Monday, May 30, 2011

Summer 2011 at Willow Pond


Presented by Behind Every Door 

There are lots of activities this summer at Willow Pond.  Behind Every Door will be working with lots of volunteers and partners to make this summer one of the best at Willow Pond.  If you would like to attend or help, please join us! 

End of School Party (June 3)

Super Bowl of Flag Football (June)

Willow Pond VBS Parent's Dinner (June 11)

Willow Pond VBS: Mission Impossible (June 12 -16)

Power Lunch (June 22)

Cooking Camp (June 27 - 30)

July 4th Celebration (July 4)

Kids to KAA Summer Camp (July 11-18)

Finish Strong Basketball Camp (July 23 & 30)

Finish Strong/TRIUMPH Basketball Camp (August)

Willow Pond Women's Community Group (Thursdays at 2pm)

Math Champs (All Summer)

Real Men (All Summer)

Women of Wisdom (All Summer)

Willow Pond Men's Leadership Group (All Summer)

Community Garden (All Summer)
  
For more information, visit the Willow Pond Community Center or contact our corporate office.

-- Behind Every Door Ministries

Friday, May 27, 2011

Real Men of Village Oaks

Today we start a new group at Village Oaks!

Many of the boys in the Village Oaks Kids Club have been attending a meeting called the Real Men.  You might have seen pictures and stories on the blog about this.  We discuss what it truly means to be a man.

Well, some of the older men at Village Oaks have expressed a desire to get together regularly, so we are starting a Real Men group for these men, too!  This group will meet on Fridays at 10:30am in the Boxing Gym.  We will be discussing "Why is Jesus the Ultimate Man?" during our time.

All men high school ages and older are welcome to join us!  Free coffee and breakfast will be provided.


-- Behind Every Door Ministries

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Summer 2011 at Village Oaks

 

We are really excited about this summer at Village Oaks.  There will be lots of activities going on and plenty of opportunities to help out.  One thing we want to highlight is our Day Camp.  The Village Oaks Day Camp is the work of Jayda, our Community Director at Village Oaks.  Space is limited each day, but the kids who show up on time are sure to have a blast!  Some of the activities include knitting/crocheting, watercolor painting, gardening, cooking, and Bible verse memorization.  The camp runs each day from 1 to 6pm.

If you can't make it to Day Camp, or you are too old, don't worry!  There are plenty of other activities going on!  Feel free to help out or join us at any of these!

End of School Party (June 3)

Village Oaks Beautification Day (June 10)

Power Lunch (June 21)

Village Oaks VBS: Praise Party (June 27 - July 1)

Basketball Tournament (July)

Finish Strong Basketball Camp (July)

Summer Life & Health Fair (July)

Finish Strong/TRIUMPH Basketball Camp (August)

Summer Celebration & BBQ Competition (August)

Beautiful Building Award (September)

Addiction Recovery Group (Wednesdays at 7pm)

Donuts & Dominos Fellowship (Mondays at 12:30pm)

Math Champs & Around the World Competition (All Summer) 

Real Men (All Summer) 

Women of Wisdom (All Summer)

Music Lessons (All Summer)

Healthy Cooking Classes (All Summer)

If you are interested in being involved with any of these activities (in any way), please come by the Village Oaks Community Center or contact our corporate office.  Hope to see you around this summer!

-- Behind Every Door Ministries

Monday, May 23, 2011

The Big Stretch


I am proud of the middle school girls!

I am proud of Kimmy, who came to me a few weeks ago with a problem: the end of school trip to Six Flag was fast-approaching and no one could afford to go.

But she had a plan!  She opened her notebook to reveal a record of thoughtful planning and ideas for a bake sale.  Page after page of written recipes ended with a calculation of needed expenses, an overall financial goal, and a desire to share the proceeds with Frank.  Who is Frank?  Frank is our friend who lives in Rwanda and whom the Kid’s Club has “adopted.”

When we invited the other middle school girls to join in, the ideas began to fly.  The culmination of our ideas was last Saturday’s fund raising event: “A Special Day for YOU at Willow Pond.”

One highlight was clearly the Spa!  The girls painted nails (mine were peacock blue!), gave killer shoulder rubs and hand massages, and served tea.  The younger kids donated their artwork and crafts to sell.

 

But here was the big stretch!  Before the event, we talked about tithing...off the top, not after all their needs are met.  We talked about why it is an expression of faith, and told stories of God’s faithfulness to those who were willing to take that step.  A secret ballot vote would reveal if the group was willing to commit the first 10% to Frank’s needs.

The majority voted “yes!”  Yes to the big stretch, yes to God, and yes to seeing God’s faithfulness first hand.

The girls earned enough for all of them to go on the trip, complete with spending money!  Enough was even left over to put back towards summer camp!

And, the girls were and are a part of providing schooling and housing for a child in Rwanda.  God is faithful!

-- Suzanne Wallace

Friday, May 20, 2011

2011 Summer Theme

We are really excited about this summer!  Look forward to cooking classes, arts/crafts, summer camp, Math Champs camp, gardening, cookouts, basketball, and more!  Check back soon for a more detailed list of our summer activities.  So what's the theme this summer?


Pretty cool, huh?  Come join us this summer at a Behind Every Door property!  And, don't forget to pick up your t-shirt when you come by!

-- Behind Every Door Ministries

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The Latest Behind Every Door Email Update

The latest e-mail update is out from Behind Every Door.  Did you miss it?  Be sure to head to our website (www.BehindEveryDoor.net) and click on the "Receive Our Email Updates" button.  There you can sign up for the monthly email update that we send out.

If you didn't receive the email...no worries!  Here it is:

Several years ago I was working at the office of a C-grade apartment community when a car rolled into the parking lot.

On two tires.

Only the right two had air in them. The left tires had both been flattened when the driver apparently ran over a divider on the way in.

The driver parked and we witnessed her knocking on the door of an apartment we later learned was a drug house.  There was no one home, so she kept knocking, going back and forth from her car to the front door of the apartment.  She was shaking.  She had needle marks on her arm.

This was a woman our world calls a "junkie."

The situation escalated and we eventually had to call the police.  Later the police had to take the woman away.  As I walked by her car, I saw a couple things on the passenger seat.  A book about God.  A "To-Do" list for her week.  My heart softened.

Eventually her father arrived at the apartment complex.  He was upset about the situation and we dealt with it the best we could.  I remember being a little bothered that he was bothered.  I thought to myself, this isn't our fault!

A little while later, I got in my car to leave the complex and as I drove toward the exit I saw him standing there...still waiting for a tow truck to remove the car.  I stopped for a moment.  He looked heart-broken and tired.  I told him I was sorry. He said "Thank you."

As I drove away that day, it hit me.  All day I had been seeing the woman as a "junkie."  After looking into her father's eyes at the end of the day, on my drive away the word "princess" came to my mind. With young daughters of my own, I finally saw it.  This was a Daddy's Princess.

In Luke 7 a Pharisee became bothered.  Simon was the Pharisee.  He invited Jesus for dinner and a woman showed up.  A woman with a difficult story.  Simon wasn't seeing a woman.  He was seeing her problems.  And he said to himself, about Jesus: "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is--that she is a sinner."  It must be interesting for God to have us humans "break some news" to Him.  Ha!  "Do you see this woman?" he asked Simon. The gentle Jesus was perhaps suggesting Simon wasn't seeing a woman at all.  And so Jesus affirmed her publicly.  He forgave her.  He extolled her great love.  And then He sent her off with a blessing: "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

The heart of Jesus!  He is so wonderful.  The defender of the weak. The only true hope. And the great hoper (is that a word?).  Jesus, the Great Hoper. Love always hopes.

May we see like Jesus sees, affirm like He affirmed, forgive like He forgave, and bless like He blessed.

May our hope be in Jesus alone. And may we hope like Jesus for everyone we meet.

Glory to God.

-- The Behind Every Door Team

Monday, May 16, 2011

Join Our Email Update List!

Interested in staying up to date with what is going on with Behind Every Door?  Well, here is some good news for you!  Join our monthly email update on our website at www.BehindEveryDoor.net.  Look for a box that says "Receive Our Email Update" and type in your email address.  We'll take care of the rest.  And, we promise not to send you lots of emails - just one (maybe two) each month.

-- Behind Every Door Ministries

Friday, May 13, 2011

A Short Note

I was sitting at my desk in the kids club, when a note was slipped in front of me.  It was from one of the 8 year old girls who comes up to the kids club.

I opened the note:

Mst. Rick,

I love you cuz you give us what we need.

-- Rickey Fanning

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

On The Move...

In C.S. Lewis’ classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, it is said of the King of Narnia... “Aslan is on the move.”

The other day we were at a meeting with three residents at the Village Oaks Apartments. All three are part of the City of Dallas Gateway Program at Village Oaks—which assists chronically homeless, disabled persons with permanent, supportive housing.  It’s a terrific program.

One of the residents, Cicero, was about to deliver a speech at a board meeting of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART).  These three friends, along with three of us from Behind Every Door, were going to the meeting to ask the Board to reverse their decision to suspend evening bus service to the stop in front of Village Oaks.  As a side note, we’ve had a follow-up meeting since with DART officials and it appears very likely they will reverse the decision. The community is really coming together to address problems.

Back to Cicero.  He read us his well-prepared speech to see if we had any feedback for him.  In it, he made reference to how different Village Oaks is today.  I asked him to tell us more.  He made reference to how the “spirit” of the place has changed.  He said something about the fact that “people aren’t fighting anymore.”  He said, “I’ve never been at a place where this has happened.” He was talking in a very matter-of-fact way about the fact that something is different.  I turned to one of our team members and said: “Jesus.”

The spirit at Village Oaks is different. Jesus is on the move.

Thank you for your friendship.  Please continue to pray for Village Oaks as you remember.

-- Dean Wilson

Monday, May 9, 2011

Real Men of Village Oaks


The Real Men of Village Oaks have been meeting to discuss what it means to be a man.  They have talked about Love, Making things Right, Service, and other topics.  Check back often for stories from the Real Men of Village Oaks!

-- Behind Every Door Ministries

Friday, May 6, 2011

The Trophy

Last week we received a trophy. And, this wasn't just any trophy.

We recently saw something happen in our South Dallas Community that stirred up the residents at Village Oaks. A bus line was going to be postponed and the residents were concerned for the disabled, the elderly, and the people coming home late from work. So, what did they do? They spoke up and started to rally the support of their community.

Along the way, they stopped by the Community Center to ask for our help. This was a no brainer - of course we wanted to help. Truly, we were just excited to be included.

We are still in the process of working out some of the issues regarding the bus line, and we are thankful for all of the collaboration that is taking place. Our South Dallas community is coming together, and it is incredible to be part of!

So, what's the trophy?  Well, a few days after we joined to help our residents we received a letter:


-- Will Dowell

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

My First Mavericks Game (and Escalator Ride!)


Recently, we shared tickets with another Behind Every Door property, Willow Pond, and we were able to take a total of nine children to a Mavericks Playoff Game.  For most of the children, it was their first experience at a professional sporting event.

One of the third graders in the Village Oaks Community Center was one of four children selected to attend our special field trip to the Mavericks Playoff Game.  For this child, the Game itself took a backseat to the escalator ride on the journey to our seats.

All of sudden I heard the highest pitched, excitement-filled shriek come out of the young lady standing next to me as we approached the escalator in front of us.


"EEEEEEEEEEEK! Ms. Jayda! Oh my gosh! I've never been on one of these before! EEEEEEEEEEK!"

Thinking as fast as I could and talking through my chuckle, I had to quickly ????????

As we approached the next escalator, I heard, "EEEEEEEEEEK! Oh my gosh, Ms. Jayda! Another one!!! EEEEEEEEEEK!"

Three levels later, I got the hearing back in my left ear!!  What a night!  I got asked questions like, "So, Ms. Jayda, the first one to 100 wins?" And, every time the timeout buzzer went off, I was asked, "Ms. Jayda, is the game over?  But, the best question of the night came at halftime: "Ms. Jayda, can I go get on the escalator again?"

The Mavs won 101-89...Go Mavs!

-- Jayda Ekundayo

Monday, May 2, 2011

Kids go to the Mavericks Game!


Recently, we were able to take 9 kids to a Mavericks Playoff game.  For most of the kids, leaving their area of town was a first.  Going to a Mavericks playoff game was definitely a first!  The kids were chosen to go based on 3 areas: completing homework, attendance in the Kids Club, and character/attitude.

Thank you to the Mavs Foundation for allowing us to attend the playoff game, and for allowing us to attend two other games during the regular season.

Enjoy the pictures below, and look for some stories from game soon!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

-- Behind Every Door Ministries