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Wanda Ashworth <wanderful43@yahoo.com> E-newsletter from Open House Ministries October 19, 2011 8:35:24 PM EDT alison.bisesi@ubcmiami.org wanderful43@yahoo.com

Open House Ministries

SAVE THE DATE - November 7, 2011 Issue #9 In This Issue

October 2011 Dear Alison,

* Kiwanis Donate Playground * OHM as a Safe Haven I hope you can join us for our 11th Anniversary Fundraising Banquet on Monday evening, November 7, 2011, * Another Great Summer

from 6 - 9 pm. The children and youth will be performing and sharing how Open House Ministries has impacted their lives. If you would like to join us for this special evening, or would consider hosting a table, please contact me at wanderful43@yahoo.com, or by cell phone at (305) 389-5639. The Ramada Inn has given us a $69 rate for our out-of-town friends. Many of you helped create this "place of grace" and continue to support us. Because of you, we have much to celebrate on this anniversary! During the past 11 years, more than a thousand children and youth have experienced God's love through OHM. Families in crisis received food, children struggling in school received homework help, and many youth discovered God, accepting His will and His way for their lives.

OHM Celebrates 11 years of ministry! PRAYER REQUESTS VIOLENCE - Please pray for peace in our community following 2 recent shootings! Pray that a new way of thinking will emerge that helps us resolve conflicts without guns and violence! WE WORSHIP! - This summer, we started a Sunday night worship service at 7 pm, so adults also could find spiritual enrichment here. Our attendance ranges from 12 20 people. Please pray for this service and all those who would find their way Beyond our direct ministry, you also made a place for thousands of people to receive healthcare through our through our doors! building partner, Open Door Health Center. God has done an amazing work in this place and YOU have been FUNDING - Pray for our 11th Anniversary Fundraising Banquet. May hearts be touched as they hear how God has transformed lives through OHM.

part of this work.

Open House Ministries is completely funded by God's people and we cannot continue this ministry without faithful friends like you. Your financial gifts allow us to share the love of Christ with our neighbors in real and concrete ways. OHM provides spiritual, emotional, academic and physical support to this community. Please prayerfully consider how you can help us! Blessings,

DRUG ABUSE & ALIVE AGAIN: Pray for community Wanda members struggling with addiction and their family Want to see more photos? members. Please remember Check us out on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/update_security_info.php? the youth who are trying to break the cycle of addiction wizard=1#!/pages/Open-House-Ministries/118853263070 by participating in the OHM Alive Again group. 30-HOUR FAMINE: Please pray for the OHM youth who

Thank You Kiwanis!

will be participating in the 30-hour Famine event with other urban youth groups on October 28 - 29, 2011. Funds raised during the Famine event will go to combat world hunger. DREAMERS - Pray for all the young people who were carried across our borders as small children and now have no pathway to citizenship. Pray for compassionate immigration reform. WISH LIST "You have not, because you ask not..." OK - we're asking. Would you consider taking up one of these projects or even fundraising for them? By the way - All of our children and youth received a backpack to start school this year! THANK YOU!!! Keep your eyes open for a new or used office copy machine. If your company or church is upgrading, please let us know.

Our local Kiwanis club has blessed us once again! Through a partnership with Kiwanis International, they funded a $10,000 expansion to our playground area. The blessing of this gift goes far beyond this piece of equipment. During our Family Literacy program, we invite little ones to play with us while their parents are learning English as a Second Language (E.S.o.L.) When the MOM mobile is here providing vital prenatal care to expectant mothers, their little ones can play while they wait. Our Kinder Kids are practicing their counting and colors on this equipment, and of course, all of the children are just having FUN during their free play time! The Kiwanis have given us a wonderful tool to expand our outreach into this community! THANKS KIWANIS!!!!

A Safe Haven

Please pray for our community! During the past month, we have experienced two shootings within a block of our Center. One of our youth volunteers was "jumped" on his way to OHM to tutor the elementary children. I have never felt so compelled to provide a safe haven for the youth and children of our community. Please pray that OHM can introduce a new way of thinking, a new way of living to our neighbors. In the past, Gas-operated pressure violence usually escalated, involving more friends, more family members, more weapons - until someone is washer - (Tony says this is shot and someone else goes to jail. Pray that we can find a different way to resolve our conflicts! desperately needed.) Retail price is $400.00 at Lowe's or Home Depot. Educational computer games (for elementary) CD's can be purchased at Best Buy or Computer stores. Retail from $10.00 $75.00 or send us a gift card and we will purchase the software for you. Gift Cards from Walmart, Publix or BJ's - We can use gift cards to purchase food, snacks, and supplies for our programs. $25, $50, or $100. See if your kids or grandkids would like to donate their old Play Station, XBox or Wii System and video games for use in the "Imagination Station." Video Games are "Ant" from UBC teaches our little ones about God's way during summer camp. needed for youth - Wii, XBox, PS1, PS2 and PS3 games. (Used OK) Game Another Great Summer! systems retail new for about $300.00 and games can be

$300.00 and games can be purchased used from Game Works for $10-$75. You can also donate gift cards for this project. 12-passenger Van - Used or new, plus an estimated $5,000.00 per year for insurance funding.

80 elementary children + 9 mission teams = music, art, games, bible stories, swimming, movies, puppets, drama, world cultures, writing, mission projects and crafts! What a great summer! Thanks to 2 new partners, OHM was able to expand our summer program to include a mini-music camp for the elementary children and a mini-sports "Push the Rock" camp for the youth. This was in addition to our 8 weeks of free summer programs for children and youth!

Special thanks to University Baptist Church of Coral Gables; Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church of Jacksonville; Central Baptist Church of Daytona; Tallahassee Fellowship; Faith Church of the Redlands from Homestead; South Venice Baptist Church; Pritchard Memorial Baptist Church of Charlotte, North Carolina; New Life Chapel of Miami; the family of Vince and Wendy Frye; and of course, our OHM youth home team.

SUMMER CAMP IS FOR YOUTH TOO! This summer we saw new faces in our youth program, as well as long-time friends who have been with us since their elementary years. Thanks to supporters like you, we continue to expand the services we offer to youth, particularly middle school students, keeping them off the streets and away from the gangs. For 8 fun-filled weeks, there was something at OHM every night for the youth: field trips, recreation, fellowship meals, small group discussions, bible studies and worship experiences. We even had one week of sports camp, thanks to New Life Chapel and the "Push the Rock" mission team.

OHM Youth view the Miami skyline during a summer field trip.

The Alive Again 12-step recovery program and our bible study nights had an average attendance of 20 students throughout the summer. Our Thursday night J.A.M. impacted even more youth for Christ during the summer months, with 30 - 40 youth participating. The common theme throughout the summer was a challenge from Tony and J.R. to "Do Hard Things." They based this challenge on a book by Alex & Brett Harris. The book promotes rebellion against low expectations, combating the idea that adolescence is a vacation from responsibility, redefining the teen years as the launching pad of life. The program was knit together by biblical insights, history and modern day examples of what is possible for teens who actively resist culture lies that limit their potential. Some of our teens already live in challenging circumstances, but they continue to walk the walk and talk the talk. Many of them have embraced the "hard thing" challenge and made commitments to stand up for God throughout this school year. Please pray for our youth as they do hard things in a hard place. Blessings, Wanda Ashworth Valencia, Executive Director Open House Ministries 1350 SW 4th Street Homestead, FL 33030 PHONE: (305) 242-1418 FAX: (305) 242-1419 CELL: (305) 389-5639 EMAIL: wanderful43@yahoo.com Forward email

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