, but the volunteer teachers were amazing and helped me out soo much! After a very long rehearsal, I think we are ready for the performance next week!

God Works in Monetary Ways

2008-11-21T14:00:00.003-05:00

I have to wonder what other people are thinking when they see a person listening on their cell phone and the individual gets a HUGE smile on their face. I would probably get happy and smile right along with them! Well, I was that individual that people were probably staring at today. As I was listening to my voicemail, the message that was left said that a family from New Community Kids is donating $200 to cover the expenses of purchasing new dresses, pants, and dress shoes for our Urban Art kids to perform in the Christmas performance in December. What an AWESOME blessing! I wasn't sure how we were going to get the outfits, but I knew the kids would end up wearing something. Now, these girls and boys have a brand new Christmas outfit that THEY OWN! Don't worry, pictures will be posted as soon as we get them:) And THANK YOU to whoever the family is who is so generous by giving the money!

Working Hard

2008-11-19T17:58:00.002-05:00

I love these kids! They're practicing for the Christmas program at CDC.

Mixing it Up

2008-11-13T22:22:00.006-05:00

You have 45 minutes to complete the tasks on this piece of paper. GO! A video scavenger hunt was in the works for Urban Art students joined by kids from New Community Kids at Kensington Community Church. This was our first time mixing it up with other students who love performing arts. The kids had a great time getting to know their new friends and learned how to work together as a team. For many of the students it was their very first time doing a video scavenger hunt. After the hunt we had doughnuts and cider while we watched the videos. Just looking at the faces of the kids was precious. They were so excited to see themselves on camera! (what child wouldn't:) A good day was had by all. We had an awesome team of volunteers come to make it happen! Thanks guys!

What We Take for Granted

2008-11-12T13:42:00.003-05:00

How many of you guys out there own a white button down shirt? a pair of black pants? a pair of dress shoes? I would guess that most of you would have this in your wardrobe, even if you don't wear it all the time. And ladies, what about a nice "Sunday" dress, dress shoes, a pair of tan pants?

This past week, I was working with my elementary kids at City Mission and they wanted to know what the costumes were for our performance in December. Since we are partnering with KCC, we are matching their costumes. It's pretty basic: girls wear pretty party dresses, boys wear white shirts and black pants for the first set. The costumes for the second set are tan pants and a solid color shirt. As I explained the two different costumes, I began to see some worried faces and a few hands began to raise. I knew then, it wasn't going to be as simple as opening up the closet door and pulling out one pair of many tan colored pants. These kids don't have that luxury. Once again, my heart broke for these children. But, they will not go without this Christmas performance if I can help it! Thrift stores here I come!:) If any of you would like to help out by letting a child borrow a piece of clothing or buy them a new item for this performance it would be the best Christmas present they could get!

The Grinch

2008-11-07T16:02:00.002-05:00

Last night I held auditions for the Grinch play at City Mission. This is the program that the junior and senior high students will be performing at Christmas. We only have 3 rehearsals but I have a feeling it's going to be a smashing success...as long as the kids are quiet long enough to hear the instruction..(that would be a prayer request:)

Rooftop Networking

2008-10-20T23:31:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet others who have a passion for the city of Detroit and the people who live there. I sat at the 'arts' table and listened to the struggles, hopes, desires, and gifts of each individual. It was encouraging and inspiring. I was able to share a little about Urban Arts and had a few people interested in volunteering. I can't wait to see how the Lord will use these new friends I have made!

The Best Story So Far...

2008-10-15T12:59:00.004-04:00

So on Tuesday night, I handed out 54 CD's to the kids at CDC so that they would be able to practice their music at home. I wasn't really sure how well the music was going over with the kids after the second week, but after hearing this story, I know! Laura, who is helping teach the classes with me, relayed this story to me after talking with a CDC staff member. This staff member was driving a van full of kids home after the program and as soon as the kids hopped in the van they started saying, "Mark! We got our very own CD's! We get to take them home and keep them and listen to them and practice with them!" They then proceeded to ask Mark to put the CD in so they could jam to it. So as the kids were being dropped off at their homes, they were singing along to the Christmas songs!:) I guess they are liking it!:) That was such an encouragement to me and put a smile on my face, so I just wanted to share it!!

Do we have to add the little kids?

2008-10-15T12:36:00.002-04:00

Since we only had 9 kids at City Mission's Urban Arts last week, I felt the led to open it up to the third grade class for the fall. When the six kids walked into the class, the first question from a fourth grader was, "Do we have to add the little kids?". Of course, I was smiling inwardly, but I had to keep a straight face as I explained that we did "have to add them" and said how it would be even more fun with them! After we began playing our first drama game, I think all 15 kids were happy to be together.

We handed out the practice CD's for the kids to begin listening to and learning the music for the Christmas program. I was actually a few CD's short and felt awful, but promised the kids they would get them next week. They were very understanding. One little girl came up to me after class and asked what she should do if she didn't have a CD player at home. I wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or not, but I believe she is and it broke my heart. I'm going to confirm with her teacher at school and see if I can get her a cd player.

Meet & Greet for Urban Arts @ City Mission

2008-10-11T20:18:00.002-04:00

This past Thursday was the first night of the mentoring/urban arts program at City Mission for the junior and senior high students in the Brightmoor neighborhood. There are 35 kids signed up for the program. I've been working with the director of the mentoring program to smooth out a schedule for all these kids since I am the only one teaching on this night. The way that everything falls for this term it looks like we will have 5 non-consecutive weeks to provide the program and then have a performance in December. With God all things are possible, right!:) Technically, i'm not starting until Oct. 23, so i'm still working on choosing the content that will work the best for this schedule. It's not been easy, so i'd love your prayers! Also, please pray that each of the kids in this program would have the desire to be there and have a good attitude shown through action and word. It makes a world of difference to the atmosphere of the class!

Opening Day for Urban Arts After School

2008-10-08T11:21:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was the kick off for the after school programs with Urban Arts. I did double duty in the city starting with the program at City Mission in the afternoon and then jogging over to central Detroit to teach at CDC. Both programs ran pretty smoothly. My friend, Laura, who is helping me on Tuesdays did a great job team teaching with me!

At City Mission, we are working with the 4-6 graders at the academy. It's a small group of kids, but they are wonderful! We are focusing on drama and vocal music this fall. A good friend of mine directs a children's program called New Community Kids at Kensington Community Church. We have decided to partner with them and give the City Mission kids a chance to experience a performance on a "real" stage with the kids from NCK. I think this is going to be such a great experience for them!

Central Detroit Christian has us working with kindergarten through 6th grade. We have a lot of kid! Two grades rotate at a time to us for a 30 minute period. The other two segments they get are Bible and Academics. It's really a neat way to provide all three elements for the kids. The only downfall is the 30 minutes feels like about 10 after we start working with them. I know I am going to be asking the Lord to multiply my time!

In both programs we are focusing on our Christmas performance at the beginning of December. City Mission is learning a Christmas medley that will tie in with the kids at KCC and then will be working on another Christmas song and short drama for their local performance. Central Detroit Christian kids are working on a 5 song Christmas medley with choreography and props. Both are going to be pretty cute!

Writing curriculum-sounds like fun, huh:)

2008-09-23T22:41:00.003-04:00

I had a good meeting today with CDC, Central Detroit Christian. I was asked to create the curriculum for the K-5th grade arts portion of their Breakthrough Enrichment program that is held on Tuesday nights. I was planning on teaching an Urban Arts class for middle school girls already, but when I was approached with this task, I prayed about it and felt like this was a greater need in CDC's ministry. Since I am partnering with different ministries in Detroit, I believe strongly in being sensitive to the needs of the ministry. So, for at least the first term, through Christmas, I'll be focusing on the elementary kids.

I am going to miss my summer staff. I have only one volunteer who is available to serve with me on Tuesday nights. Thank goodness though! She will be focusing on the music and I on the drama. As I type this, my brain is going in a million directions thinking about what the kids will perform for the program. Pray that the Lord continues to give me creativity in designing a program for this fall and for the next term. (and of course, those of you who have creative minds, feel free to comment with any ideas you may have!)

Phase 2

2008-09-10T11:45:00.004-04:00

Today I'm headed to a City Mission program meeting to propose my Urban Art after school program for this fall. After a successful summer camp program, I'm excited that they are interested in us continuing the program. There's a lot of work to be done, but please continue to pray for this whole adventure as I am learning what it means to daily walk by faith.

Victoriously Persistant River

2008-09-08T00:58:00.003-04:00

"A river reaches places where its source never knows."
After a few weeks of questioning, wondering, arguing and doubting, this phrase of Oswald Chambers put everything into perspective. In John 7:38, "He who believes in Me...out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." I have no control of the outflow of the "river" in my life. God is in control of that and I need to accept that I may never see how great or small the outcome of the outflow is.

"A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers."
Everything was moving along at a good pace. Until certain obstacles began to pop up, like rocks in a river that barely touch the surface, but can do enough damage to and appear to immobilize. But the river doesn't become immobilized. It finds a path around the obstacle. "The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source."

No matter the obstacle, stay focused on Christ who is the director of each vein of the river in your life.

Running with the Horses

2008-08-14T09:01:00.015-04:00

I cannot believe that this was my sixth trip to Ireland. This year our team went a little later, during the Galway Horse Races. It was so neat to see everyone dressed up in their formals while walking around the downtown! The plan for this summer mission trip was the same as the last few summers; support Discovery Church. I'm going to give you just a little snippet of what we did here.

Our flight arrived in Shannon on Friday afternoon. After a nice lunch at a good friend's home, we pulled out the leaflets (flyers for kids camp) and went door to door in Athenry to let everyone know we would be holding kids' camp the following week. On Satruday, our team went to Shoppe Street in Galway with a team from Discovery Church to support a prayer ministry. A few of us took cards with the church's information to pass out on the street and we informed people that 'just down the way' there were people willing to pray for them. After supporting the prayer ministry, our team went to Westside, our second location for kids camp and passed out the leaflets.
On Sunday, our team gave the 'regular' Sunday School teachers a break and taught the classes. I had the 3-5 year olds. Absolutely adorable:) We made paper crosses and hearts and talked about how much Jesus loves us, sang songs, had treats (of course), and peeled paper off of crayons...you know, the usual! The rest of the day was spent getting everything together for the week of kids' camp. This year we were going to be holding camp in two different locations. One area, Athenry, was very familiar to us and the other location, Westside, was new. The theme we chose was based around the 10 Commandments. Seeing the kids in Athenry was so neat. I heard from a resident of the estate(neighborhood) that the kids started asking last fall 'when are the Americans coming back?'. So when we arrived there were kids already waiting for us on the green(large grassy area where we hold camp). It brought tears to my eyes. We set up a tent for the kids to sit under, since it rains so much, but we were blessed because we had very little rain during the actual camp. The kids worked on a craft every day that tied in with the commandment they were learning. Here they are showing the puppets they made from the first day. As usual, we had game time, but this year we were able to pack a large parachute to play with. The kids had never see this before and were loving it! Everything went pretty well in Athenry. One day we had something happen that we could only laugh at! I heard a familiar ring of the bells and realized that the ice cream truck was turning the corner. Well, this must be the highlight of the day for the children of Athenry because as soon as that truck was in sight, they burst up from their seats and ran toward the truck. We were in the middle of our program! But after about 10 minutes the kids came back, sat down, licked away at their ice cream and were ready for us to continue. I could only laugh. We did have a few bullies this year, but after prayer and moving the camp to the backyard of a private home, we didn't have any more incidents.

Westport was a new 'estate' for our team. There were a few families who lived in the estate that attend the church so their children came to the camp, but we also reached out to several other new families. On the second day of camp we arrived at the green and it was pouring down rain. We saw no one there and knew that the parents would probably not allow their children to come to the camp in this weather. Our team was invited to go for tea at one of the homes where a church member lived. They had a few children, and we though why don't we just hold the camp in their front room? As part of the team drove ahead to ask permission, I was walking with a few people (under a very small umbrella) and Nathan, a new little boy from the neighborhood ran up to me from the playground on the green, soaking wet. He said in the cutest little Irish accent, "Isn't there going to be camp today? I've been waiting on the playground for you to set up." At that moment, I knew we were at Westside for Nathan. I told him that camp would be inside and he ran home to get changed into dry clothes. That was my favorite day of camp. The fruit of Nathan loving camp is that his mother saw how much he enjoyed the program and we were able to share about Discovery Church and extend an invitation. My prayer is that Nathan's family will accept Christ and attend Discovery Church.

On one of our days driving home from camp, we saw an amazing, full double rainbow. I really wasn't able to capture the beauty on camera, but here's a picture for all of you who have ever wanted to see an Irish rainbow:)

I'm sure the racehorses for the Galway Races in Ireland gave it there all that first week of August, but I'm pretty confident that our team did the same for the race we were given to run. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us and encouraged us!

Urban Arts Camp Video 2008 (short version)

2008-07-29T00:15:00.002-04:00

Here's a look at this past summer working with the kids in Detroit. There are video clips at the end including the three different performances.

God's Week of Camp

2008-07-27T11:32:00.005-04:00

This was by far the hardest week of Urban Arts camp. But it taught me so much and streached my character in ways I never would have imagined. The entire week was constantly changing minute by minute and I was having to remind myself to be "flexie cookie". (that's a whole different story for another time)

I found out on Monday afternoon that the kids would be only having four full days of camp because the ministry we were partnering with had a roller skating field trip planned for all 175+ people on the last day. Since we lost a day this drastically changed our game plan for teaching the performance pieces to our 45 kids.

On Tuesday I wanted to get confirmation about our performance time and location. The church we were holding the camp in was not open on Friday so we would not be able to do our afternoon performance on their amazing stage. Plan B-find another location. Ha! It sounds simple, but then we have to think about a dress rehearsal and transportation for the kids, etc. The decision was made that the dress rehearsal would take place at our original location on the stage on Thursday if we could get permission. We would use the sound equipment from another church volunteering at the elementary camp that week. Pushing the dress rehearsal up a day cause the class schedules and art classes to be bumped around again. Once that was all settled we continued to move through Tuesday and Wednesday fairly smoothly. Thursday came at us more quickly than realized. All morning we worked with the kids on the stage, blocking and rehearsing where they would stand for the OTHER stage which was a different size. All in all, it went fairly well. Some of the boys didn't want to participate and were acting up, but I believe it is because they were nervous about practicing in front of the girls and other helpers. As we went through the rehearsal, they became more comfortable and started to participate more. Thursday afternoon was spent finishing the t-shirts the kids would wear for the performance and completing their art projects.

My team arrived at the performance location (new church) about 12:30. The kids were arriving at 1:15 from roller skating and we were going to run through the program before the 2:00 performance. At 12:45, after things were loaded in and we were going to check the sound, I realized something was missing. The sound equipment. Um, major problem. I contacted my "go-to" person from the ministry and found out that the volunteer church had already packed up their system because they thought we would be using the church's equipment. My "go-to" person said that we did not get permission from the church to use their sound equipment. I admit, I started to freak out. How do you have a quality performance that is dependent on sound without sound? A good friend of mine who was there took me aside and said, "Katie, we need to pray. God has this figured out." She was right. As people were praying, others were on their cell phones pulling out all of the stops to get favors owed to them and ending up owing favors. Central Detroit Christian, the ministry we were partnering with this week, had a Fender portable sound system and 2 mics we could use. That was a good start. I knew though that we would need monitors as well as speakers. That system only had 2 speakers. Kensington Community Church agreed to let us use their portable Fender system as well. Someone actually drove it 40 minutes down to the performance location within minutes of getting permission from KCC. Here's the cool thing-we didn't know that both systems were the same and could work together. When we hooked everything everything up, it worked beautifully.

The kids were excited to perform and as I looked at them fueled up in their seats, ready to go, I realized that what matters the most is being a light to these kids. Giving them an opportunity to grown in Him and encouraging them. I God did that this week. It was His week.

The Long Defeat

2008-07-22T22:00:00.001-04:00

I have joined the long defeat
that falling set in motion
all my strength and energy
are raindrops in the ocean

so conditioned for the win
to share in victor's stories
but in the place of ambition's din
I've heard of other glories

I pray for an idea
and a way I cannot see
It's too heavy to carry
and impossible to leave

I can't just fight when I think I'll win
that's the end of all belief
and nothing has provoked it more
than a possible defeat

I pray for an idea
and a way I cannot see
It's too heavy to carry
and impossible to leave

We walk a while we sit and rest
we lay it on the altar
I won't pretend to know what's next
but what I have I've offered

I pray for a vision
and a way I cannot see
It's too heavy to carry
and impossible to leave

I pray for inspiration
and a way I cannot see
It's too heavy to carry
and impossible to leave

If These Walls Could Speak....

2008-07-21T22:26:00.003-04:00

If these walls could speak they would share how loud it was when over 40 middle schoolers walked up 3 flights of double stairs to get to Urban Arts today.

If these walls could speak, they would share the excitement they saw on some faces of kids when they found out what their camp was about this week...and the groans on a few faces when they found out they had to perform.

If these walls could speak, they would share how extremely hot the third floor is without central or unit air.

If these walls could speak, they would share the incredible imagination some of the girls had in drama class when they had to "become" a piano.

If these walls could speak, they would express in amazement the talent some of the boys have when it came to dance class-like standing on their own hands and flipping backwards.

If these walls could speak, they would tearfully share that only a handful of the kids had breakfast and probably would not be getting dinner at home.

If these walls could speak, they would thank the kids in art class for decorating their walls with colorful pieces of art.

If these walls could speak, they would continue singing the songs the voices raised up in their music classes today.

If these walls could speak, they would say they are eagerly awaiting 9am tomorrow morning.

Urban Arts Camp Week 2 (middle and hs age)

2008-07-04T17:57:00.009-04:00

The second week of Urban Arts at City Mission was so different from the first week. My team arrived on Monday morning, knowing that we had 2 kids registered and not sure if there would be any more. I was praying that there would be a camp! When I walked into the building there were already 4 kids there. I knew then, in my spirit, that it was a go. By the time 10am hit, we had 17 kids! I was elated!

Having learned a few things from the previous week, we went ahead and split the up the guys and girls in two groups. They rotated to the different art elements together. Over all, they were excellent listeners and quite respectful. (I always knew I loved this age:) My dad was able to come down one day and share some of his life story. The guys really gravitated towards him. It was neat to see how the Lord used that short period of time to create a bond between them.Throughout the entire week, whenever the guys would see my dad they would always have a smile on their faces and go up to talk with him.

The kids rotated between art, music, drama and dance just like the previous week, but they seemed to be more detail-oriented and it took longer in each of the classes. I decided to add poetry in the drama rotation for this age group. I took a poem by Maya Angelou for the girls and one by James Weldon Johnson for the guys and adapted it as a readers theatre. The girls caught on right away. I knew their performance was going to be nice. They guys had a harder time. Some were not strong readers and they struggled to pronounce words correctly. By the middle of the week, I wasn't sure I had done the right thing, wondering if I had given them something that was too difficult. But I am so glad that we stuck with it. During the dress rehearsal the guys and I both knew it wasn't the best it could be. So I decided a little "unspoken, friendly" competition wouldn't hurt. I put the girls up on stage and they rehearsed. This totally fired up the guys! They were like, "man, we can do that". I was laughing inwardly. So I told the boys to show me something. They got up on the platform and it worked! There were some rough spots, but overall the boys had a decent performance. I was really proud of them for sticking it out!

Another difference with this camp of older kids was giving them the opportunity to design their performance t-shirt. I bought white t's for each kid as well as fabric markers. The only guideline was that it had to have "Urban Arts" on the front of the t-shirt and the designs had to be approved. There were some amazing artists in the group!In the middle of the week, one of the teens approached Renee, our music teacher. He said he had gone home from camp the day before and thought about what we were talking about throughout the day and he had written a Christian rap. We were able to incorporate it into the final performance. The moment when Larry and Troy were performing the rap was the best feeling in the world to me. So many thoughts flashed through my mind at that moment. "They want to be here. These 16 year old guys are actually listening and applying what we are teaching them-not just the art elements, but about Jesus. These guys are developing gifts God has given them." And the thoughts kept running. I think that was one highlight for me during the week.

Granted

2008-07-03T23:33:00.003-04:00

Several months ago, I was told that I should apply for grants to help fund the Urban Arts ministry I am starting in Detroit. I smiled and said "ok" and figured that I just had to fill out some forms to be approved. Boy was I wrong. Grant writing is a foreign language. Well, it use to be. But now, at least, I can understand a little with the help of books.:) So I set my mind to writing a grant proposal for the two week camp at City Mission. I scurried around to gather the information I needed to write the proposal before the deadline approached. The day of the deadline arrived and I was satisfied that everything was in order. I faxed it in. I waited in anticipation for a month before I received the letter in the mail. The proposal was rejected. It was a huge disappointment. I think it was more of a disappointment because everyone I talked with was so positive that the grant would come through for our specific program. Now, understand that in my eyes, this did not determine whether we would run the camps. I serve an awesome God and knew that I was called to run the camps and didn't let money (or the lack of it) make the final call.

The week before camp, I was talking with someone at City Mission and they asked about the status of the grant. I said briefly that we did not get it, but we decided to do garage sales. (for 5 weekends). The person was shocked. They said I should reapply. But the foundation doesn't run that way. You have to wait a year. Well, the Lord didn't want us to wait that long because someone from City Mission took our grant and reapplied it for us under their ministry. By the end of the first week of camp we got news that we had been awarded the grant! I was so excited. The Lord truly went before us!

So at the end of the two weeks, I set up a meeting with someone who was going to help me finish the evaluation for the foundation regarding the program. The morning I was to meet her, I called her and she said, 'I have some bad news.' She proceeded to tell me that someone from the foundation said that they would not release the grant to us because our program had already ended and there was miscommunication. Once again, I was shocked. What could I do though? Pray and ask others to pray. So we began praying. I rescheduled the meeting for a week later. (which was this past week) When I arrived, my contact still was not very positive about us getting the money but said we could go ahead with the evaluation. At the end of our meeting she made a phone call to the foundation about a question we had. In the conversation, the lady who works at the foundation said, 'oh, by the way, your check is in the mail for the grant'. Unbelievable! It was prayers and God's GRANT!

So, to say the least...I learned a lot about grants, foundations and the likes! I have just turned another grant proposal in that is on a larger scale to cover the expenses of our start up for fall. Please be in prayer the the Lord has His way in that as well.

First Article for Urban Arts

2008-06-23T00:37:00.003-04:00

I had my first interview for Urban Arts last week. The content was put on the website for City Mission. Here's a look at the content!

A Glimpse of Reality

2008-06-19T23:34:00.002-04:00

Ralph, Rayshaun, Larry, A.J., Destiny, and Takyea didn't show up to camp today. The day before our performance. The last full day of camp. I was so disappointed. I started asking the kids where they were and the responses varied. Everything from a doctor's appointment (they thought) to one of the families driving out of town. I decided to speak with Ms. Kat who is my City Mission contact for this week. She offered to give a phone call to each of the kid's parent, grandparent or guardian. As we went down the list, most of the kids had a legitimate excuse for not being there. We found out that some were even coming later in the day. That made me feel a little better.

But one phone call broke my heart. One of the boys who wasn't able to come answered the phone when Ms. Kat called. He said he wasn't able to come because he was babysitting his brothers and sisters. Ms. Kat asked to speak to his mama. As the mama was coming to the phone Ms. Kat heard her cussing this boy out. Once she got on the phone she was a sweet as she could be, but drunk. Ms. Kat invited her to the dinner and performance and then proceeded to explain that this lady's son had a solo part in the performance and we really missed his leadership at the camp. She said he wouldn't be there and he probably won't be at the performance. My heart broke when Ms. Kat told me. This young man was exemplary in his action, leadership, words and attitude. But I was told that this is typical for their community. Today I saw a glimpse of reality in the neighborhood. I pray that the work we did the last two weeks would stay with the kids the rest of their life to give them Jesus first and something worth holding onto.

Smile:)

2008-06-18T22:49:00.004-04:00

Today was a good day. I kept trying to figure out why things felt so different. Smiles. I saw so many more smiles on faces of the kids today. What a difference that makes! I felt the joy of the Lord filling the day.

I honestly can't believe i'm headed toward the end of my second week of Urban Arts. I wish I could do this every week of the summer. (maybe next year:) Please continue to pray for the 21 kids we had today. Asking something as simple as for them to arrive at camp safely. Most of them walk from their house. I never really thought about it until I drove around the neighborhood this afternoon. That short, simple prayer is a serious, relevant prayer.

Tomorrow is our last full day of camp. Please pray that the kids focus and learn everything they need for the performance on Friday. We are fired up!:) Anyone who would like to attend the dinner and performance is more than welcome to come. Dinner is at 5pm and the performance follows at 6pm. Location is at Leland Baptist Church on 22420 Fenkell in Detroit.

Step It Up

2008-06-17T22:37:00.003-04:00

Day 2 of middle/high school Urban Arts camp completed. I think the phrase I heard most throughout the day from the teachers and counselors was, "step it up". The girls took it seriously. They focused in each rotation today and I saw huge steps of improvement that will paid off during the performance on Friday. The guys....well, their focus was somewhere else today..the girls, themselves, who knows! (for most of them anyway). I think they are getting more comfortable with us and feeling like they can get away with more. WRONG:) I was laughing so hard when the guys were in their dance rotation, because Vicky, the dance teacher, was making them do push ups, crunches and all sorts of other things that they didn't think they needed to do. Their was some pain happening there!

Another change that I decided to implement last night was to introduce poetry to the girls and guys classes. It's a challenge for me to get them to the level of understanding and performance in the next 2 days, but i'm going to try and pray that it comes across well. The kids need this exposure on stage. Performing is more than singing and dancing so i'm "stepping it up" as we say:)

I did have some disappointing news: we don't get to use the public middle school this Friday. I guess they are on vacation and don't have anyone who can be there for us. So, we have found a church that i'm going to take a look at tomorrow. I'm a little skeptical because they are going to put us in the "lower level"...my interpretation of that is the basement. We'll see....

More tomorrow on our progress if time allows:)

Pleasantly Peaceful Middle Schoolers

2008-06-16T22:32:00.004-04:00

Camp starts at 10am. We had 2 registered middle schoolers for this week of camp as of last Friday. At 9:50am this morning 4 kids had already shown up. Not too long after 10am we had 16 kids! By lunch time we had 19 middle and high school campers. Our team was ecstatic! The ratio of boys to girls was about equal. We decided to split them into two groups (guys & girls)and have them rotate similar to the style we laid out last week. The whole day felt very peaceful. Several of the teachers and volunteers and I were a little apprehensive about this group of kids. Everyone gave us the impression that they would be rough, rude and rebellious. They were pretty much the opposite. Of course, there were a few kids who liked to be the center of attention, but overall everyone was very well behaved. We have added one new thing to the camp since the kids are older. They will be designing and making their own t-shirts for the performance this week. Tomorrow we will see how everything goes!

Recap of Urban Arts Camp Week 1

2008-06-15T22:58:00.012-04:00

I made it through the first week of Urban Arts camp!:) There are so many things that happened throughout the week that are so amazing, I can't even begin to imagine where I should start. So, i'll be typical and start from the beginning (since most of us follow well in chronological order).

As you may have read from my previous entry, there were some major storms coming across Michigan which stole our power from Sunday through Wed. of the last week. (yes, the first week of camp). The neat thing was that we had power at City Mission in Detroit, where the camp was being held.

Early Monday morning, Renee, Vicky, Kathryn, Wally, Linda and I, piled in two cars with all of our supplies and drove the 48 minutes down to City Mission. We held most of our camp in the City Mission Academy building, but art was special and it got it's own house:)

We had about an hour to set everything up before the kids began showing up. The first day of camp, we had 27 kids. I had set the day up to run on rotations. We all started out together and my parents did the object lesson and devotional. Then the kids were divided into 3 groups based on ages and they rotated to music, drama, art and dance. Lunch was in the middle of the day and we came back together for our "closer" of prayer, a song and announcements. All in all it went pretty smoothly. The youngest class was a handful and we had to adjust and add more volunteers to them.

On Tuesday, we had 30 kids show up for camp! That was the expected number so we were excited that all of them came. Each teacher continued to work on projects and look for those "kids who stood out" to give solos or pair up for routines for the performance. After camp that day, I went over with a City Mission lady, Kathy, to take a look at our Friday performance location. A Detroit middle school was allowing us to use their cafeteria/stage room at no cost. It was my first experience in a Detroit public school. To be honest, I was very sad. There was no air, it was old, and there were airport security stations to walk through...in a middle school. I was aware of the conditions via tv and the news, but to actually walk in a USA school and see the conditions first hand, made me hurt. We found the principal and he was a very kind man. He showed us the area we would be able to use. It really was perfect for the size, stage and area to hold the dinner. There were only a few glitches....no sound equipment, no kitchen, no air. I had some scrambling to do to make this work. It was only the Lord that brought everything together so quickly! A friend took off work on Friday, agreed to drive down from Lansing and provide all of his sound equipment and run it for the performance. We used large fans to give us some circulation and Betty, who volunteered to cater the dinner, adapted the meal so it was "mobile" and didn't need a kitchen. All of that was only God!

Wednesday was a tired day for everyone. You could feel it in the kids when they walked in, I felt it, and other teachers were walking around with coffee cups glued to their fingers:) Everything was still running smoothly though. The dances and songs were coming together well and I was beginning to see some attitude changes for the better. Oh yeah, we had 32 kids that day!

Thursday was crunch day. It was our last day to get everything worked out before the performance. For our closer, we had the kids perform for one another and they loved it! The staff from City Mission even came out from their desks and watched.

Friday was laid out totally differently from the entire week. The kids didn't come to City Mission until 12:30. We transported them a few miles away to the middle school for our dress rehearsal. When we arrived at the school, the kids ate lunch and then we did a blocking run through of the performance. It went pretty well. The kids were pretty hot and tired, but troupers. After our run through we set up stations for them to go to before dinner. A friend brought his electric guitar and pedals and took groups to play around on that and show them stuff. We also had an art station set up to do sand art and a "thank you" card section for the kids to write thank you's to their sponsors. It worked pretty well. After that all happened, I took the entire group out into the hallway and showed them my violin and played a little for them, then let some of them play. It's amazing how quite a group of loud kids can get when they are interested in something. I found that when I was showing them my violin. Dinner was at 5pm..it was a smashing hit of tacos and chips and dip. We were worried that the parents wouldn't come. I think someone from every family showed up to support. That was another answer to prayer. When the kids were done with their meal, we took them out into the hallway and passed out their performance t-shirts. A church had donated them last summer. They were very cute--white t's with stars and glitter on them. The performance started about 6pm. They got a standing ovation! My heart was bursting with pride:) Our team did an amazing job!

And that, my friends was our week in the abridged version. I now begin a whole new week with all new kids tomorrow.

10 Minutes of Power

2008-06-10T20:50:00.004-04:00

I have less than 10 minutes of internet usage left before Panera closes, but I have so much to share after the second day of Urban Arts! I'm at Panera becuase on Sunday afternoon most of the county and surrounding counties lost power. It's now Tuesday night and we still have no power. What a way to start the first day of camp! Things have been going really well. We have been handed some challenges, but have sought the Lord and are seeing Him answering. As soon as I am able to take a longer breath and get some power at home, I will be sharing my heart out about the kids at Urban Arts! So for now, i'll keep you wondering and waiting:) Please keep praying for the City Mission kids, teachers and volunteers!!

Pick Up Sticks

2008-06-02T21:38:00.014-04:00

I spent the weekend in Lansing, on a friend's family farm. She and a couple other friends were helping prep stuff for the Urban Arts camps. One of the projects required 100 tree sticks that needed to be a certain length and width. What better place than the woods! Our timing was a little off though when we decided to start. So, to document this adventure better than a suburban girl could tell it:), I thought I'd show some video. Be sure to watch it in order from top to bottom!
It begins at the Brook Farm on Saturday. We are just setting out on the John Deer Gator to get around.

Before you view the next video in the series, let me explain what happened right before we turned the camera on. Melissa and I stepped out of the Gator, toward the pile of sticks and as we did, there was a huge rustle of leaves and the sounds of scurrying animals. It was quite freaky!

The next day after church we were counting the number of sticks we had gathered. Not enough:( That night we went over to a bonfire with some people and decided to pick up sticks on their farm. It was quite late, we were pretty tired, and we couldn't see anything once we got out of the workshop. If you are wondering what my one friend, Brie, is doing, she is singing to the music on the radio that is playing in the shop. It's funny though cause you can't really hear the music and she just looks goofy:)

I thought I'd throw these next couple of short videos in even though you can't see too much, it's part of the adventure you don't want to miss!

When we finally got the trailer full of branches and sticks, Derrick was kind enough to turn on the band saw and cut the sticks to size and cut off all the little knobs.

And that is the story of my weekend. When we get pictures of the actual art project I will be sure to post them so you can see what all of this craziness was for:)

Garage Sale Entertainment

2008-05-23T21:04:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow will start day 7 of the garage sale fundraiser for Urban Arts. I'm pretty exhausted from setting up, tearing down, moving from drive way to drive way, and doing it all over again...but it has been worth it. We have raised nearly 1500.00 over 6 days for the camps! That will cover art supplies, t-shirts, lunches, and a little more!

I have to say though, that I have been able to do something the last few weekends that I rarely make time to do-people watch. What intriguing individuals. I remember one of my assignments in grad school was to people watch. I thought it was hilarious at the time. Once I started the assignment though, my mind was opened to the complexity of the individual. God created some crazy, funny people! It has been amusing, sad, enjoyable, and fun to meet the hundreds of people who have stopped by (or drove slowly by). I may be a little sad for my weekend sales to come to an end. Oh well, off to bigger and better things and the reason I am doing the garage sales in the first place!-Urban Arts Camps!:)

An Unknown Hero

2008-05-22T21:45:00.003-04:00

As I was going through our family's library I came across an old envelope. In the envelope were aged, torn newspaper articles. As I tried to decipher the articles, I realized it was some of my family history. I was so proud as I read the obituary of my great-great grandfather on my father's side of the family that I thought I would share it. How blessed I am to have a family who came from Christian heritage.

"Mr. W. T. Stapler died at his home in this city at noon Friday of last week-March the 19th, 1926, following an illness of several weeks duration. It had been known for sometime that it was only a question of time until the Christian patriot would reach the end of the journey and enter a land where disease and suffering are unknown. He was a patient sufferer, and inasmuch as the inevitable could not be forestalled it was a comfort to the members of the family to see him cross the river on placid waters without a struggle and as peacefully as a babe asleep in its mothers arms. At his bedside stood the companion of his long and useful life who had been to him a companion in every sense of the word and also his children and grand children scattered here and there in different states, were near him to witness the transition from all that is mortal and earthly to a realm to immortality and heavenly atmosphere.

He first saw the light of day near the spot where he bid farewell to the world that was all bright and new to him, when near 74 years ago, he was born within a few miles of this place. All of these years he has lived and labored and while he traveled much here and there...(newspaper clipping torn here)...but one place that (...torn again)...him, and that was the community in which he was born and where he planned to die and be buried.

Fifty two years ago, he was united in marriage to Miss Harriett Elizabeth Burns, who survives him, and to the parents, God has given the following surviving children: Mrs. Emma Jackson of Miami Fla., Mr. Odell Stapler of Mobile, Ala., Mrs. Gussie Lowe (my great grandmother) , of Washington, Ga., Mr. Carl Stapler of Meridian Miss., and Miss Hallie Stapler, the youngest daughter and baby girl.

He has been a loyal member of the Presbyterian church and a devoted Christian practically all his life. For possibly fifty years he has been an elder in the Presbyterian church. During all these years he has gone in and out before the world and his brethrenments. No shadow has fallen across his pathway by reason of a fatal moral or religious blunder. And yet he was the soul of the highest quality of natural witticism. He loved the sunny side of life and lived it. It may be a difficult matter to find pleasure in writing of the death of any person, but if it is ever either possible or permissible, it would be in this instance. For: "How blest the righteous when he dies, When sinks a weary soul to rest." He possessed the happy faculty of making friends and holding them. In all probability he has never had what might be termed an enemy. Everybody loved "Tom" Stapler who knew him. He represented B. F. Avery & Son, manufacturers of implements for thirty five years, and the manager in a letter a few days ago paid a high compliment of Mr. Stapler, stating that of all their traveling salesmen no one was held in higher esteem than was Mr. Stapler. He paid exceptionally high tribute to his consistent and outstanding life as a Christian gentleman.

Well, there's nobody left in Commerce to take the place of Tom Stapler. His was an outstanding personality. We shall miss him, but we know where to find him."

The article went on to share the details of the funeral and burial.

As the Ruin Falls

2008-05-20T20:43:00.000-04:00

All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through:
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin:
I talk of love --a scholar's parrot may talk Greek--
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything you are was making
My heart into a bridge by which I might get back
From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.

For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains
You give me are more precious than all other gains.
CS Lewis

Sista Circle Class 7-PERFORMANCE

2008-05-17T21:16:00.006-04:00

"My arm hurts." "Well, you can still get up there and sing." "My throat is really sore." (said in a raspy voice) "Well, you can just mouth the words." "I think I broke my toe." "Then I will help you up on the stage and hold your hand."

I heard these excuses for first 30 minutes while the girls were waiting to go on stage. They were nervous, as was I, but I new it would be a good experience for them. After a long wait, the girls ended the program with their reading of the Maya Angelou poem and singing a Kirk Franklin song. The poem went pretty well. The sound wasn't that great, due to the system, but the girls stuck with it. The song started off really well, then all of the sudden, they came in a measure early and wham...the words were off with the music. I do have to say that they continued to sing and had great attitudes all the way through. Even if the performance wasn't perfect, i'm happy the girls got up there in front of the audience and did a great job! Here are some pictures to enjoy from that night.Laura, Eyvette and me after the performance.(Renee not pictured)
Sista 2 Sista Group with their paper plate awards.
Reading the poem.

Sista Circle Class 6-Dress Rehearsal

2008-05-08T20:03:00.002-04:00

I took a big breath, said a quick prayer and walked into the building. Chaos--the girls from my class were coming down the stairs from our classroom as Renee and I were going up. The teacher before us never showed up so the girls were "doin' their own thing"..(whatever that was). We had to round everyone up and go up three flights of stairs to our room. I said another prayer. I really needed to have a better night with the girls. This was our last night of class and rehearsal before next week's performance. Well, the Lord answered my prayers because the night went pretty well. The girls got down the song and we really worked hard on the poem. Attitudes were fairly good throughout the night. So, next week we will see how many of the girls will show up. I hope all of them, but some were threatening not to because of being scared or embarrassed. I know they will do a great job!

No Such Thing as Little Miracles

2008-05-03T23:53:00.003-04:00

As I was thinking back about how my day unfolded, I was thanking God for the little miracle He gave me. Then I stopped. I thought, who am I to call a miracle little? There is no such thing as a miracle being little. A miracle is one of the biggest signs that our God is still alive and well and answering our prayers! Even if I think my request is little.

Today was the first garage sale for Urban Arts. The weatherman was calling for rain all day. The day before had rain and the storms were suppose to continue throughout Saturday. We really needed this garage sale. So, I prayed all week and asked the Lord to hold the rains off. All day I continued to glance at the sky and thank the Lord for the clouds, sun, and wind. It wasn't until 2:58pm that we felt our first drops of rain.

You may be thinking, it's just rain. But as I sit here typing this entry tonight and the rain is pounding against my window, I am reminded that God gave me my miracle today and it wasn't a little miracle; it was a miracle!

Sista Circle Class 5-backtrack?

2008-04-30T22:08:00.005-04:00

As a teacher I've had good teaching days and bad teaching days. I admit, sometimes it's me, and sometimes it's the students. Last night was a rough night for Renee and me. As focused as the girls were the previous week, they were the opposite this week. Talking all the time, not respecting us or one another. It was very frustrating and difficult. Knowing that we only have one more class before our performance didn't help either. But as I tried to maintain order with the girls, it crossed my mind that everyone has these kind of days. I have no idea what events happened during the day to create the class we had last night, but being consistent and showing them love had to happen no matter what. At the end of class, one little girl, Portia, came up to me and gave me a big hug. She thanked me for teaching and being there. Once again, it made it all worth it. We took some pictures with the entire program last night as well. I've included some of those for you to take a look at.

Who Am I?

2008-04-24T21:34:00.001-04:00

It's rare that I put a video up and I am pretty critical when it is a dramatized video, but this one caught my attention. The words to the song, the message that it delivers, and the creative way it is delivered is worth watching till the end.

Psalm 145:6-8

2008-04-23T11:26:00.002-04:00

"They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. The LORD is gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and rich in love." Ps 145:6-8

This verse hit me in a new way today when I read it. How powerful yet loving our God is to allow us to serve and worship Him. I pray that through every child I work with for Urban Arts, the power of God's awesome works and his great deed will be shown through celebrating His goodness and singing praises.

Sista Circle Class 4-FOCUS

2008-04-22T22:03:00.003-04:00

We were in a different location for Sister Circle tonight. A whole new venue. Once in a while the church isn't available for us to use so we get bumped to another location. It's not a bad thing, but it's definitely more challenging as a teacher. You see, we all have comfort zones. We are creatures of habit. Once we get use to something, we open up a little more; take risks. Last week I saw evidence of that. The girls began to open up and focus.

This week the FOCUS was hard to see. We were in a new environment, a bigger room, more activity going on with people passing through the room. I wish I could get these girls to see how important it is to have focus; to keep it and how to use it. Again, I am reminded that I must be patient and see the Lord work over time. These life skills are not something that any of us learn in 2 hours. So, that being said, I worked on a Maya Angelou poem and only got through the first stanza. I'm pretty sure very few of the girls had every "analyzed" poetry before. But that is basically what I was doing..walking them through the poem and helping them understand it. I have 3 weeks left for them to understand it, learn it, and memorize it before the performance. It will only be the Lord's doing!:)

Sista Circle class 3-beginning of breakthrough!

2008-04-15T21:58:00.004-04:00

At the end of class tonight, my eyes were misted over. I felt the Lord giving us breakthrough! But, let me back up. Renee, my teaching partner, wasn't able to come down to CDC tonight so another mutual friend stepped in for her. Laura is great! She is really good with the girls and she's got a great voice so it worked out well.

Before Laura and I got going, Evette held the bible study with the girls. The topic was on friends: how to be a true friend, what a Godly friend is, etc. The girls were a bit rowdy, and it seemed like we were stopping every 45 seconds to get them to stop talking or being rude. I know it takes time to break bad habits, but I don't know that these girls are held to the high standards we hold them to during any other part of the week. And if that's the case, will only 2 hours a week make a difference? I can only pray that it does. A good example that Evette came up with was how there was a crack in our sister circle. She asked the girls to identify the cracks. Several of the girls gave very observant responses. When she finished sharing, I transitioned into the music part of the evening. We are teaching them the Kirk Franklin version of "Our God is an Awesome God". Laura did a great job with it! There are two girls who don't like to participate. I haven't figured them out yet, but I'm really praying that God will show me how to connect with them. I continued to work on pantomiming again this week. I think the girls are getting the hang of it, except they can't do it without at least one of them talking...go figure:)

The class was about over, but I had brought a Maya Angelou poem, Touched by an Angel, to share with the girls. I wasn't sure how it would go. Some kids either love poetry or hate it. Those that hate it are the ones who usually don't understand it. (that was me for a portion of my life). So, I prefaced the whole thing with "you may not understand what you are about to hear but give it a chance". I recited the poem interpretively. The girls actually clapped. Now, I don't tell you that because I'm all proud and happy about my little performance. I share that because that response told me that they "got it". I know some were a little confused, but they appreciated it. If they appreciate it, I can teach it more easily! I gave each girl a copy of the poem to take home to study. I'm excited to work through it with them next week. That isn't why my eyes were misted over though. I asked for a volunteer to pray. Several girls raised their hands. The first young lady said she just had something to say. So I let her. She said how grateful she was to be in the class with the other girls. Then another girl raised her hand and asked to say a word. She thanks us for coming and taking the time to share with them. Hearing those two girls make everything worth it. I only see them 2 hours a week, but the Lord is moving in the lives of each of these girls and He is graciously allowing me to be an instrument. I stand in awe.

Urban Arts Supply List

2008-04-10T16:37:00.006-04:00

Urban Arts has an awesome set of camps planned for this summer! Several individuals have been asking how they can help support us. There are two ways.

1. Sponsor a child for a week of camp. The cost is $70.00.
Checks should be made out to START Ministries, a 501-c3 organization, and the memo should say "Urban Arts".

Mail the check to START Ministries. You will find the address on the website.

Use Paypal on the START Ministries website. Please follow instructions carefully: the initials KBH should be written after your last name when using PayPal in order for credit to be given to Urban Arts.
Donate through Facebook for the Urban Arts Cause

2. Donate items on the following list:
t-shirts
silk screening paint
Water color paper
Water color paints
Water color brushes(good ones)
Plaster of Paris
Small color photo printer and ink
4x6 photo paper
2 CD players
300 CD-R disks
8 cans of silly string
Bag of Confetti
100 Party Hats
100 brown paper lunch sacks
White Board/easel/markers/eraser/cleaner
colored gaffer tape
Mini-DV tapes for video camera
juice boxes(100)
cookies
Snacks(Goldfish, fruit snacks, etc.)
sandwich makings
spaghetti noodles
spaghetti sauce
paper products(cups, napkins, plates, silverware) for 300
Gift Cards to Gas stations, Sam's Club, Michael's, ITunes, Amazon.com, Walmart

Sista Circle Class 2

2008-04-09T22:11:00.002-04:00

Last night I was in Detroit to teach the girls at CDC. We flipped things around and had the devotional first followed by the drama and music time. I'm really glad we did because this gave me a whole other perspective on the lives of these young girls. I can't get some of the things they said out of my mind. It just keeps playing over and over again like there is a continuous rewind and play button. My heart aches for some of these girls. They are looking in the wrong direction for love, acceptance and self-respect. The devotional was on Provers 10:12 " Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs." It was interesting to see the girls begin to talk about hatred. I could actually see so much in a few of the girls. There was one girl who took a leadership role and began to discuss the passage. I think she is going to be one who is a really good influence on some of the girls. After the devotional, I split the girls up into 3 groups (we had 15 girls this week!) and had them create a group pantomime. I think they enjoyed it. It took so long to get them quiet after each "practice time" that we only had time for each group to perform twice. Renee then took over and worked on music rhythm, notes and breathing. I know that there are some girls that don't want to be there or they don't enjoy one of the elements of the evening, but I hope at the end of the 7 weeks, Christ is presented and they find their love and purpose in Him.

Boutique Shopping for a Good Cause

2008-04-06T17:20:00.002-04:00

Thanks to a generous contact in Michigan.... We have a great fundraiser where you can purchase women's accessories and help women around the world! Mother's day is just around the corner, graduations are quickly approaching and birthdays are every month! This is an easy way to shop for these special events.

If you make a purchase on www.boutiquetou.com between now and April 25th Widows Might Ministries will receive 20% of the sales profit!

The money will then go to caring for the needs of the widows and their children in Nigeria, Mali, Ghana, Kenya and Siberia.

An additional 10% will go to Katie Beth Hostetter's Urban Arts ministry that is starting this summer and will conduct 3 weeks of inner city visual/performing arts camps in Detroit with kids who desperately need a hope and purpose for their lives!

IMPORTANT: WHEN CHECKING OUT ONLINE, PLEASE WRITE "Widow's Might Ministry" IN THE COMMENT BOX. (if this isn't done, no credit will be given!!)

Also, come to the warehouse and take a look at the goods in person! On April 26th from 1-4 pm Boutiques for You will donate 20% of the sales to Widow's Might Ministry.

Sista 2 Sista class 1

2008-04-01T23:55:00.002-04:00

I just got back from my first evening with 10 awesome middle school girls who live in Detroit. CDC, Central Detroit Christian, has a great program going where dinner is provided, tutors are available, basketball is open court, and different types of classes are offered on each Tuesday night. My friend Renee, who is helping with the Urban Arts, and I volunteered to teach a 7 week class to get these girls interested in the arts. I have to say that they seemed pretty interested, they just had not had the exposure to it. I guess both of the middle schools they came from cut the music and drama programs. So, I started off with explaining pantomime and demonstrating one. We had some fun with that. Then the girls started practicing with me. We played a drama game and then it was Renee's turn to do the music side of it. She warmed them up, explained the importance of correct breathing and we did some fun vocal exercises. She worked on rhythm and introduced a song that we will do for the performance. All in all, it was a good night and flew by! I am praying and hoping that these are some of the girls who can come to the camp this summer.

Sister to Sister

2008-03-26T15:44:00.003-04:00

I'm really excited to be a part of the Sister to Sister program at Central Detroit Christian Ministry this April and May. I will be driving to Detroit on Tuesday nights to teach drama and music for middle school kids who live in the city. The classes start April 1st! Keep me in your prayers! I'll keep ya updated on how things are going. This is a volunteer program that will also get my foot in the door for Urban Arts this summer. Exciting!

Why Direct?

2008-03-16T13:12:00.016-04:00

It's been a while since i've last updated what I have been up to, but this is the first chance i've had to sit down and think clearly about what i've been doing myself!:) Upon arriving home (Michigan) safely from Thailand, I spent a couple of days doing laundry, repacking, and in meetings for Urban Arts before I hopped in my car to drive to Washington D.C. I got into D.C. pretty exhausted, jet lagged, and trying to figure out why I said yes to directing a play 3 days after I flew in from Thailand. But after some much needed sleep and a "first" rehearsal with the cast, I knew I had made the right decision!

I had 4 1/2 weeks to pull off a full production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was a success! We had a lot of laughs during our practices and some pretty special moments. Enjoy the pictures and if you're interested in purchasing a DVD of the production let me know!

Ministry Day

2008-02-07T13:32:00.007-05:00

Grace International School offers a neat ending to their spiritual emphasis week. The 7th through 12th graders are involved in what is called Ministry Day. Each class prepares to do ministry somewhere in Chaing Mai or a surrounding village. The 8th grade actually went on a 3 day 2 night ministry weekend. I chose to tag with the Seniors. We rode in Songtows(phonetically spelled:) and there were about 10 of us in the vehicle. They chose to serve at a village (Mooban) school about 45 minutes outside of Chaing Mai. I still have no idea how to pronounce the village or school name. (If you read Thai, have at it!) The children greeted us with a traditional Buddhist dance for boys and girls when we first arrived. This was a traditional Buddist school for preschool through 5th grade. We played games, made art, taught Christian songs and loved on the kids. This was only the second time a "white" Christian group was allowed to come into the community to do this kind of service. We observed their culture by following the leaders of the village on a walking tour of the Mooban and Wat(temple). When we returned from the walking tour we played with the children a little while longer. We were suppose to help clean up the area and do some physical work but it was very wet and rainy therefore the weather didn't allow us to do that. At the end of our time there, one of the students from GIS asked if we could pray for the school and students. The principal allowed several of the students to pray for everyone. What a break through!

Wrapping it up

2008-02-06T09:35:00.000-05:00

The last few days in Thailand showed me that the Lord really used our ministry and I was suppose to go. I now look back and laugh at the fear I had of traveling to Thailand. I really laugh at the comment I made a few months ago that I would rather go to Nigeria than Thailand. I'm pretty sure the fear I was facing was spiritual.

So the last day that I spoke was on Thursday afternoon. I taught the kids about another lie Satan throws our way called the Blame Game. After recapping the previous lessons and ending the Blame Game talk, I was pretty sad it was over. I felt like I could have spent another few sessions delving in even deeper. That evening, the students had a bonfire on the grounds. Unfortunately, it started raining, but that didn't make a difference to these kids! It was one of the neatest worship times I have been involved in. The students were so passionate and real about their faith. After singing several songs, students came up to the open mic and began giving testimonies about how God spoke to them this week. It was so encouraging to me to hear how the Lord used my words and spoke into individuals.

Spiritual Revival and a Scooter

2008-01-29T22:26:00.000-05:00

I feel like the Lord is moving on kids hearts. Last night we had more people show up to the evening session. The worship band consists of students and is completely student run. They have such a heart for worshiping the Lord. I had the privilege of playing the violin with them. Mike Wood, the spiritual life director, found an 11th grader who was willing to part with her instrument for a few days and let me play it. I had a lot of fun and I think they were happy with it too. After the teaching, my dad called the band back up and as we were playing I could really feel the presence of the Lord. The kids didn't want to stop singing. They were down front just worshiping. It was lovely.

This morning I spoke once again in the middle and high school chapel. I entitled my teaching "the approval addict". It dealt with the fear of rejection and where we find our approval. I took the kids through the practical side with some biblical integration and my dad came up and closed the time with a scriptural challenge.

On a side note, yesterday I went on a motorcycle/scooter for the very first time. It was different. A bike is the most common mode of transportation here. I have actually scene women on the back of the bike sitting "side saddle", putting on make up. I've also seen drivers on their cell phone. I was doing good just to stay centered on the bike! I think if I had been driving it would have been a different story though:)

SEW

2008-01-29T00:32:00.001-05:00

Spiritual Emphasis Week, SEW, is going well so far. We are in day 2 of 5. Yesterday my dad spoke in high school chapel introducing the theme for the week. Then in the evening we had about 100 teens and adults come out for a continuation of the teaching. Our theme is Making it Count. So last night was Making it Count: Forgiveness. My dad did the majority of the teaching and I facilitated the small group discussion time as well as giving an illustration and closing out the night.

This morning I spoke to the high school for an hour on "The Performance Trap"-not letting our significance be based on our success in life. I know that some of them really understood it and it made an impact, but I hope that those who sit there without any expression will be broken and come into a greater relationship with the Lord. Tonight we are talking about Perseverance. I'm doing a skit with some of the kids and am excited to see how it turns out. (If you remember about the broken glass door, hopefully we won't have any accidents this time:)!

Farang in Chaing Mai

2008-01-27T22:16:00.000-05:00

I am called a Farang, or foreigner, here in Thailand. It's not a bad thing to call a foreigner that, but I find it fun to say:) This weekend I was able to build my vocabulary (phonetically only) in Thai. I know how to say "yes, no, hello, thank you, my name is, my mom, my dad," and that's about it so far. It is a tonal language so it has been interesting to hear how "hello" is said to a man vs. a woman.

On Friday morning my dad spoke to the high school for chapel. We spent the rest of the day preparing for this week and revamping the lectures. It was really good for me to see and get a feel for the school and students before this week of speaking started. On Friday night we went with a group of students to Agape House, a home for HIV positive children. Each student from Grace International School who went had "adopted" a child at Agape House. When we pulled in, the kids at Agape ran up to their "adopted big brother or sister" and pulled them right to the play ground or somewhere they wanted to play. I had a little girl named Bow approach me and immediately go for my video camera. She looked somewhat responsible, so I showed her how to work it and she videoed the rest of the time we were there. She loved it! I don't know how much English she spoke or understood, but that piece of technology brought us pretty close and it was so neat.

Saturday was our "tourist" day since the rest of the week is pretty well filled with working and ministry. It's kind of weird to me, because I don't normally do "tourist" day with my parents when we are on a trip. That is something we take our teams to experience. But, the people here were adamant that we were to experience the Thai culture. So, we went to an elephant camp. I didn't really know what to expect. It was absolutely amazing! First we went to ride the elephants. My elephant was 32 years old. It was quite bumpy, but not uncomfortable. I videoed the whole ride, but it sure doesn't give the full feel for the experience. After the 30 min. ride, we walked to the baby elephant nursery. They were so cute! One of the care takers brought out an over sized soccer ball and I was able to kick it back and forth with the baby elephant. We walked over to the restaurant and had a bite to eat. (on a side note, I really have enjoyed the food here) I had chicken and pineapple fried rice. Tasty:) After lunch we attended the elephant show. I was absolutely amazed at the variety of things that elephants can do. They actually had them painting pretty flower pictures with their trunks. Crazy, I know! I bought one that looks like a flag. I'm planning on using it for the Urban Arts ministry this summer and the up coming years. I think when I show the kids the video of an elephant painting a picture and then show them the actual picture, they will get a kick out of it. I also enjoyed a coconut and it's water during the show. It was pretty rich and the meat of the coconut was different than what I have had in the states. It was very flabby. But it still tasted like traditional coconut. We ended the day at a family's home for dinner. It was nice spending time with a few missionary families, finding out what they do here and how God is using them.

Sunday we attended Chaing Mai Christian Fellowship. My dad preached and we had a great time of worship. In the afternoon the Bolands, our hosts, took us to get a traditional Thai massage. It was absolutely amazing! The crazy part is that it was 150 Baht for 1 hour. That is about a $5.00 massage! I was in shock! Sunday evening one of the teachers my age called and asked if I wanted to go to the night market. I guess it is only on Sunday nights and is open until midnight. It was one of the most crowded places I have every been. The shopping is so unbelievably inexpensive. They barter, but I felt bad even bartering because it would be pennies that I would end up paying for an item. I found my one item I look for in every country, a traditional musical instrument. I purchased a teak wood, Thai mandolin. The man was so cute who sold it to me. He wanted to play every song he knew to show me that it had a good quality sound. I just wanted to purchase the thing, but he was set on playing every song he knew. I think the neatest thing was being able to climb the old Chaing Mai fortress wall and taking pictures of the evening. By the time I got home, it was late and I hit the hay for our early morning.

Made it to Thailand

2008-01-24T09:45:00.000-05:00

I made it! I'm in Chaing Mai, Thailand. In the 28 hours since I've been here, I can say that I love it so far! So let me back up and finish the story of how I finally got here.

I finally flew out of Los Angeles at 1 am on Tuesday morning. It ended up that so many people were frustrated they had to be delayed so long, they booked another flight. We had about 50 people on our huge aircraft! Each person had a row to themselves. We arrived in Bangkok at 12:30 pm and had an airline attendant meet us at the gate. She took us to a holding area to check our tickets and give us vouchers for food since our flight was delayed to Chaing Mai. The airport was very clean and modern. (much nicer the LAX) Our flight to Chaing Mai finally departed at 3:35pm. As we were boarding the plane, an attendant who took our tickets said that we needed a different ticket. I was thinking, you've got to be kidding me. I guess the ticket they issued in LA wasn't the correct type of ticket and they weren't going to let us board. Finally a supervisor said we could board but that she would contact us in Chaing Mai for the correct boarding pass. I almost laughed outloud. How in the world would she contact us, and where in the world would we get the "correct ticket number". I figured that, hey, we got on the plane so that's all that matters.

We arrived in Chaing Mai and our luggage also made it! I was relieved! The Bolands, a couple who teach at Grace International School, picked us up at the airport. We arrived at their home, which is absolutely gorgeous! After we freshened up, 3 teachers from the school took us out to dinner at an amazing restaurant. It was all open with waterfalls and flowers. It was a traditional Thai restaurant. I ordered a soft tofu with sweet and sour sauce. It was interesting because you would think that a tofu dish would be vegetarian. But it came with chicken and a lot of veggies. I loved it! We got back to the Bolands home around 9:30pm and I went straight to bed. I got up at 6:30am and we left for the school at 7:15am. My mom spoke in elementary chapel this morning, we got a tour of the school, and in the evening we met with the student council leaders and chapel leaders. They are a great bunch of kids! They really shared their hearts with us tonight. Tomorrow we do high school chapel and the list goes on.:)

Delayed

2008-01-21T14:26:00.001-05:00

I should be on an airplane right now somewhere near Chaing Mai, Thailand, but I'm not. Here's the low down....Arrive at LAX 6:45 pm. Takes 45 minutes to check in. Go eat dinner before we get on the 19 hr. plane ride. Go through security. Find LAX Bradley terminal to be dirty, under construction and very third world. I think I actually had culture shock in the bathrooms. Crazy, I know, but true. I went to look for the duty free shops--alcohol, cigarettes and magazines...that's it! So, that wasn't very entertaining.

We were to board at 8:50 pm. 9:30 departure. 9:30pm rolls around and an announcement is made that the entertainment center isn't working and there will be a 10 minute delay. 10 min. goes by, another announcement-30 more minutes. They bring out sodas and pretzels to ease those in the crowd who are getting axious. 30 minutes go by--another announcement--new departure time at 11:00pm. 10:50 pm comes about and new announcement--flight is cancelled. CANCELLED! Then continues the saga....we ECONOMY class get in one line and give our name. We then sit around for our name to be called to get our hotel voucher. I put headphones in and listed to music. About 30 minutes later, before I knew it, everyone was standing up and leaving. No announcement, nothing! Gathering my things together, shutting down my computer, I hurried to the back of the pack with my parents. We went back through security, outside and waited for the bus to take us to the hotel. Now, here's the funny thing. Our buses were delayed! Since I was in the back of the pack, I was on the fourth bus. When I got to the hotel(which was the Renaissance Hotel..very classy!) I waited in yet another line to check in. All in all..I put my head on the pillow at 2 AM.

Now here's the reason i'm happy all of that happened-I opened up my computer this morning and freaked out. It was acting really weird and nothing I did was working. This computer is the one I'm using for all of my teaching in Thailand. AHHHHHH!!! So since my new flight time is not until 6 pm tonight, I went to the front desk and found an Apple store 6 miles away. I walked in, explained my situation, almost got on my knees since they didn't have any more openings to look at my computer, and the nice apple techie showed mercy. He typed a few things, held a few buttons down and whalah...macbook healed! Thank you Jesus:) Now, i'm sitting outside of the store using their free wifi trying to pass the few hours left before I have to sit in the nasty airport again. If all turns out the way it's replanned, I should arrive in Thailand a day late.

Rest and Recoup in LA

2008-01-20T19:33:00.000-05:00

My day is almost over in Los Angeles. My flight arrived at 11pm last night from Nicaragua. It took over 2 hours to get our bags in customs. I'm just glad all the bags arrived! By the time I got to the hotel it was nearly 2am pacific time so my body was telling me it was 4am! Today I was able to do some laundry at the hotel, review my talks for Thailand and sleep a little. I was spoiled too because I'm able to watch the Greenbay/Giants game right now:) I'm headed to the lobby to print out the boarding passes where I will spend over 19 hours in the air to get to Thailand. Praise God for planes I guess! Keep me in your prayers!

Day of Rest

2008-01-19T14:45:00.000-05:00

Today has been a nice day to recoup from the week of ministry in Bluefields. We are staying at a Best Western hotel across from the airport in Managua. They have nice rooms, a good place to eat and a pool. It's pretty hot here, so it feels really good to swim! In just a few hours we will walk over to the airport and hop on a plane to L.A. via El Salvador.

Made it to Managua

2008-01-18T22:32:00.000-05:00

I'm at the end of the first leg of my trip. I flew into Managua, Nicaragua this morning with our team. We had a great week! I'll do a brief recap from where I left off since the last note.

On Wednesday we continued working on the musical with the kids at the church. It was a full day, but exciting to see them on the stage. I didn't know if they would ever be quiet though. My favorite phrase was "silencio!" After lunch with the kids, we let them decorate picture frames, then get dressed up in their costume and get a polaroid picture taken that they could take home. The kids absolutely loved it! Straight after camp, another girl, Darcy, and I took a taxi to another church, Verbo, where my mom was holding the widow's conference. There I filmed the conference, helped set up the meals and tables, handed out gifts and ministered to the ladies. We had 52 widows and abandoned women attend from 4 different churches. It was very special.

Thursday morning we got up bright and early. We got to the church and started in right away with the kids on practicing the music. We were only going to have them through lunch since the performance was that night. Thursday evening came and it was amazing! We had nearly 80 kids on stage. I know that it was only the Lord who got us through that!:) Especially since I didn't always have a translator and was using my broken Spanish to try and communicate with the kids. The church was full with family and people from the community. One pastor said this was the first time something like this had ever been done. It was definitely a success!

Now i'm back at our hotel in Managua enjoying a room with good cold air and wireless connection. Tomorrow we(my parents and I) will walk across the street to the airport and catch our evening flight to LA. We'll be in LA for a day and then get on the plane for a LONG time to fly over to Thailand.

ode to a spanish keyboard

2008-01-15T19:37:00.000-05:00

ok..so i´m not writing an ode, but i sure am typing on a spanish keyboard and it´s really messing me up.
enough of that! I am have safely arrived in Bluefields, Nicaragua. I flew in to Managua and got into my hotel at 2 am on Sunday morning. My next flight left at 6 am so i had to be at the local aiport at 4:45 am. There they weigh you and your carry on to make sure the plane won´t crash. I´ll post pictures of the plane later and you´ll understand. 3 of the other team members luggage had not arrived but we couldn´t sit around for it so we prayed and hoped it would get to us on the other side of the country. When we landed in Bluefields NONE of our luggage arrived! Later that night though, we were so happy to see it.

Sunday night we went to church. Actually our team split up and went to 2 different churches. I went with my parents where my dad preached and we had a 2 1-2 hour service. It was very good.

On Monday morning we were up at 6:30 to walk to breakfast at the church and then invite the kids to our program. We had over 50 kids show up the first day. It went really well. We served the kids lunch and then worked more on the musical and crafts after lunch time. At 3pm they went home and we cleaned up the church.

The weather is very humid right now, pretty hot too. I´m basically soaked by the end of the work day..along with everyone else. But none of us care because we all smell the same.

Well, my time is up on this paid computer in the clean, but very humid open air lobby of our hotel. hope to catch you up again shortly!

Starting the Journey

2008-01-12T22:03:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting in the Ft. Lauderdale airport waiting for zone 1 to be called. I flew in today at 9:35 am and my connecting flight leaves at 11:00 pm. What a day. The sun was enjoyable(we didn't stay in the airport all day). I can feel the heat and humidity difference though because I've had a dull headache all day. Although, that may be from a lack of sleep as well. The flight to Managua is suppose to be 2 1/2 hours. We will arrive 12:30am, central time zone, and have to leave for our next flight to Bluefields at 6:00am. I'm trying to get some shut eye anywhere I can. I kind of feel like i'm on the amazing race:)...just no prize money at the end. Well, it looks like the airline attendant is ready to board us. Hopefully I can get some sleep and be rested for tomorrow. We have church and a meeting with the sunday school teachers. We will also be planning and preparing for the camp. Gotta run....

And the whirlwind has begun....

2008-01-10T23:06:00.000-05:00

To catch you up on the last few weeks (since I was determined to be a more consistant blogger in 2008):) I will write the abridged version, so not to bore you, and then look ahead to the future.

My bringing in of the new year was lovely. I was able to spend it with my family and friends. I then focused my attention for one day on the sales. The sales, mind you, were not to benefit my wardrobe, but the play I am directing in D.C. in March. I love to look for set items, props and costumes and what better time than during the sales!

Shortly thereafter, I flew to Maryland for auditions. I'm directing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. When I wasn't listening to kids sing the Oompa Loompa song(which I now have memorized) I was working on the ministry podcast for Prayer Stations (which will hopefully be out sometime late summer). I flew back 5 days later and you are now up to date with the first few weeks of my new year.

Tomorrow I will be running around like crazy, packing, writing, working and getting things squared away because I'll be gone for about 3 weeks. I leave on Saturday for Nicaragua. I'll be co-leading a trip to Bluefields where we will direct a children's musical in Spanish. Now, I know the next question that popped into your mind was, "Does Katie speak Spanish?" No. Well, a little. Enough to get around and understand people...somewhat...but not enough to teach the musical. That's what our brilliant translators are for!:)

After a week in Nicaragua, I'll fly to LA, rest for part of a day, and get on a plane for Chaing Mai, Thailand. My parents and I are going to speak at Grace International School for the spiritual emphasis week. We are there for about 2 weeks doing ministry.

As always, I'll try to get online when I get out of the country, but that proves to be difficult most of the time, so i'll journal and then update when I get back.

Reason to Live

2007-12-16T16:19:00.000-05:00

I came across this video and think it's a great example of the struggles teenagers are going through today. Praise God that we have a Christ to save us from everything our sinful nature chooses to do.

I'm one step on the road!

2007-12-13T23:10:00.000-05:00

I had a great meeting with a family friend tonight. He took all of the ideas about Urban Arts that were swirling around in my head and created a packet of information that will inspire others to catch the vision. I gave Craig the information a few months ago and he nailed it! I'm so excited to show people. This packet helps paint the picture of the ministry in such a way that I don't have to say much. (Although, we all know that won't happen:)

I am also in contact with an acquaintance from college who works in graphics. He is starting to brainstorm with me and work on a logo design for Urban Arts.

This is such a long road to walk on, but I am so excited to finally see the pavement!

Summer Plans in Detroit

2007-12-12T22:56:00.000-05:00

I've been working hard this last month. Obviously neglecting my blogging, but I now have something worth blogging about:) I have been working with a friend of mine on developing a ministry called Urban Arts. Working with at-risk children in the inner city of Detroit through various mediums of art. I have met with 3 different ministries who listened, encouraged and showed interest in partnering with Urban Arts this summer. There is one ministry that I am very impressed with and will hopefully be doing more work with on a regular basis.

This Friday I meet with a lawyer about all of the legalities and paperwork to get a non-profit going. It's necessary, but not something I'm looking forward to. He has agreed to meet with us at no cost as well. What an answer to prayer!

I will be spending the weekend in a prayer and planning retreat with my friend, Renee as we look ahead at the summer and beyond. Lot's to do!

Denver-days 2,3,4

2007-11-02T15:28:00.001-04:00

So much has happened the past few days I haven't been able to get onto the computer! Yesterday was a pretty neat day. We drove to Orchard Road Church which is where Marylin Hickey's ministry is located. The church use to be an indoor mall and the inside has been transformed into a beautiful church. We walked in and began filming without any problems. The only problem that I was running into was the quality of sound. (That's always an issue!) We realized that we needed a boom mic. Now, where in the world would we find one?

SIDE NOTE: I actually looked online for a while before we came out here to try and find one we could borrow or rent and came up with nothing! Several contact didn't come through, so we decided we would go without.

Obviously, we needed one. Especially when we began to tape outside. Half of the the day was gone, but my dad and I got on our phones and began calling through the yellow pages. My dad was referred to a company in Denver that rents the type of equipment we needed. When we got to the warehouse, I realized that is was a very reputable business. They had serviced people in the movie and television industry. And here we come, little peons, asking to rent a boom mic and the instructions. As we were filling out paperwork, we realized we may have a problem. Our flight out of Colorado is on Sunday. They aren't open on Saturday and Sunday. It was Thursday afternoon that we were getting the equipment. The owner, Dean, said, "That's ok, I'll give you my cell and home number and you can call me and I'll meet you somewhere on Sunday." Plus, we also found out that the other guy who was helping us is a Christian.

God sure does work in neat ways, just when we need them!

We then went back to the church and taped outside and inside with the new mic.

Today, we drove to the hotel where another part of the documentary was to be filmed. We walked into the lobby and began filming. There were a lot of business conferences going on, but everyone was very pleasant. As soon as my mom finished her last take, we heard a lady shout, "Hallelujah!" from a nearby room. My mom, dad and I all looked at one another with wide eyes. This lady had been listening to my mom through her different takes and said that she was just so filled up with the Lord! I'm just amazed at how God uses different situations and people to encourage one another!

Denver-Day 1

2007-10-31T16:51:00.001-04:00

I'm in Denver, CO right now. I'm filming for a future documentary for Widow's Might Ministry Int'l. Yesterday we went to the World Prayer Center and Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. Yesterday evening I met with a pastor and his wife for dinner. We talked about all of the ministries my family is involved with and I was able to share my vision of the Urban Arts Center. They seemed interested in it! Exciting.

Make Up Counter Meeting

2007-10-20T22:11:00.000-04:00

My mom and I went to Nordstrom's today for me to exchange some make up. You know how they always have people standing in the aisles wanting to do your face? Well, I typically try to avoid eye contact so as to avoid being swayed into a makeup chair. On our way out, it didn't work. I made eye contact. I smiled. I said "sure". I sat in a chair. I felt make up going on my face. Now, after all of that, I am a girl and do love new stuff:) Sooo, it wasn't as bad as i'm making it sound. But here is the point of my story. No, I didn't by anything. BUT, as I was talking with the 20-something, make up girl, she asked what I did. I went on to explain my purpose and passion in life. Including the vision of the inner city arts program I am starting. She just lit up like a Christmas tree. She is an industrial designer and loves to create sets, work with kids, and grew up in Detroit. What a 'God meeting'. So, I have a phone number and interested future volunteer for our camps this summer!

Podcasting

2007-10-18T15:09:00.000-04:00

I spent another long weekend in Indiana taping Ruth Shinness for our podcast. I'm actually getting pretty excited about what I now see for the final product. It was 4 long days of standing, recording, re-recording, etc. But I know that there is some really good content that will come out of the tapes.

I'm so thankful for a great friend who is letting me use her REALLY nice Sony minidv camera for all of this filming. It's been such a huge blessing! We actually have several more interviews set up over the next few weeks that will continue to give us content for our podcast. I have some editing to do, but I'm looking forward to that. I love the "production" side of ministry.

Silly momemts on a mission trip.

2007-10-17T16:48:00.000-04:00

Well, you see me at my finest moments. That is, if you go on a mission trip with me:) This was our last day in Ireland. I'd been there a total of a month with a few weeks in between back in the States. It was quite a trip!

One Year Older

2007-10-10T17:59:00.000-04:00

My birthday has come and gone since I last made an entry. I'm one year closer to 30 and don't feel any different:) I guess that's a good thing. Although, sometimes I get annoyed that people think I'm younger than I am. When I was little, it was the opposite. That annoyed me too. I just have to get over it. Ok, i've decided i'm over it:)

Well, things have been pretty busy over the past couple of weeks. I spent the last week in Ohio and Indiana. Not at the same time of course. I was in Colerain, Ohio at Real Life church
where they hosted a banquet to raise money for the brick machine for Widow's Might Ministries. I don't know if I've mentioned the brick machine yet. It is a cool invention that uses dirt, cement and water to create interlocking bricks to create a building without the use of mortar. The company is based in South Africa, so it's on the same continent that we need it to be on. Therefore, shipping will be less expensive! The goal is to purchase this machine to build the Widow's Center. It can put out 1600 bricks a day, I believe. The cost is $20,000. We are now on our way to having almost 10% of the cost. So anyway, after the banquet on Friday night, I filmed my mom and the pastor's wife, Joyce. They both went to Belarus together a few years ago to work with widows. Hopefully that will be some footage I can use to put together the next DVD for Widow's Might. On Sunday, the Widow's Might DVD was shown in church, my mom presented the ministry and I played my violin. It was a good day.

After Ohio, my mom and I drove to Anderson, Indiana. We met with Ruth Shinness. She is a lady who wrote a prayer book called Prayer Strategies. We took two days to film her teaching on different topics regarding prayer. Our intent is to use it for a podcast.

It was sure a full week! But worthwhile for the Kingdom:)

Trips!!

2007-10-01T22:30:00.000-04:00

Here are some updates--I'm going to Nicaragua in January! I'm going with my parents and 5 other people. We are going to be working with the children in Bluefields. My mom will also hold a widow's conference there. My dad will be working with the pastors. I'm very excited!

Then from Nicaragua, my parents and I break off from that team and fly to Thailand via Los Angeles. We are the speakers for a missionary school's spiritual emphasis week. It will be very different for me since I've never experienced the East.

Live a Life Worthy of the Calling

2007-09-17T22:08:00.000-04:00

I have been studying the relationship of Paul and Barnabas lately. What an intriguing friendship. I've also had the opportunity to listen to a few speakers and pastors in the past few months speak on these men in the Bible. These men are examples to me of what it means to live a missional lifestyle.

I ask myself the question on numerous occasions, How to we 'recruit' missionaries? or How do I get people on board? How can we create passion for Christ and spreading the message? I think that if we look at the lives of Paul and Barnabas we find our answer. Paul was a 'developer of people'. He took Barnabas and helped rekindle, refine, and refocus him to be a better missionary.
In Turn:
1. Barnabas listened to Paul's story to become a better missionary. I need to listen to this generation's story to gain perspective.
2. Barnabas looked beyond Paul's past to see the future. I need to look beyond, not ignore, but to see the potential of individuals.
3. Barnabas linked with Paul to serve with others. Just look at them in Antioch. I need to look for individuals who have a passion for the ministry that I serve in. Link with them. Train them up. Learn from them.
Live a life worthy of the calling. Rekindle. Refine. Refocus. On Jesus.

Building a South African Playground

2007-09-12T09:55:00.000-04:00

Last summer('06) I was part of a team that worked in a township outside of Cape Town, South Africa. We accomplished what we thought was going to be impossible. We built a playground for the local, township pre-school. The plan was to build a balance beam, a monkey bar set, and a swing set. We also built a fence to go around the playground area. I came across some short clips that may give you an idea of the work we did.

After we had just cleared the ground of trash, rocks and other unnecessary things, we measured out the playground area. After we had done that, we started digging holes for the posts. Once the holes were dug, we began getting the supplies together to make the playground pieces.

This clip is an example of how we had to drill ever hole to attach our pipes and other pieces of wood together.

In this clip we are trying to get the metal poles to stay in the holes we have drilled for the monkey bars. It's not as easy as 1,2,3.

The next clip is after we got the monkey bars up. I am sawing off the metal pieces to make it safe for the kids. Rachael is taking a piece of lumbar to get drilled.

We had to mix our own concrete to fill the holes. The clip below shows a few township boys who showed up to help us work. This is a great thing! Typically the teenage township boys are into so much trouble or are very lazy. These two boys decided to help us and it made a big difference in the community, as they acted as examples to the other kids.

Our completed swing looked like this-(we actually used tires for the seats):
Here are the famous monkey bars:

We also built the balance beam and the fence, put a brick walk way in, and built a roof on a store.
The time that wasn't used for labor was used for love. We ran kid's camps and loved on the kids in two different townships.

Local Newspaper recognizes Widow's Might Ministries

2007-09-08T15:46:00.000-04:00

A local Michigan newspaper wrote a great article on the ministry that I work with, Widow's Might Ministries, Int'l. The focus was on the ministry and the Garden Walk Fundraiser. You can read the article online by clicking here.

Garden Walk Fundraiser

2007-08-29T15:29:00.001-04:00

The effort of many men and women over the past few months has paid off! The "Bring a Friend Garden Walk" Fundraiser for Widow's Might Ministries, Int'l. was held on Wednesday, August 15th. Over 300 people came through the garden and listened to the presentation of the ministry. I was in charge of getting the promo packets together, creating the posters, making sure the video/tech stuff was set up and worked, and then of course playing the violin for a bit. We raised about $5000 to put toward the W3 Project. The goal of the W3 Project is to raise enough money for the Watertower, Well, and Wall for the Nigerian Skills Acquisition Center for widows and their children. This was our third fundraiser this year and we now have enough money to fund the W3 Project! Praise God. Here are some pictures from the event.

Get your hands dirty!

2007-08-27T22:49:00.000-04:00

I had a pretty neat dinner meeting a few nights ago with a couple who went on their first mission trip ever last January. I led a group to Nicaragua with START Ministries. I haven't done a great job of staying in touch with them over the past few months, but out of the blue, I got an email from them saying that they felt God was calling them back to Nicaragua this upcoming January to serve. They wanted to get together to gather information, advice and insight on how to go about everything.

Their vision is to produce a childrens musical production at the end of a week. Of course, it would be in Spanish and there would have to be translators and a lot of work, but wow! what a vision! As I sat in their living room discussing the logistics and details of what would need to happen to make this work, the thought kept fleeting through my head, 'wow, isn't it amazing that because of one mission trip, this couple is now on fire for God in a totally different way!' I love it!

You can't really get it through people's heads how missions work affects individuals until they experience it on their own. I know that some are called to go, some are called to pray and some are called to support. But consider stepping out on a limb one day, getting out of your comfort zone and getting your hands dirty for Jesus. Just look what one week in January to Nicaragua did to this couple.

Perspectives

2007-08-19T23:43:00.000-04:00

As I was browsing through some pictures that other team members had taken on the last Ireland mission trip, I was amazed at how much I didn't see when I was there. Maybe it wasn't that I didn't see it but that it wasn't 'new' to me or I consider it to be a worthy picture. It is interesting how we all have different perspectives in life and how that carries through into the smallest details of something like taking pictures. I'm so glad God made us to see things differently; to appreciate different things. Looking through those pictures added a whole new dimension to my appreciation and love for Ireland.

Office Rat

2007-08-10T14:54:00.001-04:00

If you wonder what I do when i'm not traveling...let me give you a little taste of what I look like at the end of a long day (11:30pm) in the office.....ok, so let me explain:) I am working on creating a packet for Widow's Might Ministry (you can check out that blog at widowsmightministry.blogspot.com) and had run into some difficulty with the printer. How hard is it to print an envelope? Well, according to the HP Photosmart 7260 printer and my Dell computer it is very difficult. Plus it doesn't like 'invitation' size envelopes. HINT: Use a pair of tweezers when small pieces of paper are stuck. (Ok, so maybe it's me)...but no worries! Mission accomplished! 400 envelopes printed(after some bribing to the printer and computer)

And yes, that is a typical day at the office:0

...and back again!

2007-08-09T22:38:00.000-04:00

Did I ever mention that I love Ireland and the people of Ireland? Well, it should be obvious now, because I went back this summer. A little over a week after I returned from leading my 7 amazing "kids", the Lord impressed upon my heart the need to go back and work with my parents' team as well as finish the painting on Fran's house. My first thought was..that's crazy! I should have just stayed in Ireland! But as I continued to pray and think about it, I started getting serious and realized that the only set back was that I had no money! This is where it get's good though-as I was praying, I felt the Lord keep saying, just trust Me. Six days before my parents' team was to fly out I checked my support account and I had all but $200 to cover the second trip. Unbelievable! That was my first though, because stuff like this never happens to me. I am barely able to cover the full amount of trips that I go on. Then again, the Lord is so faithful and he has ALWAYS provided! So 6 days before the second team flew out I booked my ticket and started repacking for Ireland..again!
This time I was there for 2 weeks. I was able to spend the first week with 2 other servants who helped finish painting Fran's house. The second week I was more involved with the team helping with kids' camp, street evangelism and drama in the city. I am so glad I was able to go back and be a part of God's kingdom in Ireland this summer!

My heart's in Ireland

2007-07-07T12:00:00.000-04:00

Grace Brethren Christian School & Alumni Mission Trip
June 20-30, 2007
Athenry and Galway, Ireland

After leading a group of extrodinary teenage and college aged students overseas for a mission trip to Ireland, I am completely amazed, once again, how the Lord brings his people together to work on various projects. We went over to paint a house, work on a garden(yard), run a kid's camp and serve in the church. That could have been done anywhere. We really didn't need to get on a plane and fly over 3000 miles to do that. BUT, in the scheme of things, God's Kingdom is in need of being advanced. Where we do that doesn't matter. God called our team to Ireland and he used us there. Once again, my eyes were opened to a straight-forward Christianity. Love Jesus, love others, serve sacrificially, live unconditionally. That theme is the life blood for the Irish church. Why don't I see it here? God, open our eyes. Maybe I should move to Ireland?:)....i'm actually somewhat serious.....
Here are some of our ministry pictures...
Painting the house, painting the wood that became a fence...
Loading our arms and our cars with books to hand out door to door. Jonathan Edwards(unique:) is an Irish man who overcame drug and alcohol addictions with the Lord's help. He wrote a book about it and we passed out 3000!!

South Africa 2004

2007-05-27T12:23:00.000-04:00

Here is a link to a video from my missions trip to South Africa in 2004.
My friend, another leader on the trip, created the video. I hope you are educated and your eyes are opened to the need of Jesus in South Africa.

Black Man: White Man-A Tale of Two Friends

2007-05-27T11:55:00.001-04:00

This is a link to a summary of a book that tells the story of two men who come from completely different backgrounds, but end up as best friends. A Gangster and an Undercover Cop! I have read the book and it's an amazing story! (plus guess which guy is my dad?)

read more | digg story

6 Mac versus PC parodies

2007-05-27T11:19:00.001-04:00

Collection of 6 Christ-follower versus Christian spoofs of the PC vs Mac ads.

read more | digg story

Seven Reasons Why You Should Never Go On a Short Term Mission Trip!(READ CAREFULLY)

2007-05-25T12:45:00.001-04:00

I know you may think...what in the world, isn't Katie Beth a leader and promoter of short term missions trips? Yes! I am..so read the following carefully:

7. It will distort your perception of the world! Seeing it through the plastic lenses of our society is sufficient. They may be distorted, but you are used to them! Do needlessly mess yourself up.
6. You could get sick or robbed! It's dangerous out there! Some places have a crime rate almost as high as our inner cities.
5. It will make you harder to live with! The way you view life and even your likes and dislikes are liable to change. Your friends and family probably won't understand or appreciate your sudden changes.
4. Afterwards you will feel awkward at some of the jokes and comments you currently enjoy. They will not seem as funny when you have seen life from the other side.
3. You will experience sadness you haven't felt before. After you see real suffering, you won't pay much attention to your complaining about how hard you've got it. You are even liable to feel guilty and uncomfortable about the nice things in your house and the food on your table. Stay home and stay comfortable!
2. You might lead someone to the Lord. I know that is a laudable goal, but it tends to cause excitement and further interest in Christian Service.
1. You could feel a pull towards going overseas again-for the adventure, of course. The problem is that you could slowly, subtly get sucked into thinking about being a missionary!

Hopefully you got the drift.:) Get out of your bubble, take a risk and do something to share the gospel!

The facetious information came from David Armstrong who served as a missionary and short term mission coordinator at OC International and is now the Director of Agency Services at Mission Data International.

National Day of Prayer

2007-05-02T11:55:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer. Each year it seems like we need this day more and more to serve as a reminder that our country still needs prayer! Please remember to pray for each level of our government, our citizens and those who still need Christ in our towns.

START Ministries has developed a Prayer Resource Booklet that helps guide you through a full day of prayer. If you are interested in downloading this book, it is free. Just go to www.startministries.com and you will find it on the home page.

Let me know what you think of the book and how God used you on this day.

2007-04-03T16:20:00.000-04:00

Gettin' it done!

2007-03-21T13:40:00.000-04:00

I'm in Maryland right now anxiously awaiting the opening of this weekends play, Charlotte's Web. Why you ask? Well, because I was brought in 2 weeks before the opening to get it done! The original director was pregnant and delivered a healthy baby 12 days ago which obviously hindered her ability to be at the rehearsals. Things were a little chaotic, but are beginning to settle down and everyone is looking forward to a great show! After leaving Maryland this summer to work in Michigan I had mixed feelings about not being able to be a part of a production. God answered my prayers, in an unusual way, (which I like about Him) and gave me the opportunity to come back to the D.C. area to direct and produce the show. I see this as ministry that God has given me. Sure, I go overseas to third world countries and work, but I'm ministering to kids in the States right now and that is just as important. They need to know Jesus, develop a Christ-like character, and be loved. And that's what I'm up to!