We had a great work group from Quail Springs join us again this summer! They were able to share the love of God with a grandmother raising seven of her grandchildren by painting her house. Although the woman did not speak much English, the group spent time with her and her grandchildren as they painted the house. The group went the extra mile and even bought the family a new microwave and some soccer balls for the kids. The grandmother and the whole family were so grateful for the service and love that the group shared with them. The group also had the opportunity to serve lunch at a local shelter and at a women’s and children’s shelter. We know God will grow the seeds of love and service that were planted by these young people. Thank you Quail Springs for serving God in our community and letting your light shine among our neighbors! We hope that you will share your experience on this prayer blog about God used this trip to change your life.
-Michael Thames
-The Choice-
“I’ve got choices; you’ve got choices, all of God’s people got choices”
-Fortress Summer J.A.M. 2008
Everyone has choices, I’m certain young people can think of other alternatives to serving the inner city with excitement and energy. North Street Church of Christ youth, however, are one of the groups who are dear to the hearts of Fortress staff and interns. They took on the enormous task of being the pilot VBS group for summer 2008. In our first week, I was able to witness first hand the hands and feet of Christ demonstrated in the hands and feet of Jr. High and High school students as they ran, sang, ate, and essentially chose to love someone other than themselves this summer. Whenever someone tries to show discouraging statistics to me of the plights of today’s young people, I am so thankful that I will have a vivid picture of young people choosing to serve others with excellence, love and zeal. North Street, from Fortress to you, thank you for every one of your “choices”.
In Christ,
Ramon A. Smith
Fortress strives to “ignite powerful change in the lives of urban youth,” but people do not often get to see that change right away, if at all. In the daily struggle to get kids to line up, sit still during assembly time or stop playing chase inside the building, we often wonder if anything we say or teach is even soaking in. Are we making a difference? Do they even hear a word we are saying about making good choices? Sometimes I find myself asking, at the end of a busy day, what did we even do today?
We received a phone call at the end of the first day from a mother who has three kids enrolled in Summer JAM. She called to thank us. She told me that her kids came home from Fortress so excited about Jesus. The three children could not contain their joy and excitement about the LORD and all they had learned. They told the mom about learning to make good choices over bad choices. Imagine the mom’s surprise when, later that night, her kids corrected her (in a loving way I am sure) about the tone of her voice. “Mom, you should not get angry like that, that’s a bad choice!” This opened up a good discussion about good and bad choices and about how to correct bad choices.
The title at the top is from Psalm 8 verse 2. It goes on to say, “because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” God puts praise on the lips of children to fight a spiritual battle we cannot see! I believe He wanted me to know that we are making a difference! I needed that phone call telling me that kids were excited about Jesus in order to silence Satan’s nasty voice, which was making me doubt what was accomplished.
More importantly, this community can be changed when the children, the future generation, rises up and silences “the enemy” with the praise of God. “Powerful change” can truly take place not just in the lives of urban youth, but through the lives of urban youth.
Pray for the kids. Pray that they will continue to be excited about Jesus. Pray that God will use their praise to silence Satan. Pray that powerful change will come through the lives of urban youth. And thank God for using children in His plan for redemption and spiritual warfare!
-Clayre Allen, Summer College Intern 2008
Fortress has recently been searching for a new staff member under the title of Education Specialist. Our goal is to have that position filled by mid-July. We ask that you join us in praying that God sends us the right person for the position and gives us wisdom, discernment and clarity as we interview different candidates.
Building Blocks Early Learning Center
Since 2005, Fortress has been about providing opportunities for inner city youth to experience powerful life change in order to become productive Christian adults. Each of YDC’s programs—Fortress Literacy Center, Sunday JAM, and Summer JAM—has been designed to reach the youth of southeast Fort Worth by forming authentic relationships and equipping them with life skills using the best spiritual, emotional, social, physical, and educational resources available.
After much prayer and planning, Fortress will expand its reach to include preschool-aged children. In September, Building Blocks Early Learning Center will open to offer care for children, ages 2-5, from 9:30 to 2:00 each Monday and Wednesday during the school year. The program will offer a quality early childhood program. Its students will be offered a fun, learning environment where they will not only learn academics but will learn about God’s word and His plan for their lives.
The Building Blocks program, like all the Fortress programs, is based on building intimate relationships with children and their families for the purpose of discipleship and offering hope and opportunity. The goal of the program is to develop a relationship with the child and the parents.
The Building Blocks program is designed to provide:
· Comprehensive academic curriculum
· Spiritual training
· Enrichment programs
· Social and emotional training
· Loving, nurturing care
We solicit your prayers for God’s guidance and provision as we start this adventure. If you enjoy working with young children and would like to volunteer with this program, give us a call.
Terri Henson
(817) 335-1007
terri@fwydc.org
A group of almost 70 youth and adults from Memorial Road Church of Christ in Oklahoma City, OK, served at Fortress on June 3-4. This group of Jr. High students has been coming to Fortress for many years and has blessed Fortress in countless ways. Last week they all got to experience the Fortress Prayer Drive-where we drive through the community and stop in different areas to pray for the community, the kids and all that God is doing at Fortress. The group also did a community clean-up in which they cleaned up several blocks in the surrounding neighborhoods, provided an activity for our kids at the park and helped prepare our building for the summer program. The students got an opportunity to visit with the staff and other community members about urban life and the impact they can have in the world as followers of Christ. We know that God opened the eyes and hearts of these young people to what He was doing in our city and to what they can do in their own communities. God is faithful and we are excited to see how He will continue to answer the prayers of this group and grow the seeds that were planted through their service. Fortress was truly blessed by this special group and we are grateful for all their hard work and investment into what God is doing at Fortress and in our neighborhood.
Summer is an exciting, fun and busy time at Fortress! We hope that our prayer warriors that check this blog will commit to pray for our kids, volunteer groups and summer interns over the next two months. Please pray for Clayre Allen, Broderick Ellison II, Royleesha Mills, Viola Petite and Charcey Petite. Clayre joins us from the University of North Texas and Broderick from Prairie View A&M University. Three of our high school students here at Fortress, Royleesha, Viola and Charcey will also be joining us as interns this summer. We are blessed to have a great group of young people who will diligently work long days, pouring themselves into our kids and working with the different summer groups. Although we have fewer interns than last year, we know God will use each of these young people in a mighty way for His kingdom here at Fortress. We already have more children enrolled in our first week than all of last summer and plan to reach full capacity of 60 children and youth next week. Please pray that God will bless our interns as they provide a loving environment for the kids and help facilitate our summer program.