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| Look what when we make pathways for kids to serve! |
I'm writing you from the keys of my smartphone
in the Cafeteria at T. H. Watkins Elementary School at 2501 7th Avenue in is
Lake Charles. It's about 4 O'Clock Tuesday, September 24, 2013, and the 5th Graders will be showing up at
4:30. Today is not our first time here. We've come several times already to
mentor kids, give a little money for the school's needs, attend a day-long
training to implement the Leader In Me (Yeah!), and to get reading volunteers
started in 6 classrooms here. There are about a dozen of us engaged at this school,
from a couple different churches, with some more friends ready to get started.
Why are we doing this? Well, because this is our
city, full of neighbors. Neighbors to serve and befriend. Neighbors to learn
from and to share learning a with.Also, Jesus said that little children are way
important in His Kingdom, and since we follow Jesus, we say RightOn!
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| Collin joined in the fun...you can smell the welcoming environment coming off those chicken quarters! |
So today our goal is to support the great work
the teachers and leaders are doing here, our part being to make the environment
here more inviting. Like the aroma from the BBQ pit draws you in, the service
of others draws us in. Ms. Victorian, the principal here, told me she has some
great parents here, but sometimes it's hard to get everyone at PTO gatherings,
so I said, "Hey, I'll cook for them, making it easier for them to
come." Then it hit us, since we are doing the Leader In Me at Watkins,
let's lead the oldest kids here, 5th grade, to host the PTO cookout!
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| Mr. Hollier teaches 5th grade, and her kids were fantastic servants today, soaking up the leadership learning. |
So a few weeks ago in August that is what we
did. It was fantastic! Kids were engaged and they so impressed us and the staff
and the parents.
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| This awesome dad was the designated rib cutter. They were fall-off-the-bone, so his station was smile central! |
Since they were faithful with first things, we
want to give them more responsibility and opportunity. So today we are cooking
ribs and chicken for the parents and families for Math Night at Watkins! I'll post some more pics and story later.
We are doing this because God has already loved
us. And now we can love others, no strings, no catch. We are doing this so that
our city can have a more clear view of who Jesus really is. The way that
happens in my world is through relationships. There won't be any preaching from
me tonight, and we're not sneaking gospel tracts onto the rib plates. We are
here with an ultimate motive, but never an ulterior motive!
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| After the parents and kids learned at Math Night, all 200+ of us enjoyed the Ribs & Chicken dinner. Serving that many in a few minutes was a bit of a blur. The T H Watkins team were tireless servants! |
Because Jesus is alive, then from Goosport 2
Graywood, theCityShouldBeDifferent.
And the Ribs and Chicken should be way tasty!
Our goal at T H Watkins is to have 50 people from at least 5 different churches engaged at this school this year. The teachers have been asked and given us times and places to go read to the kids there, and let them read to you. About 30 minutes a week, lots of times available. We're ready, so get in the game! paul@thecitychurch.us or call/text Paul 794-9898, twitter @paulpettefer, or ryancnugent@gmail.com
Signed,
Paul Pettefer, lead volunteer servant to the city
Our goal at T H Watkins is to have 50 people from at least 5 different churches engaged at this school this year. The teachers have been asked and given us times and places to go read to the kids there, and let them read to you. About 30 minutes a week, lots of times available. We're ready, so get in the game! paul@thecitychurch.us or call/text Paul 794-9898, twitter @paulpettefer, or ryancnugent@gmail.com
Signed,
Paul Pettefer, lead volunteer servant to the city
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