Siempre Update 4.10.09

Central Community Christian Fellowship

at Siempre Para Los Ninos

This Week at Siempre

What teacher's do on vacation... leave their schools and head down to Siempre! God bless them, every one. Pastor Ken took a group that left Riverside at 5am: hard core! Ted Springer- who hung out with kids and worked on Easter worship with Pastor Israel. This will be Ted and his wife Karen's 4th Easter helping out on Easter Sunday with the church at Siempre. Tony Springer, Ted's brother, worked on some electrical and cruised with the kids. Theresa Burns joined the early crew and brought prepared meals for two days, along with more toys, water balloons and other good things that grandma's know all about. In other words... the kid's were really spoiled by the time we arrived in the afternoon when Becky brought Easter cookies to frost, decorate and of course eat. Becky also brought her husband Ross along for the second week in a row and he changed out shower heads, upgraded every bathroom with toilet paper holders, changed out some door knobs and locks and basically worked hard and fast all afternoon. Debi, Julia and Marilyn kept busy with the kids, cookies and tried to stay dry while Theresa was busy handing out water balloons. Pastor Israel and I went for a ride in a neighboring community scoping out old work we'd done and looking for new property. It was just an incredibly busy day of doing all we could to make it happen! We were all worn down by day's end... in fact, I was still beat Thursday! But it was a good kind of tired.

Wednesday friendships quickly become lifetime relationships. That's Lynn, who after giving her life as a full time mother of 4 children- now all young adults -became a Wednesday regular... bringing her entire family Memorial Day Weekend when we first built Siempre and then keeping them involved whenever they could break away from college, jobs and the other stuff that quickly occupies our children's lives as they become adults. Last year Lynn took a job at one of our local schools and for some reason the principal doesn't see fit to release her every Wednesday... now Lynn has to squeeze Siempre visits in on days off, holidays and start acting like the rest of the world... it's been hard on her... and the kids have missed her as well. She spent her few hours last Wednesday trying to make up for too many Wednesday's away: hugging every child two or three times, catching up as much as possible with the older kids and wandering through the buildings enjoying every change that's been made. The relationships we build on Wednesdays are with each other, with the children but they're also with the event- the Wednesday adventure away -and even more with the fellowship of Siempre. It always feels good to belong- to be known and recognized -to be loved. Everyone at Siempre love's Lynn and they welcomed her home like a family member who'd been gone too long. If it's been awhile since you've visited the children of Siempre- they remember you and would love to welcome you "home." If you've never met the kids and staff at Siempre there's never a better time then Memorial Day Weekend- this year we're building Beginnings@Siempre Para Los Ninos -to rescue babies... a task that's been horribly overlooked at great cost of life. In one Memorial Day Weekend you build relationships with Siempre that'd take a year of Wednesday afternoons to establish. I hope you'll make this special friendship with Siempre a priority in your Memorial Day Weekend plans. It's not often you get to help rescue children, infants, to a future and hope beyond anything we can imagine today- all the while having a good time making friends. God is too good. All it takes to go is to say "Yes!"

Special Attention Needed

That's Antonio... came to us as just a kid... now he's beginning to look like a handsome young man as he approaches 15. Looking back, I realize the last 5 years of his life have been relatively easy compared to what the next 5 years could be. A future and a hope becomes more challenging as young people need to make decisions about college, careers, jobs... what to be when they grow up... it's not an easy task when we're born into a family with all the "right" connections, financial backing and social support necessary. Imagine what it must be like for Antonio, who's met millionaires, professionals from every walk of life and feels loved by people all across the US and Mexico... but how does he translate those relationships into the next steps he needs to take with his life? Who will he talk to about career planning, advanced degrees, how to have a relationship that honors God? Much less the more practical stuff that runs through the mind of a 15 year old: "Can I drive the car?" "Can I go out on my own?" "Can I?" They're questions that make raising babies and little ones seem like the easy part of the job... but when we raise them up we also need to realize that we're their support system, their network, their counselors... Each of our workers can only do so much and they're each giving their best. Now special attention is needed in the lives and futures of our young adults who in the next 5 years will play out the first success stories of Siempre in their very own brave new world. Pray that God will continue to send the right people to love and lift them up, that he continues to give wisdom and insight to our leadership at Siempre and pray about your part in our work together... maybe you've never felt completely at home with the little ones but you know exactly how to give the wise counsel and support necessary at this stage of life- if so -we need you. Don't be afraid to contact me and we'll find a way for you to build relationships that will help these soon to be young adults successfully navigate their way into their best possible hope and future. Need something to do with the rest of your life? Siempre can make these days the best of your life when you're ready to give.

Siempre Para Los Ninos

phone: 1.951.689.5806