New Around the Mission
New Location Opens Door for New Ministry
July 19, 2010
By guest writer, Thomas Kortus
Associate Minister Thomas Kortus takes a break from playing soccer with Edgarand Carlos, Oak Creek Village residents who took part in the summer kids club.
When All Saints Church (ASC), Chapel Hill-Durham, North Carolina, moved into a new building a year ago, we knew it wasn’t simply about moving out of a school gym. We sensed God’s call to look for ways to bring the Gospel to the community adjacent to the new location, Oak Creek Village (OCV), a 502 unit apartment complex primarily populated by 3000 low income Spanish speaking residents.
Associate Minister Thomas Kortus was charged with investigating how to serve OCV residents. Conversations with the property manager and residents revealed that the greatest need was for activities and educational programs for the kids. (The ratio of adults to children is one to five; many of the kids were bored, getting into trouble and needed tutoring support.) The OCV staff gave us permission to plan activities for the kids. We invited three other churches to work with, us and the Oak Creek Village Initiative was born.
Aaron White, a member of All Saints Church, tutors Alanzo during Eagles Nest in the All Saints Church sanctuary.
All Saints now runs Eagle’s Nest, a twice weekly after-school tutoring program serving sixteen young children with a team of thirty youth and adult volunteers. The teachers are amazed at the reading progress our students have made, volunteers are blessed by the relationships developing and two students curious about our Gospel Book in the sanctuary heard the Gospel and believed in Christ!
This summer, we continued to expand our relationships with OCV by coordinating an intensive outreach project. Beginning July 5, a team from All Saints led a five-day summer kids club onsite. We began on Monday with some of our Eagles Nest kids and their siblings and friends. By the final meeting on Friday, 65 participated.
A young girl enjoys the 45 foot blow-up water slide at the Community Celebration at Oak Creek Village. The water was a welcome relief from the record breaking hot and humid weather.
The temperatures in Durham were record-setting that week, nearly 105 degrees, but the kids were delighted to come to a shaded area in a nearby soccer field. We consumed huge quantities of water and popsicles as we played games, made crafts, listened to Bible stories and sang songs. Volunteers bonded wonderfully with the kids. One mother said her daughter woke up earlier than usual one morning and the first words out of her mouth were, “Is it time for kids club yet?”
A community celebration for kids and families concluded the week. Over 225 people attended: a bouncy house, blow-up water slide, a clown/magician/balloon artist, games, prize drawings, and rocking Latin music made it a blast. The children took center stage to sing songs, and we shared the Gospel lessons we had taught with parents via an interpreter.
Oak Creek Village kids huddle in the shade and listen intently to a Bible story at Kids Club.
ASC is eager to continue engaging this community in ways that create deeper relationships and bless people in word and deed. In mid-August we will host a back-to-school party to give needy children backpacks and school supplies. We have invited local elementary school administrators to help foster relationships between the school and families. Plans are also in place to begin a Saturday morning adult English as a Second Language (ESL) program in the fall.
The outreach to OCV has been well received; however, they are simply springboards to deepening relationships and ministry. As we cleaned up sticky popsicle wrappers after the community celebration, one of the youth asked, “How do we maintain the relationships we have developed? Can we come here once a week to play soccer and hang out with the kids?” One of the adult volunteers arranged a play-date with a bilingual mother and resident of OCV who said she would, in turn, teach her Spanish. Another adult is planning a clothing exchange with the residents of OCV. It is exciting to see people thinking about ongoing ministry in the context of real relationships. The Spirit is at work teaching us how to serve our neighbors in word and deed with the love of Christ.
Posted By: Cynthia P. Brust
Categories: Faith in Action
