Make a smile.

How do you turn your pre-read books into smiles?  Donate them to Challenge House so that they can be re-read.  This is just one of hundreds of ways you can partner with Challenge House.  What is your passion?  Consider engaging your passion with Challenge House.

Summer is coming!

We have had a good winter here at CH3, and things are starting to pick up as the weather turns more spring-like. We have had great success with the after school program that we launched in December. It is called CHASERs (Challenge House After School Enrichment) and meets on Tuesdays from 4:00-5:00pm. Our goal with this program is to introduce our neighbor kids to things they may not otherwise experience and to challenge them to do their best in everything. This program has allowed us to build some strong relationships in the neighborhood, with an average attendance of about 15 kids, ranging in age from 3 years old to middle school.

We will take a break from CHASERs once school finishes up in May, since the summer is already booking up with lots of fun stuff! We are looking to expand the Little Red Wagon reading program that our home church (Second Baptist Church) has hosted at the house the last couple of years. We are going to try to run it for 8 weeks (June 10 - July 29), instead of the usual 4 weeks. This means that we will need more volunteers to be readers and more help with providing lunch each week.  We will likely need book donations, too, especially titles that are appealing to older elementary children.  Please pray about how you can help with this.

We already have a 2 Backyard Bible clubs tentatively scheduled for July and several other things in the works!  If you or your organization would like to plug-in to the Challenge House movement, please feel free to contact us via email @lori.kirkman@gmail.com.






As we wrap up CHASERs and approach summer, here are some things we could use donated:
Items needed for a couple of "messy" science activities for CHASERs:
(40) 4 oz bottles of liquid white glue
(20) empty plastic water bottles
(20) small boxes baking soda
(10) bottles white vinegar
(20) mini bottles liquid dish wash detergent
(5) boxes food coloring

And, we always need snacks:
Koolaid mix
PB or cheese crackers
fruit cups
pudding
fruit roll ups/chews
fresh fruit
pretzels






As always, we thank you for you continued support and prayers as we minister here on the West Side!

CHASERS

We are all chasing something, aren't we?  Maybe we are chasing financial or professional success, or the approval of someone we love, or, if you're like me, you feel like you are chasing your own tail just trying to keep up with all that life brings your way!  Back in December, a new, experimental "program" was birthed at Challenge House 3 and we call it CHASERS - Challenge House After School Enrichment.

 The neighborhood children know that they can come by my house any day at 4pm and get an afternoon snack.  And during this afternoon snack time, sometimes we invite them in to take turns on the laptops or to just hang out and play with toys. A lot of times we end up in our backyard jumping on the trampoline, playing with hula hoops and jump ropes, or even just blowing bubbles.  But, I want more for my neighborhood friends.  That's what we are here for, after all!  I didn't sell my house and move across town just so I could feed the masses every afternoon!  I want to pour into these young lives so that they know they are loved and cared for and that there is more for them in this world than just sitting at home looking for trouble to get into.

Thus, with the help of a new friend, Toni Riley, we birthed the idea of an after school program called CHASERS.  The idea is that on Tuesdays they get more than just a snack.  They get to try out new things like baking, origami, knitting, and crochet.  Everything is not for everyone, but that's the whole point!  I want to expose these kids to lots of different things hoping they will find something(s) that clicks for them.  It is my opinion that children with a hobby are going to be less likely to fall prey to trouble.  They just need something to keep their hands and minds active - something they can be successful at doing.  A lot of these children struggle in school, for one reason or another, so they need something else they can be good at.  I'm not saying that education is not important - I used to teach school.  I'm saying that maybe, if they get a boost of self confidence from being successful at something like chess or origami, they will try harder to have that same success at school.  Maybe they will give that math problem a second try instead of just leaving it blank or maybe they will think before they talk back to a teacher.  Maybe, just maybe, they will pick up some valuable life skills by participating in a fun activity on a Tuesday afternoon.

CHASERS does have some sense of a schedule and we do have some basic rules.  We start out with about 15-20 minutes of study buddy time.  This is where the kids pair up with each other or with a volunteer to do homework, read, or practice flashcards.  I LOVE this time, because often I see older children quizzing younger children on their colors, numbers, etc. It's great!  We usually transition from study buddy time into snack time, then get into our activity for the day. 

We have some basic rules like if you leave early you can't come back in, show respect to everyone, no cursing, etc.  We have had to send children home a time or two for misbehaving or being disrespectful.   We are still learning and adjusting as we go.  For example, we have learned that when we have a large group, it is best to split them into smaller groups for the activity.  We have also learned that the more volunteers we have, the better the kids behave.  We have had our bumps along the way, but it gets better each week.  It is exciting to see the kids get excited over little things like hot chocolate with marshmallows or learning how to fold a ninja star out of paper!

Ultimately, I want this after school program (and everything this Challenge House does) to inspire these children to "chase" their dreams.  I want them to have aspirations of growing into successful citizens of our community.  I want them to grow up and come back to this neighborhood and change it for the good.  I want these children to break the poverty cycle they were born into and inspire others to do the same!

Proverbs 28:19 "Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty."

Matthew 4:19 "'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will send you out to fish for people.'"

Changing Seasons

After spending the last 6 months building a handfull of friendly, trusting relationships, we suddenly find ourselves having to start all over again!  There are at least 5 empty houses where families with children used to live, some of which we had come to love.  Now, these houses have "For Rent" or "For Sale" signs in the yard and have been undergoing repairs and sprucing up.  I'm glad to see the houses getting some much needed attention, but I miss my little after school friends!  I miss their sweet smiles, the joy on their faces when I brought out my snack box, the fact that they were starting to understand that they were loved here and wanted to share part of their day with us.

Now, don't get me wrong, we still have plenty of children around and we still have kids to share snacks with after school everyday at 4pm!  But, we are having to learn all new names and personalities.  We are having to start over again proving our love to this new group of friends.  Case and point:  earlier this week I was on the front porch sharing snacks with a couple of girls, one of which was one of our "new" friends.  I was just simply making conversation and asked if she had a good day at school.  Her response was,"Why are you asking me that?"  This precious girl is probably 10-11 years old and did not understand that this was my way of showing her I cared about her!  It made me wonder if anyone had ever asked her that before or if she even has an adult in her life that is taking time to invest in her daily.  Maybe God has placed her on my front porch every day this week for a reason!  You can be sure I'm going to keep asking how her day has been!  Hopefully, eventually she will come to trust me and understand that I ask because I truelly care about her wellbeing!

Even though we have a lot of new friends coming around these days, we still have a few "old" friends coming around, too.  They are helping the others learn the ropes, so to speak.  I'm sure that's how the new friends knew to come to my house for an afterschool snack, after all.  That tells me we are doing something right, if one child is telling another about CH#3!  And, even though I miss my little friends that have moved away, God is showing me daily that we are having success in this adventure on the West Side.  I trust Him to grow whatever seeds of faith and love were planted in those that have moved.  He will put others in thier lives as they grow and mature to continue cultivating the harvest, even if we never know the results.

"So neither the one who plants not the one who waters is anything, but only God,who makes things grow."  1 Corinthians 3:7

Gardening

Apologies for such a long time between posts!  Life has gotten busy with the arrival of spring!  Not only does spring mean Easter, ballgames, and all the many end of school activities, it also makes me think of gardening.  I love the bright colors & pleasant fragrances that flowers bring to a yard, porch, or patio!  I enjoy getting out and planting flowers, pulling weeds, and watering plants in the summer months. Being in a new home has brought on all new gardening opportunities this spring.

 First, I decided to try my hand at making "starts" from the roses at old house. Those roses were my Mother's Day gift last year and they were SOOOO beautiful!  I'm sure hoping these starts do well so that I can continue to enjoy them for years to come.

Then, a couple of weeks ago the Master Gardeners group volunteered to do some landscaping here at CH3.  In meeting and emailing the leader of this group, I came to a realization - relationships are more important than flowers. Let me explain...... The front sidewalk here at Challenge House is lined on both sides with monkey grass and would look really nice if properly tended.  However, since our house is located at a busy corner, the sidewalk leading to our front porch is a popular turn around spot for all the neighbor kids (and my own kids) when riding their bikes.  This means that the monkey grass is constantly getting trampled.  At first, we tried to kindly remind the kids to be mindful of the monkey grass, but it wasn't working.  That's when I realized that I was going to have to choose between the landscaping and the kids.  If I continued to nag and fuss about the monkey grass, then the kids were not going to want to be around our house, feeling unwelcome.  That was NOT what we wanted!  Building relationships with our neighbors is the reason we are here!  So, we pulled out the landscaping border that was already heavily damaged from all the bicycles and decided that we were not going to worry about the monkey grass anymore.  I even spoke with the Master Gardeners and explained the situation to them and asked that they not do any additional landscaping around the sidewalk when they came.  Thankfully, they totally understood.  They focused their efforts on the porch area and it is just beautiful!

Praise the Lord we are surrounded by families with children and those children know that they are welcome at our house!

"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me."  Matthew 18:5

New Friends

I love the way kids can just instantly bond with one another in the name of play!  They don't care about skin color, economic status, education level, or even if they know each other's names!  They just want to play with someone their own size!  I have watched this happen so many times in the last couple of weeks.  As the weather has warmed, kids naturally want to play outside - ride bikes, walk the dog, etc.  There are so many children in this neighborhood, I don't know how we will ever get to know them all!  But, we have gotten to know our next door neighbor and her 4 children.  They are perfect playmates for Emma and Cooper - 2 preschool age boys & a little girl Emma's age.  As soon as they see that we are home, they are knocking on the front door!  Yesterday, I  walked into the living room to see a little face plastered to the window looking for Cooper!  It's wonderful! 

Adults, on the other hand, are much more stand-offish.  We have learned that people can be hurtful and unkind at times, so we tend to be more guarded with who we let into our lives.  I have seen this in the last couple of weeks, as well.  We had the opportunity last week to invite some teenage boys in our neighborhood to participate in a youth retreat sponsored by Austin Peay State University.  As we first approached each mother, we could see their stiff body language and somber faces bracing for bad news or a request for money.  Then, as we explained that her son had been nominated to participate in this retreat, free of charge, because of his standing as a good role model and positive leader in the neighborhood, we saw smiles spread across their faces and a sense of pride swell up from inside.  It was so much fun to get to deliver that good news!   I hope that we have planted some seeds of trust that will lead to friendships in the future.

This week, I am finalizing plans for a month of "healthy living" classes for the women of the neighborhood.  These classes will meet each Tuesday in April.  Our home church, Second Baptist, is going to sponsor the classes, which will be taught by RN's from the congregation.  They will teach about living a heart healthy lifestyle, basic first aid, and how to prevent infection.  Then on the last Tuesday of the month we are going to have a clinic night, where these ladies can have their blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, etc. checked.  Again, I am praying that new friendships will be planted and that we will begin to build up some trust in the neighborhood.

If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  Ecclesiastes 4:10

Unpacking

You never really know how much "stuff" you have until you put it all in boxes and then unpack it again!  That has been the primary focus for us this week-unpacking our new life here at Challenge House 3.  We've actually made pretty good progress!  We are basically down to just figuring out where to hang all the wall photos and curtains.

We have already had several meetings here, with another big day planned for tomorrow.  We have a Girl Scout Troop that meets here every Thursday, so we got to meet those sweet girls this week, several of which live here in the neighborhood.  Friday, the Leadership Hopkinsville class sponsored by the local Chamber of Commerce came by to see the house and learn about the ministry that happens here.  I had the privilege of sharing our family's testimony with the group. 

This week there is a group of about 50 young men from Boston coming to spend their spring break doing community service in Hopkinsville.  Tomorrow, they are focusing on serving the West Side and CH3 will be "command central!"  Can't wait to come home and see what they have done to help our neighbors!

Now, we are anxiously awaiting spring so that we can get outside and start building some relationships!  I don't think we will have a hard time connecting with the children:)  On Monday, we were going into the house the same time the elementary school bus was coming down the street, when suddenly we heard our names being yelled out!  We turned around to see several children we've met through the children's ministry at SBC waving out the windows and shouting, "Hi Mrs. Lori!"  What a great confirmation that we are right where God wants us!