In May I
celebrated five years of being in the ministry full time. I wanted to share
this milestone with you, our partners, because
you have been a vital and important part of these past five years.
I remember
when I took that first step into full time ministry. It was scary, but I knew
God was calling me.
We started out
small, and over the years God has increased this ministry. In the beginning, I was doing
most of the ministry alone. Now we have been blessed with a team of amazing staff
and volunteers! Since the beginning, significant things have happened. There is no way we could have done it without
you! Below are some of the highlights of what God has done over these past five
years:
Champions
The Champions
recreational youth program started in
Lincoln Park with three volunteers and ten teenagers. We only had a boom
box, a few boxes of snack cakes and a couple basketballs. In the beginning
fights broke out, kids stole our equipment, made fun of us and were very
disrespectful. But now we have eleven
volunteers and over one hundred
different teens that come through each year. We grew from an average of ten kids per outreach to
thirty kids per outreach. We are now in a beautiful and safe building
(Mary Brown Center); and we have a lot of nice equipment, good food and a
flourishing program reaching young people with recreation, relationship and
restoration.
Young Men
This lunch outreach
started with me and only four young men who came to eat burgers cooked on a
small George Foreman grill. I faced opposition and vicious words from people in
the neighborhood who were angry I was serving the men in the neighborhood who
were causing all the trouble. This
outreach grew from only one volunteer to now having eight volunteers and sixty
different young men who come through within the
year. Trust has been built with
these men and now they share their lives with us.
Prisoners Reached
A handful of
prisoners have been reached through letters, visits and support at their court
dates. One prisoner supports the Dream Center financially. Another prisoner gave his heart to Christ in prison, is taking Bible
correspondence courses and passes the Dream Center newsletter out to his fellow
prisoners.
Staff and Volunteers
Janell Roedl
came on staff two years ago and is now in the vital role of Office Manager and
Outreach Coordinator. We now have
twenty- five volunteers total who help with our outreaches and office work.
We plan to add two more staff members this year.
Prayer Walking and Prayer Driving
One of the first
things I did when I moved into the John DeShields Neighborhood was spend most mornings
prayer walking in the neighborhood. These were precious times, hearing the
heart of God for the neighborhood and the city of East St. Louis. He always set up divine appointments,
bringing me across the paths of people who needed prayer, encouragement or just
a hug. Once a week, we also drove around the city of East St. Louis praying
for peace, restoration, change, healing, corruption to be brought into the
light and for God to put the right people in places of authority. We believe
God is still working behind the scenes and will continue to answer these
prayers.
Water Baptisms and Kids Filled with
the Holy Spirit
Several of
the teenagers were hungry for God and wanted to take the next step in their
relationship with Him, so we were able
to water baptize them in my bath tub in my John DeShields apartment. A few
also wanted to receive the gift of praying in tongues, so we laid hands on them
and they received.
Emergency Situations
There were
often times where I was needed to help in emergency situations while living in
John DeShields (gun wounds, thefts, drug situations, various violent issues). God had me there at the right place and the
right time to provide assistance and prayer.
Fights and Violence Stopped
Often I would
see fights or hear gun fire when I lived in John DeShields. In those moments, I
would pray and release the angels to stop the fights. Many times fights dissipated and peace was brought to the situation.
Bible Studies and Prayer Meetings
My prayer
partner moved to go away to Bible School, so I suddenly needed people to pray
with. I invited the teenagers to come. They
came faithfully and we prayed together for their neighborhood and had Bible
studies.
Mentoring
Several youth
were mentored, either through rides to school, dinner out or baseball games. A handful of women were also mentored
through my daily interactions with them when I lived in the neighborhood.
They shared their fears, dreams and prayer requests.
We can’t wait
to see what God has planned for the next five years and we want you to be a
part of it! We wish we could introduce you to every young man and every
teenager that we minister to. We would
say to them, “These are the people who help make this happen for you. You have
people all over the place who love and care about you, who believe in you.
That’s why they give, in order to provide these outreaches for you.”
Will you keep
us in your prayers in the areas listed below as we continue moving forward? Please
be in agreement with us for:
·
A
smooth transition as we add on two new people to our office staff.
·
God
to give us favor and bless us with our very own building in His perfect timing.
·
A
fully funded and abundant budget for this year, lacking nothing.
Thank you again for your continued support. We know God
has even greater things in store!
LOVING East St. Louis,
Rachel and the DREAM Center Team
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