New Around the Mission
Loving the Little Ones in the Eagles Nest
December 13, 2010
Student enjoying the after school program at Eagles Nest.
When All Saints Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, moved their worship location from Creekside Elementary School to a retail space next to Oak Creek Village, an apartment complex of 3,000 Hispanics, they asked themselves what it would look like to bring the Kingdom of God to this neighborhood. They didn’t know it then, but their new location would inspire a renewed vision for a struggling afterschool tutoring program called the Eagles Nest.
Initiated in 2006, Eagles Nest mission states they are a tutoring program that seeks to love and empower children from the Oak Creek Village Apartment Community by teaching basic reading skills, helping with homework and building positive relationships between volunteers, students and their families.
Creekside ESL (English as a second language) teachers recommend students to the program, many of whom are at least one grade level behind in reading because their parents don’t speak English and cannot provide assistance with homework. Eagles Nest is not a faith-based program, and the goal is not to proselytize, but church volunteers offer hope for these little ones.
Christmas party included decorating gingerbread houses.
Initially, the children were responsible for their own transportation home after the tutoring program finished at Creekside. That requirement hindered participation and the program floundered. In January 2010, the Eagles Nest moved to All Saints Church, just a two minute walk away from home for the children. The move made it possible for the volunteers to meet the children at their bus stop, walk them to church and then back home afterwards. All Saints’ new location not only removes the transportation barrier for Eagles Nest, but is also more conducive for parental involvement.
Thomas Kortus, Associate Pastor at All Saints and Co-Director of the Eagles Nest, reports that "the strong relationships we are building with the children each week is the springboard to a relationship with their families. We recognize that we have to earn their trust because of the cultural differences, and so we are starting small and showing love, communicating that we really do care about them.”
Thirty church volunteers representing four churches meet eighteen 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week for fourteen weeks. The children enjoy a snack, play games, get help with their homework and then focus on reading comprehension and phonics. Creekside teachers report marked improvements in Eagles Nest students’ grades and reading skills.
Church volunteers hosted a Christmas party for the children of the Eagles Nest tutoring program.
Not only does their reading improve, but some are experiencing salvation. One Tuesday afternoon in the All Saints Church sanctuary, a volunteer was helping two students with homework when one of them became distracted by the large leather Gospel book laying on a shelf. The volunteer proceeded to flip through the book of Luke, showing the two students the elaborate illustrations depicting the life of Jesus. The volunteer told the students about Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension. They were glued to the pages, hung on every word and expressed new belief in Jesus. A natural conversation in the midst of a tutoring session resulted in eternal life for two children.
“This encounter is an answer to many, many prayers. It is our prayer and the mission of Eagles Nest that many more students and families would come to know the living God and follow Jesus as a result of the highly relational one-on-one tutoring of Eagles Nest.”
For more information visit: All Saints Church.
Or contact Thomas Kortus 919-619-5007 or Laura Yost-Grande 919-616-1511.
Posted By: Cynthia P. Brust
Categories: Faith in Action
