I'm back!

Well, this isn't actually Eric.

After many beggings and pleadings from forlorn former readers, I, Laura, have taken up the honor of blogging! My schedule is much more flexible and my writing standards are slightly lower, so I was happily chosen to update you all on the inner workings of inner city ministry. Hopefully, this will happen once every couple of weeks.

To begin, I'll give you the Cliff Notes for the past year...

*Summer Shakespeare program was GREAT. Wonderful cast, wonderful rehearsals, wonderful show, wonderful tour. The kids loved it so much that nearly all of them are coming back to do it again this summer! Last summer's show: Romeo and Juliet. This summer's show: The Tempest.

* Fall semester of the Performing Arts Academy was great. We had a good chance to build on the skills we were teaching last year, and our Shakes kids became closer friends in their weekly class and Bible Study. The new Children's Choir was a huge hit and all 60 slots filled up immediately.

* Christmas, 2010- Eric and I bought and house and a puppy! We are truly a North Side family now, living in the community we love. Our puppy, Trooper (short for Sand Trooper, all you Star Wars fans), is a lab/mastiff mix and his goofiness and wagging tail make us so happy! At 6 months now, he's around 55 pounds and still growing.

* February, 2011- Our Shakes kids entered the Pittsburgh Public Theatre's Annual Scene and Monologue Competition. They were the very first group to perform out 1,200 students. Two of our eight students placed in the top 75. That's right- 25% of our group placed in the top 75 out of 1,200 students. We couldn't be prouder!

* April, 2011- The Urban Impact Choir sang at Heinz Hall! A benefit concert featuring Jerry Butler was held for Urban Impact, and the choir opened the show spectacularly. Eric did all of the print work (posters, flyers, bookmarks, t-shirts, programs, etc, etc) and it was so classy, Heinz Hall was proud to display it!

* Spring semester of the Performing Arts Academy was a huge success. The final show was attended by  many parents. In fact, more parents attend the final PAA show than any other Urban Impact Activity! Eric wrote a gameshow-style short play for his Elementary Drama class called "The Choice is Right," and it was a huge hit. Picture the Israelites (along with the Angel of Death) vs. the Egyptian Pharaohs (aka the Tut family) in a Family Feud-style game in which the winners get to go to the Promised Land! All the questions had to do with the 10 Commandments, and the Burning Bush was one of the phone-a-friends. My High School Acting class did a Human Video (movement set to music that tells a story) called "Storms," which told the stories of people feeling attacked, but also showed the power of God to rescue them.

* Eric and I just finished a fascinating and fun vacation to Scotland to visit my sister and her family. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we were thrilled to have bought our tickets before gas skyrocketed! Joy was the perfect travel agent, David was a very knowledgeable tour guide, and our niece was a remarkably bubbly and flexible traveler! We had such a blast catching up with them and being introduced to their lives, as well as seeing sheep, highland cows, castles, churches, ruins, cemeteries, monuments, gorgeous mountains, waterfalls, islands, bed and breakfasts, fudge doughnuts, sticky toffee pudding, kippers, and haggis!

Now that we are back and rested, it is full-speed-ahead for this summer's Urban Impact Shakes. We are praying hard, as neither of us can see how this summer can top last summer. God's provision was so evident last year, we are trusting Him for more miracles this year!


To God be the glory, great things He has done!


Opportunities to pray for us at Urban Impact:
* Our Shakes kids this summer (that God would grow in them and they would grow in God)
* Our Shakes staff this summer (Brittany, Rachel, Matt, me and Eric- for peace amidst the stress)
* Our Shakes audiences this summer (that God would prepare them for the message)
* All of the production aspects of this play (costumes, set, props, lighting, sound, etc)

45 Cute Minutes

April 8th is Coming!  To most of the world this is just an ordinary day, but to me it's a day where God looks down and judges whether or not I'm an effective missionary.  Okay,  I know that's not true, but that's the thought that slips into my mind as the Performing Arts Academy Parents' and Performance Night draws closer.  We had a dress rehearsal this past Thursday, and boy was that rough! Yes, people say a bad dress rehearsal means a good performance, but I think some one just made that up so I can sleep better at night.  To tell you the truth it hasn't been working.  I wake up in the middle of the night think what do I need to do tomorrow, pray for some of the kids, and read a comic book until I fall back asleep.   One might ask, "What's the big deal?"  Well, I (by the grace of God and help from great volunteers) run the Performing Arts Academy, and on April 8th the academy has their big shindig performance.

Right now the performance is looking like this: some really talented young singers, cute elementary art students, a middle and high school acting class that is so great (when they choose to be), an improv troupe that call themselves "The Unfulfilled Awesomes", and 18 little girls that don't know their lines.  The part about 18 little girls that don't know their lines is the part that makes me toss and turn at night.  At the dress rehearsal their short ten minute play took them 45 minutes to get through.  Albeit they were very cute for those 45 minutes, one can only take so much.

After the dress rehearsal I was exhausted.  I turned to my wife and said, "If only they could memorize their lines like they do the Bible studies."  Then it hit me; I just said, "If only they could memorize their lines like they do the Bible studies."  The young girls had been learning a lot this semester, and what stuck is much more important than their lines.  What stuck is their relationship with God.

Sometimes I can get stuck, stuck on what I think is important.  Those are the times when I am thankful for God's gracious priority checks, even if it comes in the form of 18 little girls standing quietly on the stage.

Prayer Requests:

• The 18 little girls (and their lines).
• Praise and continued prayer for a student who was in Jail and now is in a half way house.
• Summer Program and the students that will be involved
• April 8th 
• Parents to come and support their kids
• Students to use their talents to glorify God
• Me and my priorities

Galatians 5:6

When the Jonas Brothers visited Urban Impact

When I first felt led to join Urban Impact I knew I would spend time building relationships with young men, live in the inner-city and talk with them about Jesus.  One thing I did not think of a year and a half ago was teaching 18 1-5 grade girls.

Now every Thursday, I teach the elementary drama class.  18 little drama princesses convene for fun, Bible study, acting, and whole lot of smiling.  From my perspective it's a hour and a half of Bill Cosby's Kids Say the Darnest Things and me thinking, "Dear God,  please help me."  Fortunately, God does hear my pleas and knows I don't have a clue when it comes to nine year old girl with a sassy attitude.  Because of this every week I have some amazing story of what God is doing in the class despite my inexperience.  The past few weeks it has been awesome to see the girls get incredibly curious every time we start our Bible study.  This year Sheri and Karen, two volunteers, have written a "Special Agent" theme study.  The young girls are members of the CIA: Children in Action and get "codes" found in the Bible which tell them about the KOK, LOL, and the POP (King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Prince of Peace).  This may sound like your standard Sunday school study but Sheri and Karen have blended James Bond-ness, Disney Princess, and Jesus to make something that these young girls love.  And when I say love,  I'm thinking about changing the class name to Elementary Awesome Bible Study and Some Acting Stuff.

Last week the CIA code was Isaiah1:18 "Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow."  With the code came a big box of snow, which the girls took handfuls of and held it up to the light to let it sparkle.  This of course provided much giggling and some oo's and ah's, but nothing like the reaction of what was yet to come.  In the snow laid another box with a code on top.  This code read: Isaiah 62:3, "You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God."  I slowly opened the box and pulled out...  SCREAMING, instant, high pitch, Jonas Brothers concert type, screaming.  And in my hands lay a small, little tiara. All the girls took turns setting the tiara on each other's head and announcing to the anxiously awaiting class that Quiante, Samira, Emily, Mycah, etc. were each a crown of splendor to the Lord.

At first I thought the reaction was hilarious and a bit much.  Yes, it might have been, but each one of those girls they realized they were precious, beautiful, and sparkled like the tiara and the sun hitting the snow.  That deserves a reaction.

Prayer Request:

• April 8th PAA Performance Night
• Getting ready for new Shakespeare summer program
• A former student who recently got sent to prison
• Praise for what God is doing in the PAA Bible Studies
• New Ministry Associates and Support Raising

All of you who pray for Laura and me,  you rock more than the Jonas Brothers.

Resolutions

I don't really have any New Years resolutions because I think, "Why wait for the new year to have a resolution?"  I realize this sounds a lot like my dad who is often crabby around Christmas time saying, "Why only give gifts on Christmas?"  To which I reply, "That's what Birthdays are for."  (FYI mine is February 18th.)  But back to the thought of resolutions.  

I have now been involved in Urban Impact for over a year, and through this time I have been privileged to be a part of and run many great programs.  Because of this I have been able to befriend and get to know a lot of young kids, but I know the need is much greater than friendship.  The kids of the North Side have a bunch of friends.  Many of them are great, but most pin each other down with expectations set by past generations: Welfare, drugs, and lots of sex with all of its consequences.  This reminds me of what Principal Rick, one of the founders of the UI: Choir, told me, "Our kids don't need friends, they have enough of those.  They need people to keep them out of jail and off of each other."  We went on to talk about what really makes a difference.  Urban Impact programs keeps kids off the street, tell them about God and the great rescue through Jesus, teach them skills, and feed them.  Not a bad list,  actually pretty good,  really good, down right snazzy, but what in that list helps them beyond choir or basketball practice?  Yes, you might answer Jesus and I wouldn't argue with you, but have you ever heard of a Sunday Christian, the guy who goes to church, sings, sits, listens then goes home and forgets.  It's no different with our kids; they are Program Christians except when they go home and forget they sell drugs and guns.  What makes it stick?  How can our kids take what they learn and put it into practice instead of throwing it into a Proverbial trash can?

If you have the answer to this let me know.  Until that time we have found that we must live the life of an incarnational  missionary....  What!?  Despite incarnational not being a real word I believe it means that I need to walk in the shoes of those to whom I minister.  I know I'm not black and there is no way I'm going back to high school, but I do want to be a part of my kids' lives.  I want to be there when they are making the hard choices, to help them with home work, and show them God at work in me and them.  This will be tough, but it doesn't always have to be.  A couple weeks ago I took a group of guys to hunt zombies at a local church youth event (they had a biblical metaphor of those who were truly living as opposed to the walking dead) and last week Laura and I had a Super Bowl party and had them all over to our apartment.  The only thing tough about those was getting up off my cow derriere and doing it.  So, if I challenged myself to a New Year's resolution I would say it's walking the walk with the kids to really make an impact.


Prayer Requests and Praise:

• Praise for the volunteers who have stepped up to help in the Performing Arts
• Praise, one our students made it into CAPA (the best public high school)
• Prayer for the Performing Arts Academy
• Support raising for Urban Impact's Ministry Associates
• One of our PAA kids who is going through some "stuff"
• Continued challenge for myself and others to get more involved with our student's lives

Thank you all for your prayers and continued support.

You're Number 9 on the Waiting List

The need is so great here in the inner-city with at-risk youth, but it is amazing how quiet the response has been. It seems like every program we create gets completely filled, and Urban Impact is not the only one creating programs in Pittsburgh. Many local churches, the Heinz Foundation, and other organizations have programs to help youth. I'm sure these are getting filled as well. The thing that really amazes me is who isn't helping.

Last week was the first day of the Spring Performing Arts Academy. Student registrations have poured in for the program ever since the last day of the fall semester. Parents and children are still asking how they can get in the classes. I'd like to think this is because I rock a putting together a program, and Urban Impact is ridiculously popular, but that isn't it. Students have few other options. The can't afford acting or art lessons in the downtown cultural district. Quite frankly, many families can't/don't pay our $20 registration fee for the whole semester, and that's okay. What is not okay is having parents come into our offices out of breath because they ran to make sure their students weren't put on the waiting list.

You may ask, "Why have a waiting list?" At Urban Impact we know the arts, basketball, education, soccer are all great but, try as they might, will not transform, renew, and redeem a person. Basically, the only thing that does all those amazing things is God through his son Jesus, but I digress. (If you want to know more about God or Jesus read the Bible, go to church, or ask your token passionate christian friend.) So, in order to really change lives Urban Impact wants to mentor kids holistically by caring for them physically, educationally, emotionally, and spiritually. To do this we stick to a 1:6 ratio of adult volunteers to students. Urban Impact has found that if this ratio is not kept students are not helped but hidden in a group.

We have a waiting list because volunteers are not responding. And when I say not responding I mean they are not returning my emails or calls. It is easy to say, "Yeah, what you're doing sounds awesome. I want to volunteer." But actually doing it, that takes a little initiative. I am guilty of this as well. (Sorry for not returning your emails.) It does take effort to volunteer, but the reward trumps the effort, stress, and frustration ten fold. Having kids you barely even know run up an hug you in the grocery store or teens yell at you across the public library is ridiculous, embarrassing, but most of all heart warming. I don't want to turn any child, teen, or parent away. I don't want a waiting list. Please pray for volunteers, instructors, and mentors to find their way to Urban Impact.

Matthew 9:37...

Prayer Request:

• Urban Impact Volunteers
• Spring Semester of the PAA
• Mentors for Ty, Ahmad, DJ
• Meghan Peterman (Just left Urban Impact to work in the slums of India)
• New Urban Impact Missionaries raising support
• Laura and I as we try to follow God the best we can.

Thank you all for your continued prayers. I hope to update you next week on the Urban Impact Zombie Killing Team.

Urban Impact Choir: Click Here for Video

This is a great little video that one of our volunteers put together. It is of the Urban Impact Choir at Atria's, a local North Side restaurant that sponsored our Choir Christmas party. I hope you enjoy it!

Prayer Requests:

• PAA Students auditioning for CAPA (Creative and Performing Arts school)
• Grant writing for the PAA and UI Choir
• Finishing strong the Fall PAA semester and gearing up for the spring semester.
• Praise for great volunteers

Thank you all for your support and prayers!

Top Secret: Please Read Aloud

One Bible story that has constantly stuck out to me throughout the process of working with Urban Impact is Matthew 25:14-30. In this passage Jesus tells a parable of a Master who goes on a journey and leaves three workers in charge of certain shares of his business. Two go out and invest what was given them and the other basically stuffs it under his mattress. Later the Master comes back and asks how the business is going. The two investors doubled their money and the Master says, "Well done my good and faithful servant!" This good mood does not last long though. The Master soon turns and sees his last employee returning only what was given to him. Of course the poor guy tries to make up some excuse about why he didn't do anything with it, but the Master will not have it. Some harsh words are thrown back and forth and what the guy put under the mattress is taken from him and given to an investor.

This is good financial advice, but I think Jesus' parable symbolizes more than money management. I was thinking about this the other morning and wondering, "Am I acting as a multiplier or a bum on a log?" Then I realized I am very blessed and continually blessed and very busy and continually busy. I know I could invest my time better, but it is very encouraging to know God has not given up on me yet and still challenges me everyday. If God continues to challenge me it must mean he hasn't taken away his investment from me... Blah, blah, blah and now for the --

PAA Story of the Week:

We last left off with the Elementary drama class learning a little cheer that I'm pretty sure is not found in the Bible. Since then the class has been going really well with the occasional escorting of students to "Mean" Principle Kelly. The other classes in the PAA are also going well, each with their own small hurdles and fun stories. Musical Theatre has a really strong class who are all getting along very well and bringing up some of the deepest questions during Bible study. Elementary Visual Arts has gone well with the exception of some splattered paint mishaps. (Washable Paint: check.) Middle/High School Visual Arts has three boys in the class and they love to paint, draw, and create beautiful pictures of wars, armies, and other people with guns. Improv is improv. I have know idea how or what dancing is doing, but it looks good. And Miss Laura runs a tight ship with the Middle/High School Acting class. She has many stories to tell of her own exciting PAA adventures.

My favorite story happened last week in my Elementary Drama class. Don't worry it is short and sweet. In the class Miss Karen, a volunteer, has been receiving several Top Secret letters and packages, which she ironically opens reads aloud to the entire class. Each package has a different color paper and verse (think Sunday school beaded bracelets). Over the weeks these verses and color have illustrated how God loves us, created us, sent his son Jesus as a sacrifice for us to conquer the sin/ooey, gooey, icky, nastiness in our lives. Last week marked the end of the Top Secret packages and everyone received their own bracelet as a reminder of the gift that God has given them. After we reviewed what the bracelet meant, we closed in prayer and 9 girls accepted the gift and asked Jesus into their hearts! For those of you who don't realize this is awesome let me just tell you how awesome it is... Oh wait, I can't; it's that awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome. But the real kicker and cherry on top was after the class when one little girl came up and said she already accepted Jesus into her heart, so prayed for those who were accepting Christ instead. And she's only eight. That sure beats ending class with a skirt shakin' cheer.

Prayer Requests:

• Our students who will audition for the Creative and Performing Arts School (The best public school in Pittsburgh)
• The 9 young girls who recently accepted Christ into their hearts
• Praise for sending some great volunteers to the PAA!
• Dec. 17th PAA Parents' Open House
• PAA Grant Proposal that they have asked me to write (EEK!)
• The North Side families this Thanksgiving and Christmas Season

I am thankful for all of your prayers they mean so much to so many.

Happy Thanksgiving...