The Good News v2,i4

Schedule of Events April 3, 10, 17, 24

Field Day 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Saturdays at the field behind 3713 Dorchester Road

April 2010

Changing Lives

by Michael Waters

We have had a very ambitious year so far in 2010.

Field Day and NeighborApril 10, 24 Neighborhood Fellowship hood Fellowship are grow2:00 pm - 4:00 pm ing rapidly as we have Meet at the field behind 3713 Dorchester more volunteers to sustain Road. Pass out groceries, pray for the the growth. More kids are community. coming to field day each week as the weather conApril 7, 14, 21 tinues to get warmer and Young Leaders we are sending more teams Jeanene Batten Center into the neighborhood to 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm greet, pray, and hand out food to more families. We April 6, 13, 20, 27 Education Program have started up our Young Leaders program Jeanene Batten Center which the kids who are a part of it look 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm forward to each Wed as they grow into the next leaders of their community. We had six graduates from our Education Program with Outreach Partners: 5 of the adults finding employment before Seacoast Church the end of the six week class. We have asWithout Walls Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist sisted a family with a fresh start in their new home by helping to furnish their entire house.

We have had strangers walk up to Field Day and ask to rededicate their lives to Christ.

We have blessed multiple families through our Neighborhood Revitalization Program clearing out trees from their Cleaning Up the Neighborhood Kids and volunteers collect trash from around their neighyard allowing borhood. They enjoyed seeing who could fill the most bags sunlight to shine on their house and removing trash and debris from their yard so that grass can once again grow.

It has been an amazing year so far and the best

photo courtesy of Michael Waters

Volume 2, Issue 4 is yet to come. To continue to be able to provide these services we need your help though. We are always seeking dedicated

volunteers who are looking to make a difference in their community. You can sign up to volunteer on our website for any of our programs. We also continue to need your financial support. We are completely funded by donations and those donations make all this possible. Right now if you pledge to donate $25 per month for one year you will receive a free Unworthy Servant t-shirt. Your pledge can help change a family’s life, will you help us give hope to a community in need.

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Vision Casting

by Jesse Williams The month of April comes upon us quickly, and as a ministry I know we are all looking forward to seeing the sun out. This time of year ushers in new life and we know God is working in great ways. It is all in His timing. As the seasons change, our ministry recognizes that we must change as well. Our organization has been able to continually, week in and week out, dedicate our Saturday afternoons to the least of those among us. We hope we were able to inspire others during this winter and be inspired as we have seen young kids step up and reach out into their own neighborhoods. We have seen young kids volunteer to pick up trash in their neighborhoods, as 45 kids walked around picking up trash in two neighborhoods. We know we inspired a local land and real estate owner, he was inspired as six, seven, and eight year old kids picked up trash from his vacant land, along with a dedicated volunteer. Now this citizen is one of our biggest supporters as he spreads the word on our major grant initiative to renovate a vacant building that will be used to provide hope for the community.

In previous vision castings, we explained that we wish to let our light shine in a dark place and that is exactly what we were able to do. During the winter months, our lights shone the brightest as the families stayed

inside, but knew every week that we would be in the middle of their neighborhood. Moving forward, we look with great anticipation to the great things God has in store for this neighborhood. A neighborhood that can so easily be over looked as the average person drives past the Dorchester Road Exit on I-26. We hope to rise up with new growth as Spring approaches and as new life is in the air. We hope our leaders and volunteers will receive new revelations concerning God’s goodness. We hope God’s goodness over flows like a spring revealing God’s splendor. We hope these revelations of our God will naturally over flow into the community around us, at our work places, and at our places of worship.

Education Program

By David Truluck

SHIELD Ministries is a men’s ministry serving the Charleston/North Charleston area. We partner with TI2TS to help meet the basic needs of our participants.

One of the most important needs is employment. TI2TS provides educational classes on Tuesday nights that teach participants basic skills. These include resume writing, job interview skills, searching for jobs on the internet, and assisting with transportation to interviews. I would like to tell the story of one man who is participating who I believe will benefit greatly from this class.

This man is in his mid-forties. He has worked for a neon sign company of the past decade. Needless to say, with the technological move to LED signs, his company downsized and he found himself unemployed. It has been 10 years since this man has searched for employment. One major source of frustration for this man is this; many companies now do applications and take resumes on-line. This man did not have the skills to successfully and quickly navigate the internet to submit on-line applications or a resume. Through this class, and the dedicated assistance of TI2TS volunteers, he is learning these skills and he has established as email account to receive responses from potential employers. I do not believe this man would have discovered these opportunities without the assistance of TI2TS. I thank TI2TS for their willingness to do God’s will and help this man and others like him.

photo by Michael Waters

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Picture of the Month

Ministry Spotlight

by Connor Mcintyre

This month, I am happy to introduce “The Well” ministry. This exciting and rapidly growing ministry calls the Long Point Campus of Seacoast Church home. The head pastor is a young and eloquent preacher--Pastor Ernest Smith. Ernest is a Pastor with a global vision. Not only does he keep himself busy stateside with “The Well,” but also planting wells and Churches in Kenya with Bread Of Life Ministry. Ernest is an active Board Member of Bread Of Lift Ministry, taking several trips to Africa each year as the host for several missionaries. “The Well” has been very exciting to watch from it humble beginnings starting in the fall of 2008 with only 40 to 50 attending members to well over 200 in regular attendance each and every Thursday night at 7:27 PM. “The Well” staff – Chris Russo, Mel Alm, Garrett Abel and Curt Hiott do an outstanding job of providing Charleston with a high energy, engaging worship and praise service unlike any other. It may be no surprise that 90% of all of the volunteers of Take It To The Streets call “The Well” their church home. Just this past month, Take It To The Streets and “The Well” have combined strengths.

We are excited about the possibilities for the future, as well as the blanket of Spiritual Guidance “The Well” staff has to offer. Go and check out “The Well” for yourself at (http://apps.seacoast. org/theWell), or you can watch them live on www.livestream.com.

photo courtesy of Michael Waters

The picture of the month shows two of children looking on to activities from a recent additon to Field Day...the cross.

Kids Corner

by Martha Martin

Hello everyone. I hope ya’ll have enjoyed the nice weather we’ve been having lately. I know that field day has! Spring is so exciting; flowers blooming, Easter, new beginnings and summer is just around the corner. Speaking of new beginnings, we are beginning to really introduce the kids to who Jesus is.

Since we’ve talked last, we heard the parable of the man that built his house upon the rock. With a little help from our Young Leaders, we were able to bring the story to life! (see picture) Young Leaders helped build the houses and I personally think it was one

of our best lessons together. We will also be learning our 10 Commandments and understanding the need for Jesus. I want to encourage more of you (kids and volunteers) to come to Young Leaders. We will be watching videos the next few Wednesdays (The 10 Commandments and The Passion Trilogy). See you out at Field Day!

photo courtesy of Michael Waters

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Volunteer Sp

by Connor Mcintyre

otlight

On The Horizon

By Jesse Williams photo by Michael Waters

Everyone, meet Natalie Holder! Now, you want to talk about a dedicated volunteer, Natalie is a gladiator. I once saw Natalie helping set up field day in 38 degree weather in the rain. Natalie is a woman after God’s own heart. It can be seen simply in how she takes care of the young girls of Field Day, whether it is jump rope, tug of war, or a great game of kick ball. Natalie is super active and at times, the boys have a hard time keeping up with her. Some of Natalie’s hobbies (when not at Field Day or serving in Neighborhood Fellowship) include rock climbing, cycling, or Ultimate Frisbee. Natalie is also a nurse. Thankfully, we haven’t needed her services at Field Day, so far. So if you are out at Field Day or at Neighborhood Fellowship, be on the look out for Natalie and let her know what a great job she is doing!

Our Mission: To unite the Church Body in order to take the hope of Jesus Christ to the local community and the world.

Mission Statement: To move from members to missionaries in our community by emulating Jesus Christ’s love towards others through the formation of genuine relationships.

Contact Us

www.takeittothestreetsministry.org Info@takeittothestreetsministry.org Jesse Williams: 843-642-4233

In the coming months, we look to strengthen our relationships with our outreach partners, which in turn will strengthen our ministry as a whole.

As relationships with our partners are strengthened, we enjoy the prayers and the active participation of churches, ministries, non-profit organizations, and local government officials like the City of North Charleston. We share the passion of blessing our city with North Charleston leaders. They have endorsed our efforts to begin a Center that offers hope to the community and they have allowed us to utilize the local community center to bless the community. We look forward to learning new ways that we can work together. We also look forward to strengthening our leadership and learning to work closely together through an ever increasing level of accountability and communication. This working together allows us to continue to strengthen our organizational structure to better help the community for God’s Glory. When people ask us why we do all that we do, we always want to be able to answer, “it is because of what God has done in our lives”.

Our natural response to the goodness of God is to obey him. Moving forward, we must always give God the glory and in no way take the glory upon ourselves. When this happens, our strength will be decreased because we cannot operate in our own strength. Our prayer is that through the power of the Holy Spirit, God will enable us to put Him first and always give Him the glory for what happens at Take It To The Streets.

The Team Jesse Williams - President Connor McIntyre - Director of Operations Chris Miller - Director of Events Martha Martin - Director of Outreach Michael Waters - Web Graphics/Multimedia Design Kevin Herr - Director of Development Joey Trahan - Director of Education 4