Monday, November 9, 2009

David Speaking on DTS...




SMALL BLESSINGS LEAD TO GREAT FAITH...

As some of you may know, when we moved to San Francisco we were both very excited to be setting out on a new journey. Over the past 5 months, we have seen our share of challenges and battles, but in the midst of the storm we have seen God provide for us in incredible ways!

One of my concerns with the winter season coming up around the corner is the fact that we have lived in TROPICAL Australia for the past 4 years, leaving us with very few winter clothes. I have been asking God to provide for us the necessities for the colder weather. Well, just this past week, we were each given a winter coat! They were exactly what we liked and had been looking at in the local shops. They are SO nice and such a blessing to us! David even got a great coat that he will be able to wear even if it’s raining outside in the winter time- so there is no stopping him from getting out on the streets to share the gospel!

One other desire of ours, as many of you already know, is that we want to turn our garage into a youth room. Well, part of that vision entails us setting up an X-Box in there for teenagers to come hangout and play. David was given an X-Box for his birthday this year and we have two controllers, but were wanting to get two more so that more people could play. Well, this week we randomly got TWO X-BOX CONTROLLERS in the mail! We were so stoked and can’t wait for God to provide us with a TV so that we can set it all up downstairs! Although, our Hispanic neighbors (two boys ages 11 and 9) are already enjoying the gift!

(So, THANK YOU to the people that God used this week to bless us and remind us of His faithfulness! We are SO grateful!!!)

We pray that God may take these stories and encourage your spirit with the fact that He IS good and He IS a provider. No matter how dark the clouds may look, it doesn’t change WHO He IS.... He promises to never leave us or forsake us. Even when the road gets bumpy, He still sees us and longs to lavish His great love on us! Be blessed this week in knowing that no matter what breakthrough you are needing to see in your life, God IS big enough to handle it!
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1 comment:

  1. riversandoceansNovember 12, 2009 at 3:07 PM

    love this blog, praying for you wonderful, personal, pursuing hearted leaders! hahaha
    much love

    -Rachel Smith

    ReplyDelete

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Me and Miss Ria

Me and Miss Ria
Ria lives with her Grandmother and is staying with her cousins for the summer here in Hunters Point... she is a true sweetheart in every sense of the word!

Serving Lunches...

Serving Lunches...
Thanks to the government, we have been able to provide FREE lunches to the kids every day!

Being Silly...

Being Silly...
This is Kyra who comes to Day Camp with her sister and two cousins... she is every bit as adorable as she is in this photo!

Getting 'Mummy-fied'!!!

Getting 'Mummy-fied'!!!
This is one of the crazy games we played with the kids this week...

Haning Out...

Haning Out...
David hanging out with the kids as we wait for their rides to pick them up...

Summer Day Camp 2010!!

Summer Day Camp 2010!!
Group picture taken at Golden Gate Park this week...

Our Neighborhood

We live on the south-side of San Francisco in a forgotten neighborhood made up of over 30,000 residents. 61% of our neighbors are African-American. 16% are Hispanic and 8% are of Asian decent. Of the 30,000 neighbors we have, 134 are Caucasian. Needless to say, we stand out a little bit!


Gun shots and sirens are a regular occurence here in our neighborhood. There are 16 known gangs located within our streets. Our neighbors have the highest asthma and infant mortality rate in the state of California. Apart from those issues, our neighborhood is home to many other health related problems due to the fact that it is built on an old Naval Shipyard which was abandonded shortly after WW2. To this day, it releases toxic chemicals into the air.


As we have spent time studying the neighborhood, it is easy for us to get overwhelmed by ALL the problems, but God has kept revealing to us the potential of this neighborhood if His people would turned to Jesus.


The Vision...

Due to the numerous gangs in our neighborhood, it is extremelly complicated and difficult to hold community wide events. With each gang comes a complete territory, creating lines that can not be crossed. For that reason, we have broken up the neighborhood into 5 key areas. Four of the areas are different public housing projects. The fifth is around the corner from where we live.


Our plan is to start engaging the youth in programs such as sports clinics, dance clubs, art/graffiti groups, etc... to offer them a positive alternative to gang life. Our desire is that these ‘clubs’ would lead into discipleship groups located in the 5 key areas. We would eventually like to partner with local churches and key leaders in the community to form a youth church. We hope to start our first discipleship group here in our home and help run sports clinics at the local recreation center later this year. We are also constantly out on the streets, telling young people about Christ, and building relationship with them. We are in the process of turning our garage into a mini-youth center equipped with a X-box, TV, and, hopefully, a pool table. We want to offer a safe place for youth to hang out instead of being out on the streets.