“LORD, I know you can do everything. You make plans, and nothing can change or stop your plans.” -Job 42:2
God is love. Sometimes it’s hard to just stop and soak it all in. How majestic our Father is…how beautifully perfect His creation is—made just for our pleasure.
I think today has been the hardest because I’ve started to realize there’s more to this opportunity than what I want to achieve. The King has this whole mission already planned, and has opened so many doors in front of my blind face. I want to love on the kids. HE wants me to reach out and do more.
Driving out around Fort Worth I think God was reminding me that there are more than just the children at Fortress who need His light shone into their lives. Lining the streets are numerous lost and scared people who could benefit from simply knowing that He is in control and loves each and every one of them. All the struggles and fears we face are just moments, passing aimlessly through what feels like eternity on this planet. HE is in control. The Lord our God, the King, the Father has it all planned out for us…so no worries, my friends. He’s got our backs— BUT we must remember to place that confidence into His open arms.
What I haven’t realized until this point is I am surrounded by amazing examples. I have so many wonderful friends here at Fortress, in my youth group, at the house; all of them show me every day what it is like to be a real-life believer. These kids are so wonderful and close to our God. They inspire me to fight for my beliefs and try to succeed in becoming a true “Jesus Freak.” Inside and out; all the way.
- Christy Blevins
“Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness.”
-Psalm 100:1-2
SHOUT FOR JOY TO THE LORD. I feel like I don’t ever choose to just rejoice the King of Kings. I never just thank Him that I was created “…on purpose, for a purpose.” as said by Ramon in our group devotional.
It’s different here. These people, who have so little, can sit and enjoy the sunlight while praising the LORD for blessing them with a new day, while I complain about my toe-nail polish chipping during the night.
Listening to some of these children compare the number of bullet scars left in their houses and how long one or both of their parents have spent time in jail really opened my eyes to how real all of this is. How frighteningly real their lives are. Day in and day out they, only children, sit listening to sirens and gunshots while I worry with petty, insignificant things that I consider to be necessities.
Food is a necessity. Shelter is a necessity. Love is a necessity. I expect these things; they are lucky to hope for these things—and still… still all of the people I’ve talked to in just one day are so happy. They are so helpful, respectful, encouraging. They love the LORD. They shout for joy to the Father. They are truly thankful. I can learn a lot this week. We need to learn a lot from these examples. It’s a necessity.
-Christy Blevins
My name is Christy Blevins. I’m sixteen years old…well, seventeen in a month. I was born and raised fifteen long hours from Fort Worth in Knoxville, Tennessee.
I love children and aspire to one day teach and minister to those who don’t have access to free education. Missions – well, ministry- is my passion. I’ve traveled near and far trying to do what I can to make a difference, but I think this mission is one of the toughest because this feels real. It’s scary and this can happen to me—to anyone. I never really thought about how good life is for me.
I have a feeling that this week will change my outlook, and emotionally and spiritually test everyone while re-enforcing everything we have learned in our walk with the Father. Like a fire, the Lord and his good love is growing stronger by the minute in my heart. There is nothing that will stop this girl. I’m on a mission.
By Emily Griekspoor
Riverwalk Church of Christ, Wichita, KS
In mid-June, a number of high schoolers from my youth group at RiverWalk Church of Christ traveled to Fort Worth, Texas for a mission trip. We weren’t really sure what we were going to do or what would be expected of us. We just knew that we wanted to make a difference and have some fun. After the 6 hour drive to Fort Worth, we settled into our hotel rooms and prepared to attend the orientation that would inform us on what we would be doing throughout the course of the week. We had the opportunity to learn a little bit more about the children we would be spending the week with and what our responsibilities would be. The kids we would be working with don’t have a lot. In fact, they have nothing compared to all of the conveniences we have.
Each of us was assigned our duties for the week, to ensure that every day was successful and well prepared. We were also asked to not have cell phones, watch TV in our hotel rooms, use cameras, or listen to iPods all week. This was so that we could understand a bit about how the kids we would be working with did not have all the modern technology and luxuries that we were accustomed to. After the first day we settled into a familiar routine. The buses picked up the kids and we waited at the park for everyone to get there. Volunteers from TCU came to lead a sports camp and then everyone came back to Fortress for songs and lunch. After lunch, groups went to three rotations that centered around the daily lesson. After the kids left in their buses, we cleaned up and prepared for the next day.
Another opportunity we were given was very unique. We were divided into three different groups of about 4 or 5 each to have an Urban Experience. Basically, one group would go out into Fort Worth every afternoon and do different things that showed us how people lived in the area. The group that experienced the activity would come back and make a presentation to the rest of the group. Each group experienced something different. The first group went out into urban Fort Worth and met and talked to people living in the area. The second group created a budget for a single mother with 3 children. The third group used that budget to “grocery shop” for food for a month. It was an amazing opportunity to experience what these people go through every single day.
We all took away different lessons from working at Fortress. Some of us gained an appreciation for how hard it is for families to live with a limited budget. Some of us discovered what it really means to live out your faith by serving. And some of us realized how little we need to truly be happy. Whatever we learned, I am confident that it will shape our lives and make us the people God intended for us to be. Fortress changed us. Fortress changed us because God wanted it to change us. That’s the reason we were there. Sure, we impacted people and made a difference. But the people at Fortress - the kids, the staff, and the interns – they impacted us too! The relationships we developed meant so much. We loved the kids and we received love in return-a simple exchange of the passion and dedication that God gave us when He created us.
I will never forget the people I met at the Fortress ministry. They taught me so much. They taught me how to love, how to serve, and how to be a Christian example. I will never forget the awesome impact that was made on my life and I will never forget the relationships I established there.
June 25, 2009
Today, Thursday, was our last day with the kids. It was so sad seeing them leave. Most everyone in our group connected with at least one child and to think that we might not get to see them again was heart wrenching. We all said our good-byes and gave hugs as they hopped back on the vans. Hopefully we’ve made as big an impact on their lives as they have on us.
The kids here at Fortress are truly special children.
There were many positives to today. We took the group on a field trip to the Botanic Gardens to see the Japanese Garden exhibit. The children absolutely loved it! We got to see a sand garden and feed koi. One of the youth members even found two snakes, and some of the groups got to see a special gift given to Fort Worth by the Japanese.
My girls seemed to be thrilled by the fish so we spent most of our time there rather than exploring.
After we returned to Fortress from our field trip and the children left, we had a close-out session with Mr. Quest and some of the other staff and interns. We shared the experiences we were taking away and how much of an impact this trip had made on us.
All the members spoke about the relationships they had made and our hopes for Fortress to continue with great success. Thank you Fortress Staff, Interns, and children for an experience of a lifetime and a great opportunity to serve. You will be in our thoughts and prayers.
Christina Bartelt
Today was bittersweet for the volunteers working with the pre-k students. Some of the girls played with my hair for a good bit and then had lots of fun at the creative center dressing up. We took tons of pictures for our mission scrapbook back home, and the Fortress kids loved posing for them. It was probably the most fun and behaved day, but it was also the last day we’ll get with the children. L Tomorrow is the field trip and these students aren’t participating this week. It was so sad to see them leaving.
After seeing the youngsters off, it was time for centers with the older students. This went fairly well and we got to trace outlines of some of the students on the ground. The outlines later came to represent Abraham and Sara. Overall we had a really good day. The kids were slightly wild but enjoyable nonetheless.
-Christina Bartelt
The second day of our experience was just as great as the first. The three through five year olds were pumped up and ready for fun. Every moment you spend with them is an absolute blast. Their smiling faces and sincere laughter make you fall in love with each and every one of them.
After centers we watched Elmo’s nature video to remind the kids that Abraham had to live on his own out in nature.
The urban experience of the day consisted of several of our youth members asking for food stamp applications and planning a budget as a 23-year old single mother of three: seven, six and two years old. One of the children has asthma and the seven- year old is a rowdy individual who finds himself in a fight a week.
The “experiencers” had to plan out how the family was going to afford all the household’s necessities with only $227 a month. It was an eye-opening event for the youth to realize how hard it was to afford just groceries and that these families had to leave items out that most would view as a necessity.
Both days have been a learning experience as well as days of bonding between the youth group and the children.
-Christina Bartelt
Fortress welcomes guest blogger Christina Bartelt, a recent high school graduate and Lipscomb University-bound secondary education major from Fayetteville, Tennessee.
Christina and her youth group from Washington Street Church of Christ are here this week on a “mission trip”, helping us facilitate the summer program by loving on, interacting with, and encouraging our kids. They’re doing an amazing job! Led by youth minister Brad Sullivan and adult sponsors Ron Kerbo and Anna Catherine Cooley, Washington Street is a true blessing to Fortress YDC.
Christina will be blogging daily this week. Please check back for updates!
-Stacy
First I would like to say that I truly feel that working with the children at Fortress has been more of a pleasure than a service. I chose to volunteer with the pre-k students, and all of them are absolutely adorable! We started off the day with breakfast and playing outside. My group had a blast playing basketball and swinging. Afterwards the children participated in centers. Between making a constellation viewer and digging for plastic bugs in purple sand, we all had a great time getting to know one another as well as the story of Abraham. Not only was our time enjoyable, but we also really started to connect with the children.
This year’s groups for the older children include Transformers, Spiderman, and Dream Team. In addition to working with the pre-k I will also get to participate with the Transformers group after the young ones go home for lunch. Although I missed today’s activities because of the Urban Experience, I asked some of the other volunteers what their day consisted of. Several students came down from TCU and played games with the children. The Fortress kids participated in dance, football, and basketball games and all seemed to really have a good time. After heading back from the park, it was time for praise and worship. The students acted out the story of Abraham leaving his home and shouted uplifting chants. Centers followed and the kids took part in reading, arts and crafts, and games.
While centers for the elementary students took place, four other volunteers from my church and I went on our “urban experience.” My group walked around the neighborhood and learned much about the area’s history. We were able to see the house that the first African American millionaire lived in and many nice homes. However, the majority of the houses we came across were run down and needing improvements. It was so strange to see the extreme differences among houses right next door to one another. Overall, it was somewhat overwhelming to realize that poverty is so prevalent in an area where some of the richest and most dignified African Americans once lived.
We all expect to get a lot out of this experience and develop strong bonds with the Fortress children and staff, the other members of our youth group and our loving Savior and Lord.
More to come tomorrow.
Christina Bartelt