Generosity is Contagious
Transkript
Generosity is Contagious
W I N T E R 2 0 1 3 Changing the World… One Child At A Time… Generosity is Contagious This Christmas in New Jersey was unlike any other. It nipped on the heels of a “Super Storm,” named “Sandy.” As the winds died down, a sense of tension remained. All of us in the area hungered for a little extra “TLC” as we continued to dig out of this difficult time. The families of Aslan were no exception. Save the Date! NJ Marathon May 5, 2013 We need you to Volunteer or RUN! (Relay, ½ or Full Marathon) It is a season when we celebrate, “Immanuel” or the reality that God came from heaven to earth to be with us. Our goal in all we do in our ministry is to make this truth evident. In our Aslan “Bible Classes” we took the time to learn more about the birth of our Savior. Beyond this the Lord is always with us. He showed our families an extravagance this season. Partners who have supported us for as many as 20 years provided parties with food, festivity and fun. Area supporters came through with Christmas presents. What was amazing though, was the body of Christ showing it’s immense love through generosity, unlike ever before. Youth groups and churches from New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Kansas also made sure our families had presents for Christmas. We are so grateful to so many who ensured our families felt loved and cared for in a tragic time. It was an example of those who love Jesus coming together and showing just how contagious generosity really can be. THE LOREM IPSUMS WINTER 2016 Stories Of Aslan Showing God’s love at work to affect permanent change in the hearts and minds of our children. It’s Too Hard! This Fall when 2nd grader, Ricky started in our tutoring program, to be honest, he hated it. It was not uncommon for Ricky to run and hide, even under tables (literally), the moment he arrived with his tutor. He would tell us it wasn’t fair he had to learn math and reading, when he would rather be playing! Truthfully, Ricky thought the work he had to do was just too hard! In addition his family was in turmoil, after being evicted from their apartment, they were sleeping on the floors of friends until they could find a new home. Through it all his tutors remained constant, showing patience and love, going out of their way to ensure Ricky made it to tutoring this week. Last week we watched as Ricky bound into our program, sitting across from his tutor with excitement. They faced each other as he tackled addition flash cards, reading and other foundational academic skills. Ricky’s problems haven’t been “fixed” overnight. However, as we continue to walk with him and his family, we see him hide under that table less and less. I’ve Never Understood Part of our time with our students is to help them understand who Christ is and how to have a relationship with him. The reality is often times situations in their neighborhoods and homes can create a wedge in grasping his love. This was shown recently in one of our teen Bible studies. We were studying what it means to be a child of God. The truth is we can’t totally know this fully until we realize what it means to belong to him completely. Many times our Bible Classes are more about wrestling through and idea than anything else. This was no different. In talking about this topic it wasn’t as simple as one might think. None of our students had both biological parents living at home with them. In discussing God being our father, they compared him to their earthly disappointments. When we talked about being adopted, and the need to enter into a right relationship with him, it turned to the reason this was broken. One of our student declared, “I’ve never understood why we have to keep paying for one bad decision made by Adam and Eve.” This is when we turned to the Bible and really looked at the way innocence was lost for eternity. The need for Jesus started that day, and our students are understanding that being HIS is what makes all the difference. 2 2 1 THE LOREM IPSUMS WINTER 2016 Craig’s Corner Christmas In Haiti already sitting quietly on rows of wooden benches. After some singing and prayers and a couple of short “speeches,” it was time for the party to begin. First came a small bag of pep pep (popcorn) for each child. Then our Haitian teenagers passed out a piece of candy to everyone. Next came a small sandwich, and then a large container of juice that brought “oohs and aahs” from the bright-eyed and smiling faces. The grand finale was a balloon for each one – from 3 years old to 21 – and that was the icing on the cake! This was a celebration like none you’d ever see in America, with such thankfulness for so little. For most of these little ones, it was the best Christmas they had ever seen. Christmas in Haiti is nothing like Christmas in America. There are no presents, no trees covered in bright lights, and no special dinner. Basically, Christmas in Haiti feels like any other day of the year, except for the genuine realization that this is the day to celebrate the birth of the Christ child. However, Joseph, our Haitian director, knows how to make the children of L’Acajou feel special. Especially when a good friend sends us $250 as a blessing for this holiday. On Christmas morning, we hopped on the wellworn Aslan motorcycle and headed for L’Acajou. As we drove through the gates of our land, I could see a mass of 200 Aslan children Getting The Word Out… Invite Us Over… This month Aslan met with several “Ambassadors” from local churches and organizations. These liaisons take on the responsibility of being a cheerleader for our organization to their local area. Through their efforts our staff has been spending much time speaking about the mission and exciting things going on here. If you would be interested in becoming a Monmouth County “Ambassador,” having us speak at your church, organization or would like to have your friends come together for a small coffee and informational dessert, we would love to! Please just contact Janis Marlar to get things started! 3 THE LOREM IPSUMS WINTER 2016 What You Want to Know NEW BOOK! Everybody’s Urban: Understanding the Survival Mindset of the Next Generation Aslan Program Development Director, Leneita Fix, just released her latest book explaining and exploring who “urban youth” truly are. More and more students are “stuck” in a survival mindset with an inability to hope or beyond today. This is true of many of our Aslan students. If you are looking to understand our families deeper, or would like to learn strategies for working with them, this is a quick, practical read. You can pick up the book at www.simplyyouthministry.com We Come to You! In the last several months we realized it has been much too long since we have given updates at local churches who sponsor us. In January, a wonderful group of our students visited Community Baptist Church in Neptune. They inspired the congregation with some songs and afterward were treated to an awesome pizza lunch! Thanks to all those who have already had us in for an update or missions moment! We appreciate you! Thank You! A special thanks to both New York Life and LBT&D Foundation for their recent grant awards to help fund our Aslan programming. We are blessed by their partnership. Have Some Island Fun Island Nights is coming in July! We need your help with our premiere fundraiser. This island themed dinner includes sail boat rides, and a vacation give away! It takes many hands to make a great event. Would you consider attending, inviting others or helping out some way with the day? Even if you are available for an hour or so we could use you to help us have a great evening! 4 2 1 THE LOREM IPSUMS WINTER 2016 Volunteer Spotlight By: Yoshio Narita as some of the computer software/hardware Aslan received. On occasions I was able to build shelving to help store supplies. I even hung up frames as well as installed coat hangers in the staff offices. The Aslan office even let me learn more about using Excel and Word on their work computers. It is said that not using the brain is detrimental for the post retirement senior citizen. Well, the Aslan office did not want that to happen so they allowed me to work on some more challenging projects (with the hope of slowing down this senior citizen problem.) The first project was to keep track of the status of the Volunteers who applied to Aslan. The second project was to schedule the mailings of the periodic (approximately every-other-month) newsletters. This entailed developing a schedule with Churches/volunteer groups to have them do the work of “stuffing” the envelopes with the Aslan newsletter, etc. and to fill out the USPS cost forms to mail out the filled envelopes. Well, I cannot say that this brain usage cures Alzheimer’s but at least it slowed the degradation for 10 years. Ten years or so later, I must say that volunteering at Aslan was one of the most fulfilling phases of my life. The energy, enthusiasm and camaraderie of the Aslan group is inspirational. Whenever I had contact with the people of Aslan I felt that I was participating with people doing God’s work. For people like me, the indirect service to the disadvantage through organizations like Aslan, is very satisfying. It is almost like letting others do the work but still receiving part of the credit for the work. The selfless work effort of the staff was catching and I always wanted to do more to serve them. However, like most good things, this phase of life must end, but it will not be forgotten by me. I want to thank the Aslan team for allowing me to participate in doing the work of God in a way which was very comfortable to me. I am confident that with a team like that, Aslan will continue to change the world, one child at a time. My name is Yoshio Narita. Since my parents both were born in Japan, I am considered to be a Nisei by the Japanese (which means a second generation person living in the USA [but first generation American, because my parents were NOT allowed to become naturalized Americans until about 1954]). I was born in San Francisco (in 1933), lived in Arkansas during the war years, but primarily raised up in NYC. After graduating from CCNY college I was employed as a civilian at Fort Monmouth and stayed in Red Bank for several years commuting between Fort Monmouth and Red Bank by bus or by car pooling. After marriage my wife and 3 children settled down in Lincroft NJ where I have lived for almost 50 years. While at Fort Monmouth, I heard of an organization, which was helping the “at-risk” children of Red Bank by tutoring them after school. I thought that this was a good way to help the young people so I volunteered to help Aslan for about a year or so. However, I was never too strong in people skills, especially children, and so decided to postpone working with them for a while. About 40 years later I retired from Fort Monmouth and was looking around for a Christian organization, around Red Bank, where I might help do volunteer work. I knew that there was a Salvation Army group in Red Bank. I drove all over Red Bank and could not find where they were located. This was years before you could just “Google” on the computer, so I was going crazy looking for the organization that I knew was in Red Bank. But in my quest, I passed a sign on Maple Street that said “Aslan Youth Ministries.” I felt that God was telling me that I should serve THIS group. So, I went inside and applied to volunteer for Aslan with the specific proviso that I will work in the office and NOT do tutoring or helping with Bible studies work dealing directly with the children. I had no specific skills that I could offer However, they graciously allowed me to help in the office. Working at the Aslan office was not difficult. My main thought was that I needed to do the minor, time consuming work that the staff could not get to. So I emptied the wastepaper baskets, cleared up the paper supplies, reorganized the stockroom storage items, took inventory of items donated to Aslan (like shoes, tee shirts, etc) as well 5 THE LOREM IPSUMS WINTER 2016 WHO WE ARE! Aslan’s Mission: Through God’s love to affect permanent change in the heart’s and minds of at-risk youth in America and Haiti. Core Values Take the “Risk” out of an “at-risk” situation. • Relationally Driven • Integrity • Servant- Leaders • Christ- Centered Changing the world, One Child At A Time… For Constant Updates Check Us Out: www.aslanyouth.org Key Contacts from this issue: Janis Marlar, Volunteer Coordinator: Janis@aslanyouth.org (Volunteering, Ambassador info, etc.) John Fix, COO: John@aslanyouth.org (NJ Marathon, Island Nights)